Posts by

Rob Ferguson

Corporate Sustainability Initiatives That Will Have Your Stakeholders Saying “They’re Great!”

By Rob Ferguson / February 12, 2021

They’re Greeeaaaatttt! What can you say about companies that have a good handle on giving back to their communities and other stakeholders besides, “They’re Great!” Most companies include corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility as critical pillars of their organizations, and rightly so. But beyond environmental concerns, corporate sustainability and social responsibility involve giving back…

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Rising From the Ashes: How Board Members Can Participate In Change Management

By Rob Ferguson / February 5, 2021

While it may seem that everything you read on change management is through the lens of COVID-19, indeed we can expect this trend to continue until the masks come off and people begin to stand closer than six feet from one another. The fact is that COVID-19 has indelibly reshaped the business landscape around the…

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Unmasking the New Year: Tips for a New Year Revolution

By Rob Ferguson / January 8, 2021

Happy New Year from Ferguson Interests! With 2020 in our rearview mirror, we need only glance back to see perhaps one of the most tumultuous years in recent history. This last year has deeply impacted many family-owned businesses in America, forcing many companies to furlough staff and start working remotely. Sadly, many companies were forced…

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The Evolution of Family Business and the Need for Succession Planning

By Rob Ferguson / November 6, 2020

The Evolution of Corporate Governance As a family grows in size and complexity and their business operations grow in size and complexity, their governance needs to keep pace. So what does good governance look like in a family firm? Now more than ever, family businesses need good governance as it supports near-term stability, long-term continuity,…

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Onboarding New Family Members: Don’t Miss Out on the Opportunity (Part 2)

By Rob Ferguson / October 9, 2020

Onboarding New Family Members: Don’t Miss Out on the Opportunity   In our last submission on the topic of Onboarding New Family Members, we began to dissect some of the nuances of bringing new family members aboard the family enterprise, and some of the challenges that leadership might face in the process. We discussed integrating…

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Onboarding New Family Members: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late (Part 1)

By Rob Ferguson / September 25, 2020

Onboarding New Family Members: Don’t Wait Until It Is Too Late   In a recent article written by Joline Godfrey and Alexandre Monnier on the topic of Onboarding new family members, we found some interesting content that we would like to develop for our audience in a series with the same title. In this series,…

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Reevaluating Short and Long-term Incentive Plans During a Crisis

By Rob Ferguson / July 28, 2020

Reevaluating Short and Long-term Incentive Plans During a Crisis For the past two months, boards and management teams have been working overtime to react quickly and grasp the impact of the Corona Virus. For the most part, organizations, such as yours, have undoubtedly been focused on immediate business concerns such as employee safety and financial…

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Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better: Diversity In Family Businesses

By Rob Ferguson / June 25, 2020

Gender Diversity In Family-Owned Businesses So much in the news today is centered around diversity in the workplace. While family-owned businesses grow and thrive in the current culture, they are not immune to other organizations’ challenges. Addressing the topic of diversity is not a new hurdle either. Of course, much of the debate is unwarranted…

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Empirical Evidence On How Family Owned Businesses Deal With COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus

By Rob Ferguson / June 1, 2020

In a recent research article from the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, researchers investigated the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on family firms to provide some interesting insights which shows that the pandemic represents a unique challenge for companies impacted by the crisis. The study shows how companies in all industries and varying…

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Pandemics. Poison Pills. Public. Private

By Rob Ferguson / May 8, 2020

Pandemics, Poison Pills, Public and Private Try saying that three times really fast. The title of this article is more than a mere alliteration for many companies, and is, instead, a reality that many businesses face in light of COVID-19 (C-19).  Pandemics Promulgate Poison Pills In recent months, there has been an upheaval of markets…

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