Good practice:

Network of Family Business Chairs

Since its creation, training has been one of the main lines of action of the Instituto de la Empresa Familiar (IEF), as it has demonstrated through a huge task in the field of training through the organisation of conferences, seminars and courses in which businessmen, academics and experts in the field participate.
However, these actions had to be completed by incorporating the subject of family businesses into university curricula, which was the reason behind the creation of the Network of Family Business Chairs, and which has meant a process of bringing universities closer to the reality of the business fabric of our country, whose survival depends, to a large extent, on the training of entrepreneurs, managers, workers and all the people and institutions involved in family businesses.
The fundamental element of the model designed by the Institute consists of the creation of extraordinary chairs, by means of a collaboration agreement between the university hosting the chair, the IEF, the Territorial Association of Family Businesses in whose geographical area the chair is located and the companies and/or institutions that guarantee funding by sponsoring the activities of the chairs.
This collaboration is aimed at guaranteeing work of mutual interest in the exchange of information and knowledge in the field of family businesses; the development of study and research activities through specific projects.

This network, the largest in the world in this discipline, is made up of 39 chairs in which 200 university professors work, forming an average of 2,000 students per year throughout Spain.

The Spanish network of family business chairs, sponsored and coordinated by the Instituto de la Empresa Familiar, brings together a total of 38 chairs based in different public and private universities in Spain. The network has prestigious sponsors, thanks to whom the intense activity carried out by the chairs is financially possible. Today, it can be said that it is the largest and most prestigious network of chairs of this type in the world.

One of the particular characteristics of the teaching provided by the Chairs Network lies in the variety of methodologies used. In addition to the classic master class method, the so-called case method, characteristic of business schools, is introduced and complemented by the presence of prominent family and professional entrepreneurs, who have the opportunity to share their experiences in round tables and debates with the students. It should also be added that the chairs include other external activities in their training plans, including visits to companies and attendance at events organised by the Institute or by regional associations.
Also, the visits of entrepreneurs to classrooms bring an emotional aspect that is difficult for university lecturers to convey, as these sessions can convey more than just knowledge about the company and what it does, says one respondent. It also stresses the importance of the student's understanding of how a business is set up.