The ISB announced the setting up of the Chair on December 14, 2006. Professor K Ramachandran, who has been appointed as the Thomas Schmidheiny Fellow of Family Business and Wealth Management till March 31, 2008, has been working in the area of Family Business for over two decades and one of his key research areas is the challenges of professionalisation of family business.

Thomas Schmidheiny, on behalf of ‘Spectrum Value Management’ based in Switzerland, has committed to fund the Chair on Family Business and Family Wealth Management at the ISB. The funding will support the Chair for an initial period of five years in order to support research, education, publications and conferences conducted by the Chair.

Professor Rammohan Rao, Dean, ISB, said, “We are privileged that Dr Schmidheiny has agreed to fund this Chair at the ISB. The ISB has been conducting several courses on family business as this is a key area of study for India as well as other emerging markets. With the Research Chair being established, we will be able strengthen these activities.

Talking about his decision to support this Chair, Dr Schmidheiny said, “ I have closely watched the ISB’s very promising five years, and I am convinced that the ISB is on the right track to develop into a world-class institution which can easily compare with other leading institutions in the US and Europe. I hope this Chair will enable Indian families to learn about the subject, exchange best practices, and profit from cutting-edge research. I see a huge demand for knowledge in this field, especially in the Indian context.”

Dr Schmidheiny is a leading figure in entrepreneurial circles both in Switzerland and abroad. He comes from a highly influential family of industrialists and political leaders. For over 25 years, Dr Schmidheiny was the CEO and Chairman of HOLCIM, the world’s leading cement, concrete and aggregates enterprise. He has built up the company internationally, and is currently the company’s largest stakeholder.

Vision and Strategy

Be a catalyst to facilitate / perpetuate peace and prosperity both on family and business fronts through a variety of academically accepted interventions.

Activities
Major activities to accomplish the above are:

Research
Family business is an unexplored area of research in India, and the thrust of immediate research at ISB is:

• Family business governance
• Professionalisation of family business

A major study on professionalisation challenges of large Indian family businesses is complete. Please click here for a copy of the Executive Summary of the report.