On October 27, 2025, more than 270 students, faculty, and business leaders gathered at Northeastern University's Boston campus for a day-long exploration of whether family businesses, in India and elsewhere, can sustain success across generations while competing in an increasingly complex world.
The answer from distinguished speakers assembled by the Center for Emerging Markets: yes, but only if families master the balance between honoring tradition and embracing transformation.
Deputy Dean Rajesh Aggarwal and Ravi Ramamurti, University Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Emerging Markets, opened the summit by emphasizing the significance of family businesses to both the Indian and global economies. Family enterprises contribute 60-70% of global GDP and employment, yet face unique challenges in governance, succession, and innovation that can determine whether they become empires or cautionary tales.
The Two Businesses Every Family Must Run
Farhad Forbes, Co-Chairman of Forbes Marshall and Former Chair of Family Business Network International, set the tone for the day by identifying the fundamental challenge facing family enterprises worldwide. “You have to run your business, but in addition, you have to learn how to manage the family and the relationship of the family to the business.” Drawing from experience with over 4,000 family companies across 65 countries, Forbes emphasized that succession planning and next-generation education transform family enterprises only when both corporate and family governance receive equal attention. He was joined by Ashish Chugh, Portfolio Manager at Loomis Sayles, who brought an investor's perspective on corporate governance.
From Empires to Dynasties
Gaurav Dalmia, Chairman of Dalmia Group Holdings, followed, introducing a framework that resonated throughout the day: families passing three generations create empires; those surviving five build dynasties. Yet only 13% reach the third generation. In conversation with Jay Narayanan, Associate Professor of Management and Organization Development, he emphasized that each generation must discover its own strengths while maintaining the core business to succeed, a balance requiring both humility and ambition.
Leadership Through Crisis
Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson of Thermax Ltd, shared the reality of unexpected succession when her father passed away suddenly in 1996, leaving her mother to take over a newly public company overnight. After the company posted its first-ever loss, the family decided to bring in consultants and eventually separate ownership from management, a decision Pudumjee credits with enabling Thermax's subsequent success. Her session demonstrated how long-term thinking enables difficult choices, like focusing on biomass boilers over more profitable coal-fired options despite short-term financial impacts.
The Next Generation Speaks
The afternoon panel featuring Northeastern alumni Vidhan Bhaiya (Class of 2020) and Aashray Thatai (Class of 2013) drew enthusiastic response from the student-heavy audience. Both emphasized working outside the family business first to gain credibility, identifying specific competencies, and building legitimacy through measurable wins rather than family connections. Moderated by Kim Eddleston, Schulze Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the conversation tackled everything from implementing AI systems to managing the awkward reality of having your father as both parent and boss.
Eddleston's subsequent presentation reframed innovation as essential for survival, citing that 60% of family business leaders have no plans to change their business model, while 33% don't even track competitors. Yet family businesses possess a unique advantage: next generations who grow up in the business while gaining outside perspective. The key is fostering dialogue that turns generational differences into innovation engines.
Values Meet Technology
Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman & Managing Director of Godrej & Boyce, connected the summit's themes through his company's 128-year history from India's freedom struggle to aerospace manufacturing. Godrej's work with ISRO, where every Indian rocket engine contains components from his factories, demonstrated how family values of innovation and national service translate across generations and technologies. Yet he was candid about current challenges: preparing a fourth generation of non-engineers to lead an engineering company, maintaining family communication, and professionalizing management while preserving values.
The Owner's Mindset
John Davis, Chairman and Founder of Cambridge Family Enterprise Group and Faculty Director of Family Enterprise Programs at MIT Sloan School of Management, provided the conceptual framework tying the day's discussions together. Families surviving three or more generations succeed not just through good operations but because active owners make better strategic decisions. In today's turbulent environment, owners must develop future readiness committees that anticipate rather than react.
Looking Forward
In closing remarks, Forbes and Ramamurti synthesized five imperatives: attract next generation through passion rather than obligation, maintain patience when integrating generations, prepare family members as effective owners and board members, preserve values even without operational involvement, and build better narratives to attract top talent.
This summit was organized by the Center for Emerging Markets (CEM), Northeastern University, as part of the Vivek and Vandana Sharma India Initiative.
