Baltic Family Firm Institute Inaugural Conference
Thursday, November 24, 2022, 17:15 – 20:00
SSE Riga, Soros Auditorium (and online)
Baltic Family Firm Institute (BFFI) is a non-profit association, founded as a pan-Baltic network of scholars and practitioners, with the main aim to support building successful and strong family businesses.
During the Inaugural Conference, we will present the latest data about the largest 5000+ family firms in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as discuss the importance of timely succession planning.
BFFI Inaugural Conference is dedicated to the topic of family firm succession, as many Baltic family firms face their first business transfer. Business owners in Central and Eastern Europe who established their business in the 90s are now passing on their firms to the next generation. One of the BFFI aims is to provide support mechanism for Baltic family firms to navigate through this process.
Join the conference online here
PROGRAMME
17:15-17:30
Welcoming and registration
17:30-17:45
Introduction of Baltic Family Firm Institute
Anete Pajuste, founder and board member of BFFI, Professor at SSE Riga, a Visiting Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School
17:45-18:00
Keynote speech
Massimo Bau, director of the Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (Sweden)
18:00-18:15
Keynote speech "Family Business Challenges in Slovakia"
Monika Nadova Kroslakova, founder of Family Business Center, co-founder at IBERA, Associate Professor at University of Economics in Bratislava, a family business owner (Slovakia)
18:15-18:30
Keynote speech "Some Reflections and Experiences with Successions in Eastern Europe"
Fabian Bernhard, Associate Professor for Family Business at EDHEC Business School Paris (France)
18:30-18:45
Q&A session
18:45-19:25
Business and academic expert panel discussion on family firm succession
Moderator: Jānis Bērziņš, Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School (Norway), BFFI board member
Questions discussed during the panel:
Family firm story: what makes a family firm special and does this influence succession decisions? What are the characteristics of a successful family firm transfer to the next generation (within family)? What are preconditions for a family business transfer to external (outside family) owners? Are family firms more or less resilient during crisis? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a family-related manager vs. external professional manager? How do family firms raise funding for growth and retain control?
Panelists: Valdonė Darškuvienė, Professor at ISM University of Management and Economics (Lithuania), Krista Jaakson, Associate Professor at University of Tartu (Estonia), Kārlis Krastiņš, Partner at AS Prudentia (Latvia), Anete Marhele, Head of Tax, Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns (Latvia), Jaan Masso, Associate Professor at University of Tartu (Estonia), Kristel Meos, Partner at Zenith Family Office, President of Estonian Family Entrepreneurs Association (Estonia), Monika Nadova Kroslakova, founder of Family Business Center, a family business owner (Slovakia)
19:25-19:30
Closing remarks
Valerija Kozlova, family business researcher at RISEBA University, BFFI board member (Latvia)
19:30-20:00
Champagne and informal networking
