Meet Fabian Bernhard, the management-and-psychology professor who brings family-business executives out of the boardroom and onto the couch

Therapy might be the least urgent item on an executive’s to-do list, but for EDHEC Professor Fabian Bernhard psychology is the preferred entry point for understanding how decisions are made in family businesses. “I have seen first-hand how entrepreneurs decide in these contexts”, he recalls. “Their planning horizon is different: it spans generations, both past and future. It’s sometimes less about maximising quarterly results and more about gut feeling and emotion. That makes them absolutely fascinating.”

Fabian grew up in Germany, a stone’s throw from Mannheim, surrounded by family businesses. He was, as he puts it, socialised in entrepreneurship, from his grandparents and uncles to his dad—wineries and advising are the family’s businesses of choice. That’s partly why he chose business studies after high school, starting with a graduate diploma from the University of Mannheim and culminating, on the other side of the Atlantic, with an MBA at the West coast of the US.

Then Wall Street called. Heeding the siren’s song, he spent the next four years advising large corporations on their M&A strategies at a pace he candidly describes as intense. 80-to-100-hour weeks gave him precious insights into how things are run at a strategic level: analytic, data-driven, quarterly sprints—a world away from the multi-generational framework of family businesses. After realising he did not want to retire on Wall Street, he left bustling New York City for the dolce vita of a quieter summer in Tuscany, pondering what to do next.

A decisive meeting with a professor who studied family businesses set him on his first PhD adventure at the EBS University & WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, in Germany. 

His dissertation, Psychological Ownership in Family Businesses (1), examines the many ways people can feel invested in a family business, even when they don’t own shares, leading to different forms of ownership and senses of belonging. The slower pace of academia, though challenging at times, gave new dimension to his life-long interest: “In most economies of the world, family businesses are the most common type of company. Yet, they are so secretive we hardly learn about them”, he says. “They are such a major unstudied force, and decisions there are made very differently. They also generate very specific types of relationships, among leaders, employees, and stakeholders”. That makes them a worthy topic for a lifetime of in-depth study.

With a respectable title in front of his name, Fabian found himself at a crossroads: the black boards of academia on one side and the PowerPoint slides of consultancy on the other. He chose a third way and entered the realm of business schools, bridging research, teaching, and practice. He first joined EDHEC in 2015 as an Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Family Business, rising to Full Professor of Management, Psychology and Family Business in 2024. He says he was drawn to the school primarily because of the EDHEC Family Business Chair - now led by Pr. Rania Labaki - and EDHEC’s particular DNA: “It’s a business school built by entrepreneurs and family businesses, with a lot of support and collaboration from multi-generational family empires.”

There, he found the perfect environment to develop his research interests: “As time went on, I became increasingly attracted to the underlying psychological forces. My starting point was finance, which morphed into behavioural finance, trying to understand how psychology —particularly emotions— influences strategic decision-making.” His second PhD — “I wanted to really know what I’m talking about” he offers— took seven years and ended with his 2024 dissertation Self-conscious Emotions in Collectives (2). For the record, he swears there won’t be a third. 

Over the years, he has published works taking a long, hard look at the different types of emotions among family business leaders across cultures and settings, including pride (3), guilt and shame (4), the role of emotions in fostering an innovative and entrepreneurship (5), and the complex realities of entrepreneurs’ marriage expectations (6), to name but a few.

Though a passionate researcher, Fabian hasn’t forgotten where he started: “I come from the practice world, so I can’t imagine not being involved”, he says. Early in his academic career, he made a point to keep a firm foot in the reality of the businesses he studies. He has sat on several company boards, advised numerous family-business executives, and been deeply involved with the Family Firm Institute. “I find it's a mutual gain”, he explains.

“Drawing from my academic work, I can bring something to entrepreneurs and business owners because I have new knowledge for them, and I can shake their world with ideas rooted in data and research. At the same time, this exchange is very fruitful for me because it’s humbling and, to a certain extent, grounding, anchoring what I’m doing in practical usefulness. My ideas and findings have a real impact. It informs not only my research, but also my teaching, since I can give firsthand accounts and examples to my students.”

Teaching mostly MBA and Executive MBA students, Fabian cultivates continuity between his roles as an educator, a researcher and an advisor. So much that he has created a couple of electives reflecting his lifelong obsessions: one on family business, of course, and one, less conventional, on resilience, which he initially nicknamed “How to Fail Hard”. 

His singular yet practical approach has earned him the trust of many in the business sphere—and many awards along the way—an asset he has put to good use in the Family Business Chair. He recently launched CFO meetings, a sort of support group for those who usually only talk to spreadsheets. 

“Every family is different, and every family business is different”, he says. “But through this uniqueness, I see common traits, especially among the next generation. They are less afraid of opening up and asking for leadership advice. It is our role, as dedicated experts, to offer them that kind of spaces, to help them navigate complex environments, and to collect and disseminate their experience and knowledge so that others can benefit.” After all, if the next generation has taught us anything, it’s that even the sharpest minds think better after a good hour of self-reflection therapy.

Key dates

Since 2024: Full Professor of Management, Psychology and Family Business, EDHEC Business School (France)

2024: PhD in Psychology, Technical University of Chemnitz (Germany)

Since 2020: Research Fellow, Goethe University of Frankfurt (Germany)

Since 2017: Member of the Board of Directors, Family Firm Institute 

Since 2016: Research Fellow, University of Mannheim (Germany)

2015-2024: Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Family Business, EDHEC Business School (France)

2011-2014: Assistant Professor of Management, INSEEC and Adjunct Professor at Stetson University of Florida (USA)

2011: PhD in Business Studies, EBS University & WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany)

2008: M&A Consultant, Hamburg (Germany)

2004-2007: International M&A Consultant, New York City (USA)

2004: Master of Business Administration (MBA)

To know more about Fabian Bernhard

• Visit his EDHEC Business School webpage
• Go to his Google Scholar profile
• Visit his LinkedIn profile

References

(1) Bernhard, F. (2011). Psychological ownership in family businesses. Three essays on antecedents and consequences. Lohmar, Germany: Eul Verlag.

(2) Bernhard, F. (2025). Self-Conscious and Moral Emotions in Collectives. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-48206-0

(3) Bernhard, F. (2024). Pride in family businesses: Authenticity, hubris, and cultural insights. Journal of Business Research, Volume 176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114597

(4) Bernhard, F. & Labaki, R. (2021). Moral emotions in family businesses: Exploring vicarious guilt of the next generation. Family Business Review, Vol. 34, issue 2, pp. 193-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894486520941944

(5) Bernhard, F. (2020). On the Emotions that Spark Innovative and Entrepreneurial Behaviors in Employees. Innovation Management: Edward Elgar.  https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789909814

(6) Stamm, I., Bernhard, F., et al. (2024). Marriage: An institution you cannot disparage? Evidence on the marriage norms of entrepreneurs. Small Business Economics, Vol. 63, issue 1, p.523. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-024-00872-9