Meet Rania Labaki, an Associate professor and Chair director whose voice helped put family businesses on the map

Rania’s parents embodied the spirit of opportunity, adapting quickly to changing circumstances with vision. That same ability to sense and seize potential would define her own career. Initially, she saw herself joining the business world after completing her master’s in business administration from the University of Saint Esprit in Kaslik, Lebanon, in 1998. Research and academia—those weren’t on her radar yet.

But everything changed when she received a scholarship from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie to study in Bordeaux. There, a chance encounter with a family business research centre opened a door. Intrigued, she decided to focus her second master’s thesis and later her PhD (1) on family firms. “I wasn’t planning to become a researcher,” she recalls. “But I got passionate about it.”

At that time, family business was still a nascent field. To her surprise, after reviewing the literature, she found that limited research had examined the influence of the family on family businesses. Convinced of the importance of this topic — particularly in light of insights gained from her own family business — she undertook the challenge of exploring it, while fully aware of the difficulties involved in empirically analyzing family dynamics.

To gather data for her thesis on the delicate topic of family dynamics, she handwrote letters—400 of them—to French-listed family firms. “I knew I had to appeal to the personal side of family business CEOs and Chairmen/women, who are naturally reluctant to openly share about family relationships”. The response rate reached a remarkable 20%. “That confirmed for me how meaningful the topic was for them.”

The detective in her—a child who devoured thrillers—had found a new playground in research. “You’re solving a puzzle, building insights from little pieces. That’s the thrill.” Her doctoral work combined family therapy frameworks with financial theories, pioneering a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding the emotional dimension of firm performance. Presenting her work at the main international family business conference (IFERA - FBN) in Brussels in 2005, she made quite a first impression by receiving the best paper award. This milestone initiated the forging of long-lasting relationships with leading scholars and the CEO of the Family Business Network (FBN), the largest global network of family firms - even before completing her PhD. Her thesis, "Family Relationships in French Listed Family Firms: Weakening versus Strengthening" (1), was formally presented in 2007 and received multiple recognitions.

Still, academia could be a lonely path, particularly throughout the long PhD process. During this time, Rania studied Chinese and German—two of the most difficult languages she could choose—pursuing intellectual stimulation while cultivating intercultural understanding with fellow students. In the meantime, teaching emerged a calling through her position as a lecturer, reviving a passion that had resonated with her since her younger years. “As a child, I dreamed of being a French teacher,” she smiles. “I used to teach my dolls after school.”

After the University of Bordeaux, she took up her first Assistant Professor position at INSEEC, before returning to her alma mater as an Associate Professor in 2008, later becoming Director of a master’s programme in financial and wealth management. It was a formative leadership role—tasked with overhauling the curriculum amid national reforms. “It was intense but so enriching,” she says. Student satisfaction rose sharply under her guidance.
 

Seeds planted along the years since her first international conference in Brussels started to sprout: the then CEO of FBN followed through on his initial suggestion to collaborate, which opened nearly a decade of work with FBN’s Next Generation Committee, focusing on the next generation members of family firms—a group still in the shadows at that time.

“Some colleagues told me I might be wasting my time, that these were kids with silver spoons”, she recalls. “Moving beyond these stereotypes, I soon discovered a next generation eager to make an impact albeit more complex challenges as compared to non-family business peers. In their quest of legitimacy, they stand on the shoulders of giants – their own families – and must navigate not only business but also family intricacies, under an unbelievable amount of pressure.”

With FBN, Rania helped shift the focus of global summits toward emotions and their role in family businesses. “It was a huge success. And it proved that emotional intelligence is central to family business decisions.” That insight became her mission: to connect academic research with the real-world lives of business families.

In parallel, she deepened ties with IFERA (International Family Enterprise Research Academy) and FFI (Family Firm Institute), earning key positions on their boards and committees and contributing to major global research, educational and practice-based initiatives. But although she was traveling the world, something was missing at home: a larger, more international platform from which to amplify research on the emotional dimensions of family firms. 

That’s when EDHEC came calling.

“It was quite a big move—from public university to business school. But I like challenges.” Within six months of arriving in 2016, she became Director of the Family Business Chair. The structure, launched in 2012, was ripe for revitalization. Under her leadership, it became multidisciplinary, outward-facing, and increasingly visible (2).

“What I love here is the entrepreneurial DNA,” she says. “I got to create new projects, take risks. It reminded me of the bold spirit of my father.” At EDHEC, she also embraced the school’s commitment to responsible entrepreneurship. “We are now affiliated with the EDHEC Centre for Responsible Entrepreneurship, which aligns with the values of many family businesses.”

In class, she merges her dual expertise in finance and family dynamics. Even when teaching corporate finance, she brings in family business cases: “It’s about putting on the emotional lens to understand financial decision-making.”

For Rania, research isn’t just for journals—though she has her fair share of impactful publications, elevating the topic of family emotions from the margins to the forefront of academic debate. "Toward the Cluster Model: The Family Firm’s Entrepreneurial Behavior Over Generations" (3), "Moral Emotions in Family Businesses: Exploring Vicarious Guilt of the Next Generation" (4) in Family Business Review, “Exploring the emotional nexus in cogent family business archetypes” (5), “A governance approach of emotion in family business: Towards a multi-level integrated framework and research agenda” (6) in Entrepreneurship Research Journal, and “The strategic divestment decision in the family business through the real options and emotional lenses“ (7) in the Handbook of research on the strategic management of family businesses, offer glimpses into her works.

Her Chair’s mission is to inspire and support both family businesses and their stakeholders—from students to notaries— to sustain a responsible entrepreneurial model from generation to generation. “Most of what we teach in business schools is based on large listed firms. That’s not remotely the whole picture. Family firms are actually the vast majority of businesses in the world. We have to update the narrative.”

This translates into unique and innovative educational initiatives – including the latest “Jeunes Administrateurs Familiaux” programme to develop governance competencies of the next generation of family businesses and family offices. Likewise, regular conferences and events are organized to disseminate the Chair’s knowledge, dealing with important yet scarcely explored topics, such as family secrets (4), identity formation (8), emotions in history (9) (10).

The struggle for visibility persists, even globally. “Family business scholars are the most resilient,” she jokes. “We have to be. We fight for recognition.” But there is progress. Rania has spoken twice at European institutions about the challenges facing family businesses and their relevance in future policymaking. She has also developed numerous partnerships with various stakeholders – such as Association Française du Family Office, Conseil Supérieur du Notariat, The Henokiens - in France and internationally to join efforts across institutions and disciplines. She held visiting positions at numerous international universities, has received multiple awards - including the 2020 FFI Achievement Award and her induction in 2023 in the Family Business Hall of Fame, and regularly speaks at conferences around the world. Her voice carries now.

And so, the girl who once wrote 400 letters by hand now reaches thousands—from classrooms to conference halls—still driven by a mix of empathy, intellect, and quiet tenacity. “I just like challenges,” she says with humility. “I believe in the positive impact of family businesses and in our role in supporting them through education and research. It’s a domino effect: when we strengthen the knowledge of family business stakeholders, we create ripple effects that shape a better world, since family businesses make up the majority of enterprises.”

Key Dates

2016–present: Associate Professor of Finance and Family Business & Director, Family Business Research Chair, EDHEC Business School

2008–2015: Associate Professor & Director of Master in Wealth Management, University of Bordeaux

2007–2008: Assistant Professor of Management Sciences, INSEEC Business School

2007: Ph.D. in Management Science, University of Bordeaux (Thesis on the influence of family relationships strengthening or weakening on family firms performance)

1999: Master of Science in Management, University of Bordeaux, France

1998: Master’s in Business Administration, University of Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, Lebanon

To know more about Rania Labaki

• Visit her personal page on edhec.edu
• Go to her Google Scholar profile
• See her Linkedin profile

References

(1) Contribution à la connaissance des liens familiaux dans les entreprises familiales françaises cotées : renforcement versus atténuation (2007) Rania Labaki, sous la direction de Gérard Hirigoyen - https://www.sudoc.abes.fr/cbs/DB=2.1/SRCH?IKT=12&TRM=119582007

(2) Rania Labaki: a decade dedicated to family businesses (2022), EDHEC Vox - https://www.edhec.edu/en/research-and-faculty/edhec-vox/rania-labaki-a-decade-dedicated-to-family-businesses

(3) Michael-Tsabari, N., Labaki, R., & Zachary, R. K. (2014). Toward the Cluster Model: The Family Firm’s Entrepreneurial Behavior Over Generations. Family Business Review, 27(2), 161-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894486514525803 (Original work published 2014)

(4) Bernhard, F., & Labaki, R. (2020). Moral Emotions in Family Businesses: Exploring Vicarious Guilt of the Next Generation. Family Business Review, 34(2), 193-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894486520941944 (Original work published 2021)

(5) Labaki, Rania, Michael-Tsabari, Nava and Zachary, Ramona K.. "Exploring the Emotional Nexus in Cogent Family Business Archetypes" Entrepreneurship Research Journal, vol. 3, no. 3, 2013, pp. 301-330. https://doi.org/10.1515/erj-2013-0034

(6) Labaki, Rania and D’Allura, Giorgia M.. "A Governance Approach of Emotion in Family Business: Towards a Multi-level Integrated Framework and Research Agenda" Entrepreneurship Research Journal, vol. 11, no. 3, 2021, pp. 119-158. https://doi.org/10.1515/erj-2021-2089

(7) The Strategic Divestment Decision in the Family Business Through the Real Options and Emotional Lenses (2022). Author(s): Rania Labaki (EDHEC Business School, France)and Gérard Hirigoyen (University of Bordeaux, France). Information Resources Management Association - https://www.irma-international.org/chapter/the-strategic-divestment-decision-in-the-family-business-through-the-real-options-and-emotional-lenses/288254/

(8) Canovi, M., Succi, C., Labaki, R. et al. Motivating Next-generation Family Business Members to Act Entrepreneurially: a Role Identity Perspective. J Knowl Econ 14, 2187–2214 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-022-00919-w

(9) Cailluet, L., Bernhard, F. and Labaki, R. (2018). Family Firms in the Long Run: The Interplay Between Emotions and History. Entreprises et histoire, 91(2), 5-13. https://doi.org/10.3917/eh.091.0005

(10) Labaki, R., Bernhard, F., Cailluet, L. (2019). The Strategic Use of Historical Narratives in the Family Business. In: Memili, E., Dibrell, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Heterogeneity among Family Firms. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77676-7_20