Hosted by the IPAG Business School – Nice Campus, the 2026 SPGC-FERC Global Family Business Summit represents a unique collaboration between two premier global family business research communities. For the first time, participants will benefit from the combined strengths of both organizations in one event, enjoying the advantages of attending two major conferences in a single gathering. They will engage with diverse perspectives, access groundbreaking research, and expand their international networks. This summit offers a rare opportunity to experience the richness of two influential academic communities united in one global event dedicated to the advancement of family business.

The 2026 SPGC Global Family Business Summit, held in partnership with FERC and in cooperation with IPAG Business School, invites family business scholars, owners, next-generation members, and advisors to engage in a bold, timely, and transformative conversation around the theme: (In)Stability at the Frontiers. Across the globe, family enterprises are navigating a world in flux. Climate crises, geopolitical conflict, technological upheaval, economic fragmentation, and deepening social divides are not abstract forces, they are daily realities. In this environment, family businesses are being asked to reconcile contradictions: continuity and chaos, long-term vision and short-term survival, unity and fragmentation. This Summit interrogates a core paradox of our time: family firms are expected to act as anchors of stability in a world defined by permanent instability. Yet they operate at the frontiers of transformation, where the boundaries between economy and ecology, ownership and influence, past and future, human and machines are rapidly dissolving. From war zones to boardrooms, from climate emergencies to AI disruption, family firms confront not just market shifts but fundamental redefinitions of power, legitimacy, and meaning.

This Summit challenges participants to explore critical questions:
• What does it mean to hold power responsibly when institutions are distrusted?
• How do family businesses maintain continuity in the face of chaos?
• Is stability still possible, or even desirable?
• What new models are required for leading family enterprises in fractured societies?
• How can families redefine their role as economic actors, social influencers, and long-term stewards of value?

We are not merely observing instability, we are living inside it. This is an invitation to view family business not as a fixed category, but as a powerful lens through which to examine complexity, contradiction, and creative tension. Rather than offering quick fixes, this Summit embraces the ethical, emotional, and political dimensions of family enterprise. It seeks to provoke, to cross-contaminate, and to rethink. This is not a conversation about legacy, it is a
conversation about tension. And how that tension, when faced directly, can become a catalyst for insight, transformation, and new forms of leadership.

Why this theme matters now ?
• The world is experiencing a polycrisis: climate breakdown, conflict, technological disruption, rising inequality, and institutional distrust.
• Family firms remain long-term actors with both local roots and global reach.
• Next generations are challenging inherited narratives and introducing new forms of identity and innovation.
• Families are navigating moral, political, and economic dilemmas in real time.
• What’s needed now are new languages, new collaborations, and new frameworks.

13 tracks addressing the main challenges of Family Business in times of transitions, including a FRENCH TRACK titled « Dynamiques contemporaines des entreprises familiales : enjeux, transformations et perspectives »

Summit chairs :
Prof. Maria Giuseppina Bruna (IPAG Business School, France)
Prof. Evelyn Micelotta (University of Vermont, USA)
Prof. Andrea Calabrò (SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy)
Prof. James Davis (Utah State University, USA)

Organizing committee :
Arpita Vyas (SPGC); Cinzia Colapinto (IPAG Business School); Elisa Conti (IPAG Business School); Stefania Masè (IPAG Business School); Giang Nyguyen (IPAG Business School); Eric Clinton (Dublin City University); Ana Cristina Gonzalez (Grand Valley State University)

 Important dates :
– Submission Deadline: February 14th, 2026
– Registration Deadline: March 30th, 2026
– SPGC x FERC 2026 in Nice: May 26th – 29th, 2026

List of tracks (whit hyperlinks to the calls for papers)

Track 1.(In)Stability, Risk & Resilience in Family Firms
Resilience, risk governance, uncertainty, continuity, multi-generational dynamics.
Chairs : Maria Giuseppina BRUNA – IPAG Business School, France; Andrea CALABRÒ – SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy; Cinzia COLAPINTO – IPAG Business School, France & Venice School of Management, Italy; Jim DAVIS – Utah State University, USA; Evelyn MICELOTTA – University of Vermont, USA

Track 2.Entrepreneurship, Renewal & the Next Frontier
Entrepreneurship, renewal, transgenerational entrepreneurship, venture creation, next gen
Chairs : Eric CLINTON – Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland; Alexandra DAWSON- John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Canada; Clay DIBRELL – University of Mississippi, USA; William B. GARTNER – Babson College, USA; Anne K. HEIDER – Witten Institute for Family Business, Germany; Petra MOOG – ZHAW School of Management and Law, Switzerland; Christina THEODORAKI – IAE Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management, France;

Track 3. Ownership, Governance & Wealth in Motion
Ownership, governance, board of directors, family office, wealth management, transition.
Chairs : Carl ÅBERG – University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway; Cristina BETTINELLI – University of Bergamo, Italy; Domenico CAMBREA – University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy; Luis GOMEZ-MEJIA – Arizona State University, USA; Alessandro MINICHILLI – SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy; Pedro VAZQUEZ – IAE Business School, Argentina

Track 4. Succession, Identity & Intergenerational Power
Succession, identity dynamics, generational transition, leadership, family relationships.
Chairs : Allan DISCUA CRUZ – Lancaster University Management School, UK; Ana GONZALEZ – Grand Valley State University, USA; Hans LUNDBERG – Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico; Stefania MASÈ – IPAG Business School, France; Fabio QUARATO – Bocconi University, Italy; Miruna RADU-LEFEBVRE – Audencia, France; Fabian BERNHARD – EDHEC Business School, France

Track 5. Innovation, Technology, AI & the New Business Model
Innovation, AI, digital transformation, technology adoption, business models.
Chairs : Thomas CLAUß – Witten/Herdecke University, Germany; Giovanni Battista DAGNINO – LUMSA, Italy; Elias HADJIELIAS – Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus; Marcel HÜLSBECK – Munich University of Applied Sciences, Germany; Nadine KAMMERLANDER – WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany; Michele PINELLI – Venice School of Management, Italy; Erik VELDHUIZEN – Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

Track 6. International Business & Family Enterprises in a Changing World
Internationalization, global strategy, uncertainty, institutional context, global value chains.
Chairs : Francesco DEBELLIS – University of Vienna, Austria; Stefano ELIA – Politecnico di Milano, Italy; Liena KANO – University of Calgari, Canada; Antonio MAJOCCHI – Università Luiss Guido Carli, Italy; Claudia PONGELLI – Link Campus University, Italy; Alfredo VALENTINO – ESCE International Business School, France; DIDIER CHABANET – Idrac Business School, France

Track 7. Sustainability, Purpose & Social Transformation
Sustainability, purpose, ESG, social impact, regenerative practices.
Chairs  : Jan-Philipp AHRENS – University of Mannheim, Germany ; Angelo BISIGNANO – IÉSEG School of Management, France; Maria Giuseppina BRUNA – IPAG Business School, France ; Christopher GRAVES – The University of Adelaide, Australia; Marcela RAMIREZ-PASILLAS – Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico; Fernando MUÑOZ BULLÓN – Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain; Wilson NG – Idrac Business School, France

Track 8. Teaching Family Business: Pedagogy, Cases and Practice
Experiential Learning, Co-creation, Pedagogical Innovation, Impact, Ethical Challenges
Chair: Nunzia AULETTA – IESA, Venezuela; Mira BLOEMEN-BEKX – Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands; Jeremy CHENG – CUHK Business School, Hong Kong, China; Elisa CONTI – IPAG Business School, France; Tulsi JAYAKUMAR – SPJIMR, India; Virginia LASIO – ESPAE – Escuela de Negocios, Ecuador; Francesco BARBERA – Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada

Track 9. Diversity and Gender Equality in Family Firm
Gender equality; Diversity; Intersectionality; Governance; Inclusion; Succession; Competitive Advantage; Growth.
Chairs : David B. AUDRETSCH – Indiana University, USA; Wojciech CZAKON – Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland; Giorgia Maria D’ALLURA – Università degli Studi di Catania, Italy; Julia de GROOTE – Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany; Morten HUSE – BI Norwegian Business School, Norway; Maria José SÁNCHEZ BUENO – Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain; Mariateresa TORCHIA – International University of Monaco, Principato di Monaco

Track 10. Corporate Finance, Accounting & ESG Investment in Family Firms
Corporate finance, ESG investment, ESG risks, Sustainability reporting, Green finance
Chairs : Carmen GALLUCCI – University of Salerno, Italy; Ahmed-Imran HUNJRA– IPAG Business School, France; Karim KEFI- IDRAC Business School, France; Oumaima QUIDDI – ESCA – Ecole de Management, Morocco; Rosalia SANTULLI – University of Genova, Italy; Nirosha WELLALAGE – University of South Australia, Australia,

Track 11. Open Track
For high-quality papers, work-in-progress and posters that do not fall into the above categories but speak to the broader summit theme.

Track 12. Heritage, Branding, And Consumer Responses In Family Business                                                                                                                                                          Heritage branding, family values, authenticity, storytelling, brand identity, consumer interpretation, family narratives, legacy, cultural meaning.
Chairs : Anastasia STATHOPOULOU – SKEMA Business School, France; Angelo RIVIEZZO – University of Sannio, Italy; Carlotta BENEDETTI – Venice School of Management, Italy; Isabel BOTERO – University of Louisville, USA; Luigi PIPER – University of Salento, Italy; Maria Rosaria NAPOLITANO – Uni Parthenope, Italy; Reinhard PRÜGL – WU Vienna, Austria; Stefania MASÈ – IPAG Business School, France; Vita KADILE – Leeds University Business School, UK

French Track: Dynamiques contemporaines des entreprises familiales: enjeux, transformations et perspectives
Enterprises familiales, Gouvernance, Succession, Innovation, Internationalisation, Performance.
Céline BARREDY – Paris Nanterre University, France; Sami BASLY – University of the Antilles, France; Didier CHABAUD – IAE Paris, Sorbonne Business School, France; Issam MEJRI – KEDGE Business School, France; Mohamed OUIAKOUB– BI Norwegian Business School, Norway; Franck BARÈS – HEC Montréal, Canada; Cyrine BEN HFAIEDH – IESEG Business School, France; Abderrahman JAHMANE – IPAG Business School; Marion POLGE – (Université de Montpellier/MOMA); Jean-Paul TCHANKAM – (KEDGE Business School)

Special issue opportunities & awards :
Papers presented at the Summit will be considered for submission to leading management,  family business & entrepreneurship as well as corporate finance journals.
Among the Best Paper Awards:
• Best Competitive Paper
• Best Developmental Paper
• Best Poster (FERC)
• Best Practitioner Contribution
• Next Generation Scholar Award
• Best Paper on Forecasting & Responsibility (IPAG Chair Towards an Inclusive Company”).