One of the most consequential decisions a family business owner and leader faces is determining when to hand over the reins. In family businesses, that choice is layered with emotional weight, generational history, and founder identity. Yet as the author Adi Ignatius highlights in his latest Harvard Business Review article, overstaying leadership also carries organisational …
Continue reading The Stepping-Down Dilemma: Why Succession Demands Strategy Over Intuition
For over a decade, the Maltese economy has operated under an expansionary model fuelled by rapid population growth and intense domestic demand. For local family businesses, this climate created an operating environment where increasing turnover appeared almost inevitable. However, juxtaposing the recently published Central Bank of Malta’s analysis of the EUROPOP2025 demographic outlook with the …
A few days ago the results of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) where published, which is an international assessment coordinated by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) that measures the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students in science, reading, and mathematics. Analysing the latest PISA 2025 results for Malta alongside the findings …
To navigate the complexities of running a modern family enterprise, the Family Business Survey 2026 examines the internal tensions between commercial expansion, boardroom formalisation, and relational dynamics. Rather than treating challenges in isolation, the 2026 Family Business Research study looks across the full life cycle of family business—from daily operational bottlenecks and succession readiness to …
Continue reading What questions will we address in the upcoming Family Business Conference?
To provide family business leaders with actionable insights, a national Family Business Conference will take place on 1st October 2026 at The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. Organised collaboratively by EMCS Advisory, The Malta Chamber, and the Family Business Office, the conference will unpack the extensive findings of the Family Business Survey 2026. …
Continue reading What topics will be covered in the upcoming Family Business Conference?
Managing a family business requires balancing complex dynamics aligning family relationships with commercial realities, passing leadership down through generations, and adapting to rapidly shifting economic environments. Just like we did in 2022 and 2024, we also conducted an expanded family business survey between March to June 2026 to shed light on several family business critical …
Continue reading Turning Growth into Profit – Family Business Conference 2026
I was recently reading Roberto Benigni’s Pietro: Un uomo nel vento, which is a book about Benigni's reflections on the life of St.Peter. As I was reading, I found myself reflecting on how profoundly its core themes resonate beyond theology or literature. This vivid narrative offers a powerful mirror for personal quiet reflection on strategic …
I was recently reading the latest Business Dialogue document published by the Central Bank of Malta, which was based on contacts and interviews done with Maltese businesses between April & June 2026. The report outlined that the second quarter of 2026 demonstrated continued economic growth for business (non-financial corporations) operating in Malta, with the net …
Many family businesses in Malta struggle with speed, succession, and operational scaling. In a recent Harvard Business Review discussion, author Dan Wang broke down the structural engines driving modern Chinese business success. While China’s massive manufacturing landscape operates on a vastly different scale than Malta's small economy, the underlying principles offer powerful lessons for Maltese …
Continue reading What Maltese Family Businesses Can Learn from China’s Successful Businesses
As a family business consultant my role is to arrive before, rather after an event. Let me explain. Many times, for other professionals, their role is more of a reactive one rather than a preemptive one . A doctor is normally summoned after the symptoms appear to diagnose and treat the illness. An accountant arrives …
