Faculty and Research

John A. Davis is Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is currently teaching the Entrepreneurial Management course Building a Business in the Context of a Life, which explores entrepreneurship, life planning and success.

Professor Davis is also co-founder and faculty chair of Harvard Business School's Executive Education program, Families in Business: From Generation to Generation. This one-week program examines the pivotal issues facing family-owned companies such as management and ownership succession, developing the next generation, and governance and leadership of the business and family. He also teaches leadership and family business management in the Owner/President Management executive program.

Trained in business management, psychology, and economics, Professor Davis earned his Doctorate in Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1982. He has served on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Southern California, and has lectured on family business management at Stanford University, IMD (Switzerland), INCAD (Costa Rica), Universidad Adolfo Ibanez (Chile), and Universidad de los Andes (Chile).

Recognized as one of the world's leading experts and advisors concerning family business and family wealth, Professor Davis consults and speaks globally to family companies on the topics of dynastic success, family and business governance, working with relatives, shareholder relationships, managing succession, developing the next generation and professionalizing the family business. He is the founder and chairman of the Owner Managed Business Institute, an organization that advises family businesses globally.

Co-creator of the Three-Circle Model, with Professor Renato Tagiuri, which is the fundamental paradigm in the family business field, and co-author of Generation to Generation: Life Cycles of the Family Business, a preeminent work in the field, Professor Davis has published on a wide range of topics pertinent to family companies. He also serves on the editorial board of Family Business Review, the leading journal in the field. Professor Davis is completing books on the practices of successful family companies, family business governance, and successful family business dynasties. His theories and observations have been cited by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Economist, Fortune, Business Week, Exame, Family Business Magazine, and several other publications.

To view video clips of Professor Davis, please click on the appropriate link:

The Role of the Family Business in the World Economy

Interaction with Other Family Business Members

Financial Success

Take Away Value

Curriculum Vitae