IFERA 2026 CONFERENCE

LEGACY IN ACTION

Naples, Italy, June 9-12, 2026

Legacy could act as the aspiration to nurture family capital across generations, serving as a driving force behind family firms’ long-term strategic orientation and reinforcing their commitment to enduring, positive impact. It helps redefine success in family business by integrating continuity, purpose, and responsibility.

Date of Event

June 9-12, 2026

Location

Naples, Italy

Key Deadlines

All paper submissions due:
extended to February 1, 2026 

Applications for Doctoral Consortium and Summer School:
extended to February 1, 2026

Notification of acceptance for all submissions:
March 9, 2026

Registration deadline for paper authors:
April 10, 2026

Register Now

Highlights

  • Research Development Program featuring Doctoral Consortium (June 9,2026) and Summer School (April & May)
  • Dedicated sessions for special issues
  • Opportunities for engagement with international and national family business leaders
  • Special tracks on emerging topics in practice and research development, teaching and communication
  • Academic Awards
  • A rich Social Program with activities, dinners and entertainment open to family and friends

Family businesses play a vital role that extends beyond mere economic activity. They serve as custodians of an enduring legacy, promoting financial stability, social welfare, community bonds, and long-term livelihoods (De Massis et al., 2018). They rise above short-term logic and orient their strategic thinking beyond today, ensuring that upcoming generations flourish and increase wealth. Therefore, family firms leverage family capital to establish future strategies that balance social, economic, and environmental objectives for long-term impact (e.g., Jaskiewicz et al., 2015). This long-term orientation transforms legacy into both a lens for understanding family firm behavior and a mechanism for generating enduring value across generations and communities.

This forward-thinking approach guarantees a lasting positive impact and naturally leads to considering the concept of legacy itself and its potential to help family firms create broadly defined value. In particular, legacy may serve as a catalyst for family resources to guide family firms’ efforts toward a positive impact, reaching beyond the confines of the family and the business.

PLENARY SESSIONS

IFERA Debate

Moderated by: Josip Kotlar

The IFERA Debate is a plenary session designed to foster rigorous and structured dialogue on some of the most contested questions in family business research through an engaging, fun, and interactive format.

Margarethe Wiersema

Keynote Speech
Margarethe F. Wiersema holds the Dean’s Professorship in Strategic Management at The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine. She has an MBA and Ph.D. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Family Business Panel

Moderated by: Salvatore Sciascia

This Family Business Panel will feature some Italian family business entrepreneurs (panelists TBD), and it will be moderated by Prof. Salvatore Sciascia.

CONFERENCE CHAIRS

Alessandro Cirillo

Donata Mussolino

Mauro Romano

Research Development Program Chair: 

Emanuela Rondi

Research and Publications Director: 

Massimo BaĂą

Executive Director: 

Valentina Re

Conference Manager: 

Giulia Pontoglio

Program Coordinator: 

Paolo Capolupo

Special Sessions Coordinator: 

Matthias Waldkirch

Organizing Committee: 

Maria Angela Manzi
Emmadonata Carbone
Andrea Sanseverino

Host:

Nome Cognome

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