Once again, IFERA 2022 was able to match the highest expectations. Hosted by the University of Cantabria the Conference mixed a vibrant academic environment with the Belle Epoque charm of the City of Santander. Beside the intense program of consortia, PDW and parallel sessions and the inspiring keynote speeches by Cristina Cruz, Roy Suddaby and Bill Schulze, the conference has also offered the chance for networking during its dedicated social program, which culminated in the “seaview” Gala Dinner.

Located in the charming Maremondo restaurant, the Gala Dinner on June 24th became a wonderful moment to enjoy exquisite food and talk with friends and colleagues. During the Award Ceremony, thanks to the contribution of our eminent juries, six awards have been assigned as follows:

The “FOBI” Best Conference Paper Award has been awarded to Jonas Soluk, Ivan Miroshnychenko, Satish Nambisan.and their study entitled “Welcome or not? A mixed methods study on artificial intelligence technologies in family-influenced firms. 

The “WIFU Foundation” Best Paper Contribution to Practice featured not just one but three awards. The 3rd place went to Ine Umans and Maarten Corten and their paper “Ownership Succession Intentions Affecting Earnings Management in Private Family Firms”. The 2nd place has been awarded to Jana hermle-Boersig; Nadine Kammerlander; Matthias Waldkirch and their paper titled “Choosing when to go undercover—how employees initiate and drive organizational change in family firms”. And the first prize went to Claudia Astrachan and Isabel Botero and their paper “Governing the Business Family: A Matter of Fit”

The “STEP Project Global Consortium” Best Paper on Conference Theme prize has been assigned to Wunnam Basit Issah, Muhammad Anwar, Thomas Clauss; Sascha Kraus for their paper “Managerial Capabilities and Strategic Renewal during the COVID-19 Crisis: A Generational View”. 

The “CYFE” Best Entrepreneurship in Family Business Paper was awarded to Miriam Foerch; Dinah Isabel Spitzley; Reinhard Pruegl for their  paper entitled “Same Same but Different”: Addressing Business Family Heterogeneity in Next Generation Founding Behaviors and New Venture Outcomes”.

The IFERA Best PhD research proposal Award, has been assigned to Rolf Wilmes and its “Providing wings to build roots? A configurational analysis of successors’ organizational identification during succession”

Another important recognition was dedicated to the effort made by all the reviewers who contribute to the Conference. The “IFERA” Best Reviewer Award was conferred to Johan Karlsson for his extraordinary detailed and insightful reviews.

In conclusion, the Award Ceremony was able to bring to light the evolution and the progresses made by the growing field of family business. The enthusiastic audience and the warm atmosphere testified, once again, the existence of a bonded and supportive community of scholars and practitioners, who are ready to face the future together.