Leveraging Performance Through Business History
Professor Andrea Colli
Bocconi University
Family Business Review, recently named a Rising Star by Thomson Reuters, kicks off its podcast series with perspective on the past and lessons for the future. Professor Andrea Colli of Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, joined FBR Assistant Editor Karen Vinton to discuss his article, “Contextualizing Performances of Family Firms: The Perspective of Business History,” forthcoming in the September issue and now available online. Listen to the podcast here, download it here, or subscribe on iTunes. Professor Colli explains what businesses in general, and family businesses in particular, need to learn from their histories in order to distinguish between danger and opportunity and stay in touch with the message they send to society from generation to generation. He also provides thoughts on the business history literature and recommendations for further reading.
Andrea Colli is Associate Professor of Economic and Business History at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. His fields of interest include the structure and evolution of small and medium sized enterprises, the role of family firms in modern economic growth, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial history, corporate governance in a comparative and historical perspective, and foreign direct investments and long term economic growth. Andrea has published and edited several books covering these topics, both in English and in Italian. Besides an articulated teaching experience, both at the undergraduate, master and postgraduate level, in Italy and abroad, he takes part in several international research groups and is actively involved in the organization of conferences and workshops at the national and international level. He received the 2008 Harold F. Williamson Prize from the Association of U.S. Business Historians, and in 2012 was a Highly Commended Award Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.
Karen L. Vinton Ph.D.
Montana State University
Karen L. Vinton Ph.D. is a 1999 Barbara Hollander Award winner and Professor Emeritus of Business at the College of Business at Montana State University, where she founded the University’s Family Business Program. An FFI Fellow, she has served on its Board of Directors and chaired the Body of Knowledge committee. From 1997 through 2011, Vinton served on the editorial board of the Family Business Review, and is the current assistant editor. Before retiring, Vinton served as director for her own family’s business (negotiating its eventual sale)and had her own family business consulting practice, Vinton Consulting Services. Karen can be reached at klvinton700@gmail.com.
