Celebrating excellence in family, business, ownership, and society
IMD Global Family Business Award
Celebrating excellence in family, business, ownership, and society
Distinguishing prestigious family businesses around the world since 1996, this annual award provides a unique opportunity to highlight the indispensable role family businesses play in the global economy and serves as a platform for family businesses to exchange best practices and analyze the economic backdrop.
The Award cannot exist without your active contribution to identifying exceptional companies worthy of recognition. Anyone can nominate a family business, and businesses can also nominate themselves. The call for nominations and self-nominations opens annually in January and the Award is presented in Q4.
Celebrating excellence in family business
First awarded in 1996 to the Lego Group, many strong family businesses have followed suit. Will your family business be next?
Criteria & process
The award recognizes family businesses with excellence on the following dimensions: family, business, ownership, and society.
Eligibility criteria are:
- Multigenerational: At least in the third generation
- Large: Annual revenue of at least USD 0.5 billion
- International: With business operations in multiple countries
In selecting the award winner, a panel of independent jury experts examines further aspects of the family business.
Careful consideration is given to the values of the people who run the business, including the way in which they unite their family and business interests and combine tradition and innovation while demonstrating a clear commitment to their communities.
Anyone is welcome to nominate or self-nominate. IMD solicits applications from the nominated family enterprises that fit the award criteria. Families need to sign off on the application before it is considered by the award evaluation committee. There are no costs associated with entry.
Based on the detailed application forms received from family firms, finalists are identified by the evaluation committee composed of representatives from the IMD Global Family Business Center and FBN.
Advanced research and interviews are conducted with key family members from the finalist family businesses. An extensive report is prepared and submitted to the jury.
The award jury votes individually and anonymously. The jury is composed of members of globally leading family businesses, former Award winners, and senior expert academics within the field of family business.
The winner is contacted. The announcement of the winner, the award ceremony, and the session with the winner takes place at the FBN Global Summit.
A teaching case study accompanied by a video is developed. The family is treated as a co-author of the study and as such can continue to use the case and the video interviews in any way it sees fit afterward, internally, without royalties due.
The award winner receives two free seats, and other finalists one free seat. Additionally, case study and articles about the winning family business are published by IMD’s Award Director Professor Peter Vogel and the award research team.
The award trophy is crafted by Chopard, a family-run business and expert in watches and jewelry. Held between two glass plates fixed in a rock crystal base, and housed in an elegant pear wood case, the trophy features a representation of a tree, providing a powerful metaphor of the family business spirit that draws its strength from tradition to grow and develop.
Through its roots firmly planted in the ground and its branches reaching towards the sky, the tree symbolizes the stability of the family, its links to the past, present, and future, and the continuity of generations.
Jury
The jury is composed of minimum six and maximum 10 members of globally leading family businesses, former award winners and senior expert academics within the field of family business.
Responsibility, authority and compensation
- Full confidentiality applies at all times for all Award activities and communications.
- Jury members receive an extensive report on finalists which they are asked to read to prepare for the annual jury meeting and anonymous online vote.
- There is no compensation for time or other expenses.
Get to know the voting members of the jury, displayed in alphabetical order
BFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. Founder and CEO of the FBN Ecuador chapter from 2013-2019. During this same period of time Cristina was Director of Fundación Corazones Valientes where she played a key role helping children from low-income families with cancer to not abandon their oncological treatment. She is a member of the 4th generation of a family business currently in its 6th generation and has been a member of the Carvajal Family Council for over a decade, currently serving as President of the Family Council since 2020
Ramia Marielle El Agamy is CEO and Co-Founder at Orbis Terra Media, a global content marketing agency and award-winning magazine publisher.
She began her entrepreneurial career in 2008 as the founder and editor-in-chief of Tharawat Magazine, a publication for family businesses and entrepreneurs. Together with her family, she grew the magazine into a globally renowned title that garners hundreds of thousands of readers.
In 2014, El Agamy helped found the content initiative Women in Family Business in response to the lack of diversity in the family enterprise conversation.
In 2016, she expanded Orbis Terra Media by adding content marketing services focused on enabling brands to strengthen their positioning through data-driven content strategies.
El Agamy also serves as strategic support to her family’s non-profit organisation, Tharawat Family Business Forum, a leading network and educational initiative promoting the sustainability of family enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa, and, in 2022, she joined the Board of Trustees at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, UK.
As host of the podcasts The Family Business Voice and Women in Family Business, El Agamy is dedicated to bringing the power of content and technology to individuals and organisations to unlock their growth.
She holds an MSc in International Business and Management from Alliance Manchester Business School (UK).
Judy Green is president of the Family Firm Institute (FFI), an international association of individuals and organizations who advise and study family enterprise.
She is a co-author of The Effects of Goal Orientation and Client Feedback on the Adaptive Behaviors of Family Enterprise Advisors (Family Business Review, September 2013), and her article “Four Aesthetic Models for Relevant Research in the Field of Family Enterprise” appeared in Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise (Emerald Books, August 2010).
A frequent commentator in the field, she was the technical editor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Successful Family Business.
A recipient of the FFI Barbara Hollander Award, Judy holds a PhD in aesthetics and education from Marquette University as well as a CSS certificate from Harvard University.
Meher Pudumjee Chairs the Board of her family business Thermax Ltd – an innovative engineering manufacturing company in clean air, clean energy and clean water, based out of Pune, India. She is a philanthropist, loves Western classical music, sings in a choir, enjoys spending time with her family and her dog, exercises regularly and has a zest for life!!
A Masters in Chemical Engineering from the Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, Meher joined the business as a trainee engineer in 1990. Two years into the role, she and her husband Pheroz were sent to the UK, to turn around a fledgling subsidiary of the company. After successfully turning it around, they had to return to India in 1996 when Meher’s father Rohinton Aga suddenly passed away. She was elevated to the board of the company and worked in the Finance division for a couple of years after which she looked after the Air Pollution Control business and a JV in water. Both Meher and Pheroz helped and supported Anu Aga (Meher’s mother who chaired the company) to turn around Thermax in the late nineties. In restructuring the organisation and the Board, the family decided to take a non-executive role.
In 2004, when Anu decided to step down, the Board appointed Meher as Chair. She has worked alongside 3 professional CEO’s over the past 18 years (with 2 of them retiring from the company). She is passionate about conserving resources, greening the business and helping customers do the same.
She is presently on the board of Teach For India and Chairs the board of Akanksha Foundation – both NGO’s involved in education. Meher is also a director on the board of Pidilite Industries.
Andy Rubin is Chair at Pentland Brands Ltd, a director at the Pentland Group plc, and non-executive director at JD Sports Fashion Plc. He is the third generation to lead the family’s brand management business.
Pentland, winner of the 2017 IMD Global Family Business Award, is a UK based, private family-owned company operating in sports, outdoor, and fashion. The Group owns global brands Speedo, Canterbury, Berghaus, Ellesse, Endura, and Mitre and is the global footwear partner for Lacoste and Karen Millen and is the majority shareholder in JD Sports Fashion plc, an international multichannel retailer in sports, outdoor, and fashion operating 2,500 stores and numerous online businesses.
As well as the 2017 IMD Global Family Business Award, Pentland has won the following:
- 2017 – EY Best Family Business in the UK
- 2014 – Campden Best European Family Business
- 2008 – IFB Best Family Business in UK
Rubin is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and a Companion of the British Academy of Management. He is Vice President and Executive Board Member of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry.
He is also Chair of the Dean’s Council at Lancaster University Management School and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation. In addition, he is a Family Advisory Council Member for the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford’s research programme examining the benefits of corporate purpose.
Rubin is involved in numerous charities and is a Trustee of In Kind Direct, the UK’s leading redistribution charity and an Ambassador for Leaders Quest.
He read Law at Trinity College, Cambridge University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Risto Väyrynen is founder of The Impact Office and a fourth-generation entrepreneur currently serving as Chair at his family’s artisanal bakery business in Finland.
Väyrynen has co-founded several start-ups, is an avid impact investor in early stage companies, and has held C-suite and board level positions throughout his career. He also serves as an Ambassador for the Family Business Network International, where he is a passionate advocate of Family Business Sustainability, and he previously led the development of the international Next Generation community as Vice-President of the Next Generation Committee.
He graduated from Family Business Executive MBA program from EDHEC Business School in Lille.
Discover our non-voting members, presented in alphabetical order
CEO at The Family Business Network (FBN)
Alexis du Roy de Blicquy is the CEO of The Family Business Network (FBN), the world’s leading network run by family businesses, for family businesses, together across generations.
FBN is the world’s leading family business organization. ‘By family businesses’ and ‘for family businesses’’, FBN is a safe, shared-learning space for enterprising families to flourish across generations, through the exchange of excellent, innovative and impactful practices.
A vibrant community founded in 1989, it is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland and brings together over 4,000 business owning families – 17,000 individual members including 6,400 Next-Generation members – in 32 chapters covering 65 countries. Every year, FBN organizes 1,500+ online and face-to-face activities in its chapters, internationally, regionally or locally.
Prior to FBN, du Roy de Blicquy held senior positions in various family businesses, including at Lhoist, Verlinvest, Armonea, also at IFC (World Bank Group). For six years, he was Chairman of the Board at ToolBox, a non-profit organisation that aims to support and develop NGOs by offering professional consultancy.
He is member of the Board at Trusted Family, the leading governance platform for family offices and boards, the Advisory Council at the AITIA Institute in Singapore, and at various cultural and charitable organizations. In 2020, he was recognized as one of Family Capital’s Top 100 Family Influencers.
He holds a Master’s in management science from Solvay Business School and is an INSEAD IEP and IMD HPL graduate.
Award winners
Congratulations to José de Mello Group, winner of the 2024 IMD Global Family Business Award
The independent award jury of family business experts and previous award winners praised the Group for its resilient family, business, and ownership. Read more
- 2023: Thermax
- 2022: Carvajal
- 2021: Grundfos
- 2020: Brown-Forman
- 2019: Dachser
- 2018: De Agostini
- 2017: Pentland Group plc
- 2016: Jebsen & Jessen Family Enterprise
- 2015: Bavaria
- 2013: J.M. Huber Corporation
- 2012: Bel Group
- 2011: Firmenich
- 2009: The Merck Group
- 2008: Roca Corporacion Empresarial
- 2007: Yazaki Corporation
- 2006: Fundació Lluis Carulla, Ivey Foundation and Lopez Group Foundation
- 2005: Votorantim Group
- 2004: The Barilla Group
- 2003: The Bonnier Group
- 2002: The Samuel C. Johnson Family Enterprises
- 2001: The Murugappa Group
- 2000: The Zegna Group
- 1999: The Henkel Group
- 1998: Corporacion Puig
- 1997: Hermès SA
- 1996: The LEGO Group
The IMD Global Family Business Award is one of the oldest and most highly recognized family business honors in the world. For over a quarter of a century we identify and recognize outstanding enterprising families and their businesses who serve as a role model for families around the world..
We are very glad we took part in the IMD Global Family Business Award process, since some of the questions in the application form pushed us as a family to think through.
2020 was a challenging year for so many of us. And so, winning an award like this is timely encouragement to us to continue to nourish our culture, brands, people, environment, shareholders and stakeholders, for their long-term health into the next generation, and the coming decades.
Being recognized by IMD encourages us to keep building a lasting family-owned company in the direction that we have been following since its foundation. It also makes us very proud of our progress and conscious about the challenges we must face and overcome as a family in the upcoming years. As a family, we feel united by this award.
Anyone is welcome to nominate or self-nominate.
- Multigenerational: At least in the third generation
- Large: Annual revenue of at least USD 0.5 billion
- International: With business operations in multiple countries
The announcement of the winner takes place during the award ceremony at the Family Business Network (FBN) Global Summit.
The winner of the IMD Global Family Business Award will be determined by the voting jury, composed of members of globally leading family businesses, former award winners and senior expert academics within the field of family business. Jury members receive an extensive report on finalists which they are asked to read to prepare for the annual jury meeting and anonymous online vote.
Family businesses that meet the eligibility criteria are encouraged to apply for the award, as it not only recognizes their achievements but also inspires them to reflect deeply on their journey and future goals. Past applicants have found that the process of completing the application brought them closer together as a family, fostering meaningful discussions and strategic thinking.
There are no costs associated with entry.
As a first step the family must confirm their willingness to participate. They must then complete the formal application form and return it by the end of April. This is followed by a 60-minute phone interview with a family representative to deepen our understanding and expand on certain aspects of the family business.
Winner is informed in July and the announcement of the winner takes place during the award ceremony at the Family Business Network (FBN) Global Summit in October/November. The presence of at least two representatives of the family is expected.
All materials and information collected and discussed throughout the award process will be handled with the utmost confidentiality. List of nominees, applicants and finalists will only be available to the voting and non-voting judges and the IMD team.
Family businesses are welcome to re-apply for the award. However, we suggest that they ensure improvements in the specified areas before re-submitting application. Ideally, we recommend waiting 2-3 years before re-applying to allow sufficient time for these enhancements to take effect.
The winner receives a beautiful and unique trophy crafted by Chopard, two complimentary seats on our Family Business/Family Office programs and has a case study and articles published about them. The winner also receives complementary access (for two) to the FBN Global Summit where the prize is handed out, as well as visibility around IMD campus, in our newsletters and on both the IMD website and the IMD Global Family Business Center website.
There can be only one winner. The runners-up, however, are also rewarded for their participation with a complimentary seat for our Family Business/Family Office programs.
With sincere thanks to our partners
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