NSYSU's Center for Strategy and Human Capital Research and Esade's The Global Business Family Initiative Sign MOU to Strengthen International Collaboration in Family Business Research

The Center for Strategy and Human Capital Research (CSHCR) at National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Global Business Family Initiative (GBFI), part of the Esade Entrepreneurship Institute at Ramon Llull University in Spain. The agreement establishes a long-term partnership to advance family business research through joint research, academic exchange, international conferences, and talent development.

The MOU was signed by Professor Chiung-Wen Tsao on behalf of CSHCR Director Professor Shyh-Jer Chen and by Associate Professor María José Parada, Co-Academic Director of GBFI. The partnership will promote faculty exchanges, collaborative research, academic events, and the sharing of research resources, creating new opportunities for cross-border scholarly collaboration.

GBFI is one of Europe's leading platforms for family business research and knowledge exchange. Based at the Esade Entrepreneurship Institute in Barcelona, the Initiative focuses on entrepreneurial family governance, ownership structures, intergenerational succession, sustainability, and business strategy. Through international partnerships and family-engaged research, GBFI has built a global network linking scholars and practitioners across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Its Co-Academic Director, María José Parada, is an internationally recognized scholar in family business research. Her research has been widely published in leading international journals in the fields of family business, organization and management, and strategic management. She has also been actively involved in international collaborative projects and cross-national comparative research on family businesses.

The collaboration reflects a relationship that has developed over several years. In 2024, Professor Tsao participated in the 19th EIASM Workshop on Family Firm Management Research in Spain, where she met Professor Parada. Their discussions on family governance, succession, and ownership laid the groundwork for future collaboration.

The partnership continued to deepen in 2025. Professor Parada was invited to Taiwan as the keynote speaker for the CSHCR Seminar-Internationalization and Entrepreneurship in Family Businesses, where she presented her latest research on succession planning and team governance. Later that year, Professor Tsao attended the 20th EIASM Workshop on Family Firm Management Research in Sweden, presenting research on succession and organizational resilience while discussing institutional collaboration, faculty and student exchanges, and future joint research with GBFI. These discussions ultimately led to the signing of the MOU.

CSHCR is also participating in the Family Ownership Strategy Survey (OWNERCOMP), an international research project jointly coordinated by GBFI and LUT University in Finland. The project examines how ownership structures, governance mechanisms, and strategic decisions interact across different institutional environments through cross-national survey research. As one of the project's international partners, CSHCR contributes to data collection and comparative analysis, further strengthening collaboration between the two institutions.

The new agreement marks an important milestone in the partnership between CSHCR and GBFI. Looking ahead, both institutions will expand joint research, academic exchanges, and international events while strengthening family business research networks across Asia and Europe. Together, they aim to increase the global visibility of family business research in Taiwan and contribute to the continued development of the field.

Figure 1. Professor Chiung-Wen Tsao (right) of the Center for Strategy and Human Capital Research and Associate Professor María José Parada (left), Co-Academic Director of the Global Family Business Initiative, sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).