The Key Issues that Can Help Family Businesses
Gain Control of Sibling Rivalries

Family Business Quarterly
by Thomas Davidow and Richard Narva

Old soldiers, General Douglas MacArthur once remarked, “don’t die, they just fade away.”

Not so sibling rivalries. They have been around since the beginning of mankind–related most memorably in the biblical narratives of Cain and Abel and that of Joseph, his brothers, and the coat of many colors. And they can create nearly as much havoc in today’s family businesses as they did in the biblical tales. Some family businesses have been literally torn apart by the intensity of feelings created when one sibling feels neglected or rejected,