With the recent focus on family constitutions (also known as 'constitutive acts' or 'protocols'), some family firms think this is the magic formula that will help them stay together, forever, in business.

Based on the performance of Portuguese companies during the sovereign debt crisis, we find that newly hired managers have become relatively more effective in achieving better performance for the companies. When compared to managers who have been with the organisation longer, newly hired managers outperform by around 18 per cent, both in terms of total sales and value added.

Banks in the European Union subject to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) had to implement IFRS 9 as of 1 January 2018. One of the main concerns with the implementation of IFRS 9 is that it would cause a sudden increase in Expected Credit Loss (ECL) estimates, which would cause an abrupt and significant decline in Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) regulatory capital ratios for many banks in the European Union.