ISBInsight has followed the fortunes of India’s family firms often in partnership with the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at ISB, one of the most trusted chroniclers of these businesses. In this issue, Dr Nupur Pavan Bang edits a collection that poses questions central to Indian family businesses at the contemporary juncture – how do family firms not only harvest the fruits of present prosperity but also lay the seeds for long-lived success? How do family firms nurture both wings and roots?

Also: Ajay Bhalla and Aneesh Banerjee examine the experience of the UK’s longest living family businesses for prescriptions for enterprise longevity and health. Simran Senani, Nupur Bang and Anil Sainani offer advice for family governance. Tara Ollapally explains why mediation works in tiding over family and business conflicts. Nupur Bang and Yashodhara Basuthakur trace out the new pathways family firms are charting in bringing daughters into the business fold.

In our Conversations section, we are very pleased to host a discussion between Dean Rajendra Srivastava and eminent theorist-practitioner Dr William Janeway on the challenges of investing in the innovation economy. We also have Dr Schmidhieny in dialogue with Professor Kavil Ramachandran about the contours of the emerging global economy. The current Executive Board Chairman of the German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Merck, Dr Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, tells Dr Navneet Bhatnagar what it takes for a family business to last over three and a half centuries. And ISB Board member G V Prasad of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories speaks frankly of the current conundrums of the Indian pharmaceutical sector.

Also among the highlights of this issue: insights from the 2018 Strategic Management Society conference. And speaking of legacy, Deepak Parekh recounts the HDFC voyage. Join us as we explore the unexpected twists and turns of the Indian business journey.