Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how anthropology is ideally suited to reconfigure the terms and tasks of management consulting. To make the case, I explore broad issues regarding the nature of family firms and their role in the industrial economy based on my experience with Italian family-run businesses and coaching a new generation of Italian family entrepreneurs on how to compete effectively in times of turmoil and austerity. More specifically, I show how an anthropologist’s perspective and emphasis on the “quality of context” can help us think about family businesses as place-based brands in a global world and help address intergenerational succession issues while, at the same time, enhancing competitiveness in a globalized marketplace.