Heiko Kleve

WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

Business families - as the focus of the chair - are the transgenerational basis of "enkelfähige" and thus both socially and economically sustainable family entrepreneurship.

Completed research projects include

• Management of the dynastic business family - Business family 3.0
• The social system of the business family - the business family as an associate system
• Communication in business families
• Empowerment and self-reflection in business families
• Dynamics in growing business families
• Doing Business Family
• Fiduciary mentality in business families
   

Ongoing research projects including:

• Narratives of Survival - Resilience Narratives in Transgenerational Entrepreneurship
• Raising children in business families
• Life cycle of an entrepreneurial family
• Mental health in business families
• Systemic constellations as a method for gathering information for practice and research
   

Dr Britta Boyd
Senior Researcher
WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

Dr Sigrun Caspary
Research Assistant
WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

PD Dr. Tobias Köllner
Project manager
WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

M.A. Lina Nagel
Research assistant
WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

M. Sc., M.A. Magdalena Wendt
Research Assistant
WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

M. A. Philipp Wichelhaus
Academic staff
WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

Sandra Wiegard
Secretariat
WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families

Born 1969 in Warin (Meckl.), married, two sons

Polytechnic secondary school in Brüel (Meckl.)

Vocational training as a skilled worker for data processing in Berlin (East)

Studied social work (social work and social pedagogy), social sciences (sociology, political science and social philosophy) at the Alice Salomon University in Berlin, the Humboldt University in Berlin and the Free University of Berlin via the second educational path

1998
Doctoral studies in sociology at the Free University of Berlin

Professional experience as a social pedagogue working with families, children and young people as well as in social psychiatry

In-service training in systemic counselling, coaching, supervision and mediation (including at the Berlin Institute for Family Therapy/BIF and the Society for Systemic Therapy and Counselling Berlin/GST)

1997 - today
Freelance consultant, coach and mediator working with individuals, families, teams and organisations

2002 - 2005
Professor of Theory and History of Social Work at the Alice Salomon University in Berlin

2005 - 2017
Professor of sociological and socio-psychological foundations of social work at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (also dean and vice dean in the department of social and educational sciences)

2017 - Today
Holder of the WIFU Endowed Chair for the Organisation and Development of Business Families at the Witten Institute for Family Business at Witten/Herdecke University

2020 - today
Academic Director of the WIFU

2024 - today
Managing Director of the WIFU

03/2024 - 05/2024
Visting Scholar at the College of Business of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton (FL/USA)

• Systemic leadership and decision-making
• Theory of the family business and the business family
• Social psychology and sociology of the family business of the family business and the business family
• Lecture series on the introduction to family entrepreneurship
• Group dynamics (training group and theory seminar)
• Practical reflection module

• Family entrepreneurship
• Business families
• Succession in family businesses and business families
• Psycho-social counselling and social work
• Systemic counselling and coaching
• Systems theory
• Systemic constellations in practice and science
• Liberalism as a modern social philosophy

Functions at the university

• Representative of the Faculty of Management, Economics and Society
• Chairman of the General Assembly of the WittenLab

• Liaison officer of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom

   

Expertise

• Systemic counsellor (DGSF)
• Supervisor and coach (DGSv)
• Systemic supervisor and teaching supervisor (SG)
• Case Manager (DGCC)

• Conflict mediator (ASFH)

   

Memberships

• Systemic Association. German Association for Systemic Research, Therapy, Supervision and Counselling (SG)
• German Society for Supervision and Coaching (DGSv)
• German Society for Social Work (DGSA)

• Friedrich A. von Hayek Society

   

Advisory board activities

• Scientific advisory board of Carl Auer Verlag Heidelberg
• Member of the editorial board of the journal "Familiendynamik"
• Editorial board member of the journal "Systeme"

• Editorial board member of the journal for conflict management (ZKM)

   

Awards and honours

• Joachim Tiburtius Prize of the Senate of Berlin in recognition of the outstanding diploma thesis "Social Work and Constructivism" (1997)
• Award for outstanding achievements in teaching from the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin (2003)