The RA will support a major research initiative at IESE’s Africa Initiative focused on mapping and understanding family-owned businesses across Africa. The project explores how governance structures, ownership patterns, and family values shape the performance, development outcomes, and long-term orientation of family firms across six key African markets: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, and Morocco.
This research addresses a critical knowledge gap: while family-owned businesses represent 70–90% of Africa’s private sector, systematic evidence on their governance structures, operational performance, and development outcomes remains scarce. Over three years, the project will gather data from over 300 family businesses, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews and case studies to build the most comprehensive dataset on African family enterprises ever assembled.
Understanding these dynamics is particularly valuable for investors, policymakers, and development partners seeking rigorous, data-driven insights into whether and how family firm ownership and governance structures influence both financial returns and development impact.
A survey instrument has already been developed and approved, so the RA’s main role will focus on implementation, data analysis, and knowledge generation.
In addition, the role will contribute to IESE’s broader African Initiative efforts to generate knowledge and practical support that strengthens the capacity of leading entrepreneurial African families to grow across generations and drive sustainable development.
Main tasks include:
- Supporting survey administration across multiple African countries.
- Data cleaning, management, and statistical analysis.
- Conducting literature reviews on family business governance, succession, and development impact in African and emerging market contexts.
- Assisting in drafting research outputs for academic and practitioner audiences.
- Supporting case development and knowledge dissemination on African family businesses.
- Assisting in coordinating in-depth interviews and case studies with family business leaders across target markets.
- Assisting in the design and delivery of events, workshops, and learning activities for entrepreneurial families.
- Engaging with family business leaders and stakeholders to capture insights and feedback.
Must have:
- BS / BA degree or Master’s degree in Economics, Business Management, Sociology, Psychology or a related field.
- Strong skills in data analysis.
- Excellent command of English (spoken and written).
- Ability to work independently and in an international research environment.
- Commitment to rigorous work and high professional standards.
Desirable to have:
- Experience with survey design or survey platforms.
- Knowledge of African institutional, business, or family business contexts.
- Interest in family business governance, succession planning, or development impact topics.
- Statistics: Knowledge of statistical software (e.g. SPSS, STATA or R) and analysis in the social sciences (ANOVAs, regressions, moderated mediation) and, ideally, experience in multi-level modelling; knowledge of Python (text mining, scraping and text analysis) would also be a plus.
- Writing: The RA should be capable of writing for academic journals (ideally have previous experience, e.g. writing a research thesis).
Conditions
Full-time position.
1.830 euros / month before tax.
Work-Contract and Social Security.
Start date
To be agreed
End date
1 year with the possibility of extending
CONTACT
Interested parties please send CV, academic transcript and a cover letter in English to:
Ingrid Vergés
Research Division
IESE Business School
Phone Number: 93 253 42 00
Email: [email protected]
