STEP Project

Our STEP Engagement

Our Center has been a member of the Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) Project since 2007.  We are also a founding member of STEP's Asia Pacific Chapter.  Thanks to the dedicated support of the following family businesses, we have created a unique series of case studies and publications advancing understanding of Chinese family businesses.

• Automatic Manufacturing Limited & the Mok family
• Associated Engineers, Ltd. & the Chow family
• Kowloon Watch Co. & the Wong family
• Menshy Group & the Chen family (in collaboration with Shantou University)
• A trading company listed in Hong Kong Exchange

As a knowledge leader, our Center for Entrepreneurship also hosted the first STEP Summit in 2008.  Findings in the Summit were edited to generate the title "Family Enterprise in the Asia Pacific: Exploring Transgenerational Entrepreneurship in Family Firms."  Further details about the family business functions under the STEP umbrella can be located here. 

Our STEP Research Team

Contributing to our Research

Families participating in our STEP research will enjoy a dynamic interaction with our research team.  They will get feedback from the principal researcher(s) and receive a STEP report. We engage our participants to share potential best practices identified in our functions, thereby leveraging the impact of the research to the family business community.  To achieve this, we offer a complimentary Full Membership (two-year) of our Family Business Learning Network to two authorized members of the participating family.  We stress on academic integrity and confidentialty of participants and their firms in the research process.

Interested in contributing to our research?  Simply contact our Education Professionals.

About the STEP Project

STEP is a global research consortium initiated by Babson College, USA.  The initaitive aims to: 

• establish a network of researchers who explore the entrepreneurial attitudes and capabilities of families through a blended qualitative and quantitative methodology leading to a stream of high quality publications
• ensure the continuity and growth of family businesses and groups by assisting them in passing on the mindset and capabilities for value creation across many generations
• establish a series of programs that bring family leaders together with academics for dialogue and discovery around the research findings and application.

STEP now has over 45 affiliates, operating in 4 different regions, registering over 200 scholars, and producing over 100 cases.  Some of the STEP affiliates are as follows:

• Babson College, USA
• Baylor University, USA
• Bond University, Australia  
• Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE), Spain
• Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC), France
• INCAE Business School, Costa Rica
• Indian School of Business, India
• Lancaster Management University, United Kingdom
• Northwestern University, USA  
• Singapore Management University, Singapore
• Università L. Bocconi, Italy
• Universitat Witten/Herdecke, Germany
• University of St. Gallen, the Switzerland
• Waseda University, Japan 
• Zhejiang University, China

The CUHK team presents in the STEP Asia Pacific Summit in Bangkok in 2012. The Summit attracts over 500 people.	Dr. Wong Kam Shing, Family Entrepreneur-in-Residence of CUHK and Managing Director of Kowloon Watch Co., shares his experience in the Summit.