WIFU Ringvorlesung „Between Rigour & Relevance“ in November 2026

In this session of the lecture series, speaker Dr Mohanakrishnan Raman compares how families in India and Germany organize and pass wealth across generations, with a particular focus on family businesses.
In India, the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) can provide a shared framework for holding and managing family property and business interests. In Germany, families commonly use a combination of wills, lifetime gifts, and business structures such as partnerships or companies to plan succession and keep a business running across generations.

These are different approaches: the HUF is rooted in family status and shared property, while German planning often relies on legal instruments and chosen business structures. Both raise practical questions about who makes decisions, how responsibilities pass to the next generation, and how family relationships can be balanced with the continuity of wealth and business.

This session introduces those differences and invites discussion about which arrangements best support long-term stewardship of family wealth.

Renowned researchers from Germany and abroad are regularly invited to the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) to provide insights into the latest research on family entrepreneurship.