معرفی
Raffi Amit serves as the Marie and Joseph Melone Professor and Professor of Management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where he founded and leads the Wharton Global Family Alliance (WGFA). From 1999 to 2015, he directed Wharton Entrepreneurship, overseeing all entrepreneurial programs. His work bridges academic research with practical family business applications through global knowledge-sharing initiatives.
His educational background includes:
- B.A. in Economics
- M.A. in Economics
- Ph.D. in Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management
Amit's research spans business model innovation, family business governance, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. He examines how family dynamics intersect with financial systems to sustain enterprise prosperity, publishing extensively on ownership structures, succession planning, and wealth management. His work integrates behavioral aspects of family systems with economic frameworks to address real-world business challenges.
Recent publications (2019-2025) reveal three dominant themes: cross-cultural entrepreneurship determinants, family firm governance under activist pressures, and digital-era business model transformation. His 2025 study links cultural looseness to higher entrepreneurship rates across 156 nations, while 2024 research analyzes how accelerator design impacts startup success and hedge fund tactics in family-controlled firms.
His accolades include:
- Elected Fellow of the Strategic Management Society (2009)
- The Greif Entrepreneurship Research Impact Award (2007)
- Strategic Management Journal Best Paper Prize (2000)
- Sage Scholarly Impact Award Finalist (2016)
- European Corporate Governance Institute Finance Prize (2007)
Amit actively advises global family enterprises through the WGFA, having served as Chair of Creo Products Inc. (acquired by Kodak in 2005), Chairman of the Korean Global IT Fund Advisory Board, and director at Alvarion Ltd. His current board roles include a global family-controlled firm, with advisory work spanning governance systems, succession planning, and valuation strategies for substantial families worldwide.
He founded the Wharton Global Family Alliance to advance family business practices through thought leadership, while previously shaping Wharton's entrepreneurial ecosystem as Academic Director for 16 years. His initiatives facilitate knowledge exchange between academic researchers and family enterprises across 40+ countries.
