Judith van Helvert-Beugels

Judith van Helvert-Beugels is professor in Family Businesses at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences since June 2021. Previously, she was, among other things, associate professor at the same professorship, project manager and lecturer at the University of Utrecht.

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Research focus

Her research focuses on entrepreneurial families to better understand the unique behaviour of family-owned businesses. How do entrepreneurial families contribute to the creation of widespread wealth and what are their motivations and incentives? How do they develop their entrepreneurialism and pass it on from generation to generation? And what patterns and dynamics play a role in being a successful business family? 

Education

Judith studied International Business at Maastricht University and went on an exchange to Audencia Business School in Nantes. She received her PhD from Jönköping International Business School in Sweden on a study on the role and function of advisory boards in family businesses.  

Research 

In her research, Judith works - often together with other knowledge institutions and market players - towards solutions that are directly applicable. She states: "Within the field of family businesses, practice-oriented research is essential to strengthen the entrepreneurial power of these companies. A lot of knowledge is being developed, but if this knowledge is difficult to translate into practical insights, it is lost. Together with my team, I want to make that translation. We involve business partners in our research and develop tools and educational materials to make it accessible. A good example is our workbook (published in early 2022) which families can use to determine whether and how they want to communicate to their stakeholders that they are a family business. This is how we want our work to be meaningful for entrepreneurial families." 

More about the Centre of Expertise in Family Business