Ludens Familias

Abstract

Many business schools and other family business education providers have over the last 15 years been authoritatively criticised for a lack of innovation and adaptability in their pedagogical designs. The increasing economic participation of international family businesses in developed, developing, and emerging markets in the decade after the global financial crisis of 2008/9 has extended this critique. This chapter proposes a play-based response to such criticism and a pathway for ‘leaning into the future demands of family business education (FBE). The authors suggest that a play-based approach re-dresses some of the above imbalances. The chapter draws on the development of an expansive, activity-based framework for playful learning designs. As an example of their approach, the authors use their method-based reconfiguration of traditional (family business) case-studies into live, ‘ludic objects (RETS-MICA), to demonstrate ways in which and play affords MBA, family business learners the opportunity to build their entrepreneurial competencies in-situ.