There are dysfunctional families, and then there are dysfunctional families. The Demoulas Clan -- the founders of the Market Basket grocery chain whose explosive and public family feud over control of the company recently culminated in the ouster of the chain's CEO, Arthur T. Demoulas -- fits squarely into the latter category.
"I honestly think Shakespeare, in putting together King Lear, had nothing on the Demoulas family," says historian Nancy Koehn of the Harvard Business School . Yet, she continues, the fierce show of loyalty from Market Basket employees protesting his departure -- many risking, and in some cases, even losing their jobs in the name of putting Arthur T. back in charge of the company -- suggests the mark of a CEO who was highly valued by his employees. Koehn broke down which business practices make employees loyal to a CEO.
"These are just a short list of things you must be doing credibly and from your heart as well as your head," Koehn concludes.
For more from Harvard historian Nancy Koehn on the continuing saga of the Demoulas clan and Market Basket, tune in to her full interview on Boston Public Radio, below.
