Scaling a Business Beyond the Family Playbook

Johnson Security Bureau is one of the oldest Black-owned security firms in the United States, providing services to New York-area banks, public works, hospitals, transportation facilities, and other industries. The company had been handed down across three generations and its status as a woman-owned, minority-owned firm had been part its competitive strategy since CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope took over the firm from her father.

In order to grow the business, however, Johnson-Cope considered partnering with security firms in other states, something that threatened to put some of the company’s founding priorities on the back burner. She also considered expanding the business into cybersecurity.

In this conversation with host Brian Kenny, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Henry McGee and CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope discuss the leadership dilemmas at the heart of the case “Johnson Security Bureau: Building Multigenerational Success.”

Key episode topics include: leadership, family businesses, entrepreneurs and founders, strategic thinking, growth strategy, scaling entrepreneurial ventures

● Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Scaling a Family Business While Maintaining Founding Values
● Find more episodes of Cold Call
● Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org