By Abby Harlan
February 4, 2026

Washington and Lee professors Pooja Thakur-Wernz and Aliaa Bassiouny recently published a paper titled "Family Ownership and Institutional Voids: Evidence from SMEs in Egypt" in the Critical Perspectives on International Business Journal. Thakur-Wernz, assistant professor of business administration, and Bassiouny, Lawrence Term Professor of Finance, co-authored the piece with Professor Maha ElShinnawy from the American University in Cairo (Egypt).

The paper investigates how family ownership shapes the ability of Egyptian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to navigate deficiencies in formal institutions and maintain positive development. Thakur-Wernz and Bassiouny's research efforts included a multi-case methodology involving an in-depth interview process with five family-owned Egyptian SMEs. The researchers subsequently analyzed these conversations using a structured qualitative method, known as the Gioia framework, to understand how business owners navigate the challenges posed by weak institutions.

Thakur-Wernz and Bassiouny cited the Lenfest Summer Grants program that enabled their fieldwork in Egypt, as well as the transcription of the interview data.

Thakur-Wernz, who joined W&L in 2020, holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from Osmania University (India), an MBA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in management from Rutgers University. She teaches courses in global strategy and strategic management and researches the role of emerging economies in the global business landscape. Her teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of strategic management and international business.

Bassiouny has served as a member of the W&L faculty since 2019. She received both a bachelor's and master's degree in business administration at the American University in Cairo (Egypt) along with a Master of Research and a Ph.D in Management Sciences at the ESADE Business School (Spain). She teaches courses in managerial finance, investments and multinational business finance and her research interests revolve around investments and empirical market microstructure with a focus on emerging markets.