 |
|
Carmen Lence
How Coaching and Consulting Work Together to Complete the Puzzle of Sustainable Change |
As a consultant, have you ever walked out of a successful family business meeting, where everybody agreed on the changes that needed to take place, only to come back a few weeks later and find out that nothing has actually been implemented?
As a family member, have you ever spent a substantial amount of money on consultancy fees, only to fail to implement the changes the consultants proposed, even though you know it would be the right thing for the family business to do?
No Change no Pain
We all know that change is difficult. In fact, change is so difficult that our brain is actually wired in a way that provokes sensations of physiological discomfort as soon as we face the slightest threat of change. As such, many of us do whatever it takes to avoid it. Even in the face of life-threatening situations, many of us have a hard time making decisions that involve change. Let me give you an example. (Read more from Carmen Lence and add comments.) |
|
José Javier Rodríguez Alcaide
Envy in the Family Business |
I have known many evils deep within the corporate family. One of them is not very common but does appear in some of these families. It is a stigma that separates brothers from others. This disease is envy. The envy of a brother to another creates a barrier of silence between them, for he who suffers it is situated away from family and, at times, full of resentment.
Jealousy between siblings creates a vacuum, a closed silence, as if talking amongst themselves in the company or outside of it was something ghostly. Mute, looking away, not understanding -- as if looking or speaking might transmit the disease. The wall of silence continues while the parents are still present, and this envy affects plans for the future. The envy is highly polluting and destructive, and can destroy the family business after the founders are gone.
Envy breeds endless self-destruction until one brother purchases the shares of the other, or until it leads to fragmentation of the family business. Envy is the release of a hidden source of destructive energy. (Read more from Jose Javier Rodriguez Alcaide.) |
|
Mauricio Alvarez
The Key to Success in Transfer of Family Wealth |
Last December I received a call from Don Carlos, a businessman from Monterrey, Mexico, who requested a meeting to talk about his family. During the meeting he told me how his business has prospered, allowing him to accumulate significant wealth. "My kids get a lot of money but don't want to work for it." I was really worried about the future of his children having a fortune like that. His main concern was the impact that this fortune could have on their lives.
Link (1999), mentions that there are several aspects of family wealth: The best known aspect is those things which we have accumulated over the years, including money, stocks, bonds, property, etc. As this aspect has nothing to do with people, we can consider it as the most trivial of all. Other aspects of family wealth include the spiritual and emotional components of the family. The former appeals to reason and the latter to the heart. (Read more from Mauricio Alvarez and add comments.)
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
¡Saludos!
Welcome to this third annual special edition of the Family Business Wiki newsletter written entirely by Spanish-speaking contributors (and available in both Spanish and English).
In addition to our "Thought Leader Blog", written by Juan Corona, Academic Director of the Instituto de la Empresa Familiar, we are also fortunate to have contributions from Spanish-speaking family business advisors and academics representing Argentina, Mexico, Spain, U.S.A., and Venezuela.
Would like to extend a special invitation to join The Family Business in Spanish - a discussion group on Family Business Wiki's Town Square. The idea of this group is to discuss family business issues of interest, including your blog posts and discussions.
You can also follow us on our Twitter account @ FamBusWiki, where you will find constantly updated news.
¡Un abrazo y hasta la próxima!
Guillermo Salazar
Family Business Wiki Advisory Board Member
Exaudi Family Business Consulting |
 | Thought Leader Blog: Juan Corona | |
Family Business and Entrepreneurship
 Empirical studies on business demography have highlighted a number of elements of great relevance in the current economic crisis. First, the analysis of available data in different countries highlights the existence of a continuous flow of start-up businesses. On the other hand, the analysis of data also reveals a significant number of business failures. In sum, the overall growth rate of companies in these markets tends to be very small. Faced with this reality, we must consider what are the causes leading to this high business mortality and consequent low net growth rate of business. In this regard, it is possible to identify the existence of both exogenous and endogenous factors which explain this trends of business demography. Among the exogenous factors can be cited regulatory barriers, competition policy, fiscal barriers, funding difficulties, and a wide range of elements well known and studied. However, accepting the enormous importance of these factors, we believe that the problem can be approached from a different perspective -- highlighting the importance of the internal characteristics and philosophy of the company itself in dealing successfully with the challenge of survival, especially in the early years of its activity. Family businesses are a noteworthy example because their special features can play an important role in reversing these trends in business demography. (Read more from Juan Corona and add comments.) |
| Ernesto Niethardt | |
Family Business Governance for the Business and the Family
 For a business, governance refers to the process by which shareholders, directors and managers interact for the purpose of controlling and directing the enterprise.
For family businesses, there is no standard model of governance. The need to incorporate more formal bodies and processes in the system of governance depends on the evolution of the family and the growth of the business.
In a family business, governance structures should be designed to protect the long-term interests of the partners, enable and ensure the growth and continuity of the company, and promote the harmony and welfare of the owners. Therefore, both the business and the family need a system of governance.
The growth and development of the business is often accompanied by the growth of the family. Over time, just as there are governing bodies for the business, there must also be governing bodies for the family. (Read more from Ernesto Niethardt and add comments.) |
| Cristina Alvarado | |
Best Practices for Getting Along With Your Siblings
 Cases like the Gucci family, in which four brothers embark on a fierce battle for leadership of the company that ends in family tragedy and the sale to an investor group, support the idea that family businesses with brothers have everything to lose. Behind most of these failures, however, the conflict arises from the family. Sibling rivalry seems like a fire which can destroy everything in its path and threaten the continuity of the family and company.
Fortunately, not all family businesses with brothers have this misfortune. On the contrary, there are numerous cases in which teams of siblings are able to grow their companies through proper management of their family relationships.
A key to turning this threat into an opportunity has to do with the ability of the brothers to assume a new way of relating to each other which allows them to move ahead with their business. Their ability to collaborate is greatly influenced by the style of relating which they learned in their family, and it is this style which has to be renewed during the transition of the business. (Read more from Cristina Alvarado and add comments.)
|
| Guillermo Salazar | |
What's the Rhythm of the Family Business in Latin America?
Exaudi Research ( www.exaudionline.com), together with distinguished academic institutions, business associations and consultant firms from different Latin American countries*, headed a study of 750 family businesses in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The main objective of the study was to determine the demographic traits and the impact of the environment in the managerial and strategic decision making of the family businesses in the region. Based on the study of the social, political and economic factors which have an impact on the companies and families of each country, we have classified each one of the countries in order to enable a better understanding of the conditions under which these companies operate and how their internal strategies and decision making regarding family topics are affected: "Mambo" The countries classified as "Mambo" (Costa Rica, Peru and Uruguay), are defined by a constant energy and work economy, with more order and better established economic rules than the rest of the countries. The companies are mainly concerned with the economic policies of the local governments (16.29%), the lack of qualified labor (10.64%) and taxes (10.30%). The companies are younger and smaller with a more professional administration. The people surveyed in these countries have a higher level of satisfaction with regards to the performance of the directors of their companies (31.70% claim to agree with the way their companies are managed). ( Read more from Guillermo Salazar and add comments.) |
|
We'd like to hear what you think of the newsletter and the Wiki. Let us know the good, the not so good, and everything in between. Click here to help us do our job better! | |
|
