 |
|
Edward Hart
Best Advice to a Family Business? Seek Outside Advice! |  |
"In the multitude of counselors (Advisors) there is safety." Proverbs 11:14There is safety in numbers. We have all heard this before. However, it is not entirely true. The safety comes from being with the right people, those who can lift us up, teach us, guide us, and lead us. When we trust the people around us, and they trust us, that is where the safety is found.In your family business, you have had success because you know your business, your customers, your industry, and you have established values and procedures that work for you and your customers.However, there comes a time for each of us when we realize that we do not know everything, and that we determine that reaching out to others will be the best way to gain the knowledge and expertise that we lack. We seek trusted advisors in all aspects of our lives, so why wouldn't we do the same in the area that creates our livelihood? (Read more from Edward Hart and add comments).
|
|
Paloma Fernandez
Lessons From History. Families in Business? First, Families in Society... If You Want to Endure |  |
In recent business history books and articles about longevity and endurance of large family businesses in the world I have demonstrated that the oldest and largest family firms and groups are in Japan and Germany, two countries that were devastated by world wars. Also, I have demonstrated with new historical databases and hundreds of new case studies, that some of the countries never negatively affected by a world war, where peace has been the rule, like Switzerland, do not occupy the first ranks in the lists of the oldest surviving family businesses of the world. Is this not a paradox? We have always been told at school that businesses flourish in times of peace and are destroyed and suffer in times of crisis and war. So, why German and Japanese companies, particularly in the beverages industries (and more in particular, in alcoholic industries) and in the chemical industries have endured for centuries, in countries literally destroyed by bombs and the killing of millions of people, while many other families in business have disappeared in countries where there has never been a war or serious economic crisis? (Read more from Paloma Fernandez and add comments.)
|
|
|
A great family business consultant once said "Know thyself."
O.K. Maybe it wasn't a family business consultant who first said this. Maybe it was someone named Socrates...
"Know thyself" is indeed good advice for family businesses -- but what are family businesses supposed to know about themselves?
This month's issue of the Family Business Wiki Newsletter highlights some areas of self-knowledge for family businesses.
- Phoebe Clark describes different types of family communication patterns -- and how these can support or disrupt a family business.
- Rania Labaki explains how family emotional patterns like being disengaged or enmeshed can be passed from one generation to the next.
- Paloma Fernandez hypothesizes that a family business history of maintaining close ties with the community/society supports family business longevity.
- Edward Hart reports that some family businesses are more willing to look outside of the family for expertise and resources -- and in this way increase their chances for success.
- Tom Lumpkin and Sophie Bacq help us to see how family businesses who are intentional about aligning multiple stakeholders, and who take a long-term orientation can serve as role models for social entrepreneurs.
"Know thyself" is a good place to start in preparing a family business for future growth and sustainability.
|
 | Phoebe Clark | | Are You Getting the Message Across? Tips for Avoiding the Common Pitfalls of Familial Communication
 One of the fascinating things about working with family businesses is discovering how different all families are, each one special and challenging in its own way. Despite the seemingly unique set of challenges presented by each family I have worked with, in almost every case there lurks an issue with miscommunication at its root. Here, I take a look at some of the most common examples of familial miscommunication and provide some ideas for their remedy...
My first example is when family members take messages for each other. Once a communication is passed on, it gets filtered through the messengers' own perceptions and biases; even different body language or tone can lead to the message understood being quite different to the one that was originally intended.
A case study illustrating this involves a large business family in which one family shareholder began to ignore all family correspondence and refused to participate in important decisions. (Read more from Phoebe Clark and add comments.)
|
| Tom Lumpkin and Sophie Bacq | | What Family Businesses Can Teach Social Entrepreneurs
  Family businesses, as it turns out, have a number of things in common with social enterprises. Both have a need to thrive economically, but are also motivated by non-economic goals such as helping others and enriching their communities. Both must deal with short-term decisions and demands, but many are guided by a long-term orientation that also influences decision making and action. Relative to non-family firms, both face the challenge of aligning the varied and sometimes divergent interests of multiple stakeholders. Given these similarities, it seems social enterprises-and social entrepreneurs-could learn a lot from family firms.
In a recent article, we addressed the topic of what family business can teach social entrepreneurs by identifying a few challenges that social enterprises might be facing where family business already have substantial experience. What we learned from this exploration increased our understanding of both family businesses and social enterprises. Two of the challenges of particular interest are aligning multiple stakeholders and achieving sustainable solutions. (Read more from Tom Lumpkin and Sophie Bacq and add comments.)
|
| Rania Labaki | | The Fabric of Successful Business Families: Emotional Roulette or Emotional Compass?
 "The rise and fall of the House of Seagram", "Dethroning the King : The hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch", "Steinberg: The breakup of a family empire" or "Gucci Wars", to cite a few, are documented storytelling books about the successes and failures of business families. Standalone from the actual facts, what strikes the reader most is the key role played by emotions in defining or shaping the family and business behavior.
Understanding what processes lead to a particular behavior has been traditionally subject to debate among thought leaders beyond the world of family businesses. Recently, the Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman offers an analysis of our "Thinking, Fast and Slow", revealing that our economic decisions are not made emotionless and that our behavior is governed by two cognitive systems: fast and intuitive on one side, slow and deliberate on the other side. In a similar line of thought, the bestselling author Malcom Gladwell argues that a "Blink" (intuition) is by far more effective than a cautious decision. (Read more from Rania Labaki 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! | |
|
