Among the HSM portal events already scheduled for 2012 is the HSM Family Business Forum, which will feature John L. Ward, co-director and professor at the Center for Family Enterprises at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. As reported in HSM.Com, the professor is dedicated to studying family business management models and their survival in the face of new markets and business management paradigms.
As a result of his more than a decade working with some of the world's most promising family businesses, Ward believes that family groups have a good chance of success in the new economic scenario. In his analysis, the stability and regularity of the family model can be attractive to investors in the publicly traded market. Coping with the new digital capitalism, which brings consumers and companies closer together, also has advantages for family businesses. Finally, the expert points out that reputation is another factor of the utmost importance and, cultivated by families who are committed to excellence in conducting business, brings an interesting competitive advantage.
Suggestions for good practice
The HSM Portal article also describes the best practices suggested by John Ward for managing family businesses. Check it out!
- Selective family employment: Ward argues that the selection of family members to join the business makes work an opportunity, rather than a mere obligation. Family members forced to work in the family business can lose their motivation;
- Freedom to sell shares: clarity and freedom for family shareholders to dispose of their shares in the company. Pressure to keep the family in absolute control can lead to disloyalty and rivalry between shareholders;
- Family mission: a company with family members who share the same values and pursue the same goals is much more likely to succeed than a business that is only "shared" between family members;
- Sharing goals and plans: families grow and become more complex. That's why it's essential to share the company's goals and plans with everyone, avoiding disagreements and clashes between shareholders;
- Family meetings: successful families meet often and learn together;
- Fun: Successful families regularly establish occasions to get together and have fun. The practice reinforces family ties between members that become more distant as families and businesses grow and become more complex;
- Succession and leadership: the distinction between family leadership and business leadership. With the founder or current leader (or patriarch) passing away or retiring, succession is necessary, but it doesn't necessarily have to be taken by the same person;
- Restraint: successful business families spread the values of restraint and rationality in the use of resources and capital among new generations. Saving is the secret to continuity;
- Independent boards: even if they retain control of the business, successful families make use of independent advisors and consultants, who bring opinions, suggestions and criticism from outside the family context.
With information from the HSM Portal
