Culture change is hard. The conventional wisdom is that it takes years to change a culture, defined as the assumed beliefs and norms that govern “the way we do things around here.” This may be true. However in most family businesses and business organisations I meet, few if ever come to realise that it is …
Succession Planning – Research
I must say that I never get tired or bored reading research on succession planning in family business. Succession is the main challenge for Family businesses for various reasons, including the need to address the question of transfer between generations, this being an adjustment of the mutual function between founder and the next generation of …
Conflict in Family Businesses
Conflict is part of the human condition. Therefore, it is neither negative nor positive, but rather a natural phenomena (Espinoza, 2011). The negative connotations traditionally attributed to conflict are at odds with current theories that explain the use of the term as an engine of change and generator of competitive advantage. Such consequences can only …
LEGO – Succession planning is a journey
I was recently in Billund Denmark and visited the so called LEGO house and could read and learn about the LEGO business - yes a family business! LEGO knows its origins to Ole Kirk Kristiansen who hasda carpentry business that by the end of the 1920s, due to the Great depression, was suffering and ultimately …
The Importance of Educating the Next Generation
It is heart breaking when I meet family businesses that suffer because the next generation was ill prepared to lead the family business. Family business should give priority to well prepare their next generations as potential successors for operational or board roles within the family business. Educating the next generation on family business matters is …
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Building Trust
As Simon Sinek rightly puts it, “A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other." So the question every business leader should be asking is "How do I make sure that I build a trusting team?" What I find mind boggling is …
Is the next generation really committed to the Family Business?
Many next-generation family members may decide to join their family businesses, exhibiting the desire to be part of the family business. However it is a common occurrence that their subsequent behaviours in relation to the family business will vary, with huge implications for their effectiveness and the actual family business performance (cf. Morrison, 1994). So, …
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Who is seeing the Big Picture?
As I keep repeating many family business owners are exclusively focused on operational matters. Such a mindset is based on continuous steady improvements. It is a mindset that works well when the need for change is slow and easily manageable. A level of change that can be handled through investments, work faster in some areas, …
Why Training the Next Generation is Essential
Educating the next generation on family business matters is complex for both senior and next-generation family members. The list of activities that help shape and prepare the next generation can be very long. Education can be a mix of mandatory, self-imposed or discretionary activities. To ensure a successful journey, families should keep the next generation …
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What do Kodak, Sears, Budweiser, Toys “R” Us, Cadbury and Subway have in common?
They where all family businesses which either went belly up, as they failed to see shifts in their markets, as they where not strategically focused, or had to sell off the family business due to lack of succession planning or proper policies to prevent conflict. The collapse of KodakThe Eastman Kodak Company, founded by George …
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