The Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise Team proudly hosted the first "Ideas on Family Enterprise@INSEAD" Day on February 2nd, 2011, from 10h30 - 17h00 on INSEAD’s Europe Campus in Fontainebleau.
Aiming to promote families in business through education and building bridges, this uniquely open and highly interactive workshop drew a very diverse field of international participants, ranging from INSEAD faculty and directors of various departments, family business members, an Advisory Board member of WICFE, PhD and MBA students, and guests from partnering organisations and companies, such as the Family Business Network International’s Executive Director and the Next Generation Coordinator.
Everyone gained new perspectives, and new contacts during the course of a day dominated by an informal, very convivial atmosphere, where interest and experience met under the umbrella of enthusiasm.
Organiser and chair Julia Hieber, the director of WICFE, welcomed the participants, who along with the speakers, were asked to introduce themselves and explain their expectations for the day and their aspirations in the field of family businesses.
One of the predominant interests was succession - be it directly, as in understanding its intricacies, problems and possibilities; or more metaphorically, as in furthering a new generation by instilling values and providing education, so that they can, in turn, infuse new life into the family business by providing fresh vision and energy.
Economic imperatives and moral values handed down through the generations are increasingly perceived as a dichotomy, but many participants argued the case for promoting family businesses as a model for the world economy because of its greater emphasis on sustainability, as well as on human relationships, values, and identity. The balance between these advantages and the conflict potential of conflating the private and the professional would be a reoccurring theme throughout the day.
WICFE’s Academic Director, Professor Morten Bennedsen gave an introductory lecture on the theory behind analyzing the contribution of families towards their businesses - from the values they add to the roadblocks they face along the way. Prof. Bennedsen introduced the concept of family assets (defined as the unique factor – that, which would be lost with the departure of the family) and illustrated the challenges of transmitting them across generations, cultures, industries. Referring to some case studies, he also expanded on the difficulties of choosing the right business strategy, depending on the family’s input.
 Speaking on the particular intricacies family businesses are facing in Asia (especially China and Japan), Professor Joseph P.H. Fan (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) gave examples of how entrepreneurs created values still associated with their businesses, and how these businesses profited from the families retaining control. He also shared the conclusion from his research on how a governance system can be designed to help sustain family businesses, i.e. through structuring firm ownership and management, planning succession and cultivating successors by designing mechanisms for transferring power and values.
The subsequent lively discussion, in which participants contributed their practical experience, was carried over into the working lunch.
The Centre’s Senior Advisor, Adjunct Professor Christine Blondel shared a special insight into her field-work experience by introducing a case study of a family business, also frequently used in WICFE’s FAME Executive Education programme for families in business. Participants were asked to role-play the different stakeholders of the case, to come to a detailed understanding of succession issues and “fair process”. Despite a very productive discussion about what the best way forward would have been in this case, participants were still surprised by the actual outcomes, which gave a good insight into the importance of emotional aspects and relationships, as well as the dangers of eschewing the topic of succession within the family.
Before returning to their respective businesses and families, participants were asked to, firstly, talk about what insights they had gained, but, more importantly, about their wishes and ambitions to improve their work for family businesses. Reactions were very positive and everyone agreed that they had appreciated the academic input, especially the practical solutions provided. It would be desirable to have more channels for communicating knowledge and communicating in general, since it was important for families to know that the dilemmas they are facing are not unique.
It is worth noting that, whether direct stakeholders, researchers, facilitators, or all of the above in one, participants univocally stressed the importance and potential of building bridges and creating synergies. Towards that end, the “Ideas on Family Enterprise Day” was a good step, which will hopefully quicken to a stride in years to come. |
