Family Enterprise

The family enterprise, whether an operating business, a family office, or both, is the backbone of the US and international economies. These enterprises cut across industries and geographies and can be first-generation entrepreneurial companies or multi-generational businesses with family offices. This book offers a foundation in and understanding of how family enterprises work, including working definitions and the key characteristics of family enterprises, as well as useful concepts for working with and in family enterprises, either as a professional or as a family member.

• Written by the experts at the Family Firm Institute, a global network of professionals, educators, researchers, and owners of family enterprises
• An ideal resource for professionals in law, finance, management, and behavioral science, family office and fund managers, and others interested in an multidisciplinary approach to this field

Acknowledgments ix

Family Enterprise: Understanding Families in Business and Families of Wealth xi

Chapter 1 Defining Family Enterprise 1

Definition 1 2

Definition 2 2

Definition 3 2

Definition 4 2

Definition 5 2

Family Business Review article: “From Longevity of Firms to Transgenerational Entrepreneurship of Families: Introducing Family Entrepreneurial Orientation” 4

Assessment Test 1 37

Chapter 2 Classic Systems of a Family Enterprise 39

The Family System 40

The Ownership System 41

The Enterprise System 42

Assessment Test 2 43

Chapter 3 Representative Governance Systems in Family Enterprises 45

Enterprise Governance 46

Family Governance: Family Council 48

Owner Governance: Ownership Forum 49

Assessment Test 3 50

Chapter 4 Key Characteristics of Family Enterprises 53

Characteristics 53

Challenges 54

Comparison of Family Systems and Enterprise Systems 55

Assessment Test 4 57

Chapter 5 Concepts in Family Enterprise Study 59

Systems Thinking: A Very Brief History 59

Systems Thinking: The Individual in the System 60

Relevant Systems Concepts: Triangles, Scapegoat(ing), Homeostasis, Boundaries 61

Content and Process 63

Family Business Review article: “Using the Process/Content Framework: Guidelines for the Content Expert” 65

Assessment Test 5 77

Chapter 6 Theoretical Frameworks in Family Enterprises 81

The Three-Circle Model 83

The Developmental Model 87

The Balance Point Model 88

Assessment Test 6 89

Chapter 7 Core Professions Working With Family Enterprises 93

Differing Perceptual Filters 95

Understand the Differences Among the Core Professions 96

Assessment Test 7 99

Chapter 8 Multidisciplinary Professional Teams 101

Types of Teams 101

Challenges Teams Face 102

Family Business Review article: “The Effects of Goal Orientation and Client Feedback on the Adaptive Behaviors of Family Enterprise Advisors” 103

Assessment Test 8 138

Chapter 9 Applying What You Have Learned 141

Case 1 141

Case 2 142

Case 3 142

Glossary 145

Suggested Readings From Family Business Review: Journal of the Family Firm Institute 153

About the Website 155

About The Family Firm Institute, Inc. 157

About the Authors 159

Index 161

For over a quarter century, The Family Firm Institute, Inc. (FFI) has been engaged in educating, connecting, and inspiring professionals who serve family enterprises. FFI is the leading association worldwide for family enterprise professionals and the organization of choice for the advisors, consultants, educators, and researchers who help perpetuate transgenerational family business wealth. In adopting a multidisciplinary and genuinely global perspective, FFI understands family enterprise as a fundamental driver of global economic growth, prosperity, and stability. For its global network of professionals, educators, researchers, and family business owners, FFI provides opportunities to participate in multidisciplinary educational programs and earn professional designation; enables collaboration at conferences, seminars, and online; and creates a single space for interaction, cross-pollination of ideas, expertise, and perspectives to further the field of family enterprise.

Accounting for between 65 and 85 percent of all business worldwide, family enterprises are crucial drivers of both the prosperity of nations and the global economy as a whole. Coming in all shapes and sizes—ranging from corporate giants such as Walmart, Samsung, and Tata, to countless small to medium-sized companies—family enterprises cut across all industry sectors. And, while no two businesses are exactly alike, and each company has its unique structural, operational, and cultural nuances, when it comes to family-owned enterprises, there is an additional layer of complexity that demands a specialized knowledge and skill set from those who seek to advise and guide them.

Written for the professional who works with family enterprises, either from within or outside of their client companies, this book provides an extremely well-informed look at the complexion of the contemporary family enterprise and its unique functional and behavioral realities. Just as important, it arms readers with a set of powerful analytical, planning, and implementation tools developed by The Family Firm Institute—a global network of professionals, educators, researchers, and family business owners—that are applicable to all types of family enterprise.

With the help of numerous real-world examples, self-assessments, and high-quality graphics, the authors provide in-depth coverage of:

• Classic family enterprise systems—family, ownership and enterprise
• Governance in family enterprises, with a focus on family councils and ownership forums
• Key behavioral/psychological characteristics of family enterprises
• Important theoretical approaches to enterprise study, with an emphasis on systems theory
• Analytical models for family enterprises, including the three-circle model, the developmental model, and the balance point model
• Information specific to the full range of legal, finance, behavioral, and other specialists who work with family enterprises
• Guidelines for taking a multidisciplinary team approach to the challenges and opportunities facing family enterprises in the global economy

To help you test and fine-tune your grasp of the concepts and skills outlined, the final chapter features case studies of three family enterprises, each with its own distinctive family makeup and challenges. In each case, you are tasked with resolving an issue from the perspective of your professional speciality.

Offering a powerful approach to understanding, assessing, and working with family enterprises, this is an indispensable resource for all professionals who consult and advise family-owned companies, as well as family office and fund managers.