Events & Promotions
It is currently 28 Mar 2024, 02:57 |
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
10:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
12:00 PM PDT
-11:59 PM PDT
08:00 PM PDT
-09:00 PM PDT
03:00 PM EDT
-04:00 PM EDT
08:30 AM PDT
-09:30 AM PDT
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: What America’s family-owned businesses have learned from the German Mittelstand |
Germany has a long culture of family-owned and privately held businesses, the so-called Mittelstand. These businesses typically have long-term growth goals and try to align commercial goals with the interests of their employees and other stakeholders, including the communities where they are located. Germans are understandably proud of their Mittelstand. The flip side of this pride is that Germans often criticize the allegedly short-term goals and practices of American companies. But a new movement in the US might change this perception. More and more privately held American firms are adopting a philosophy that Germany’s Mittelstand embraced long ago. Family-owned businesses such as Trigema, a maker of tennis shirts and other textiles, embody the values of the German Mittelstand. It promises to source most of its value chain locally, to lay off no employees, and to offer the children of staff apprenticeships in the company. This is not only a good marketing tool but also keeps staff turnover low and loyalty high. But it is not only the German Mittelstand that subscribes to these values. Whereas public companies must have the interests of shareholders closest to their hearts, privately held companies generally tend to care more about other stakeholders. That’s why even in the US, more entrepreneurs are coming around to the view that long-term success requires taking care of their communities and staff, and defining a social “purpose” in addition to profit goals. One of the founders of this American movement is John Mackey, the boss of Whole Foods (recently bought by Amazon). He wrote a book about finding a higher purpose for business than merely maximizing profits. Mr. Mackey argues that business is about achieving the noble, the good, the beautiful, and heroic. Companies should, he thinks, embrace all their stakeholders and try to benefit everyone they touch, not just shareholders. Strong leadership, he argues, requires not just analytical and emotional intelligence but also systemic and spiritual intelligence. In addition to a strong business plan, companies need conscious cultures that support people bringing their whole selves to work. This cultural change is happening mainly among family-owned businesses in the US. Germans might therefore reconsider their blanket condemnations of Anglo-Saxon capitalism and look instead at the misaligned incentives in listed companies specifically. These are often run by mercenary executives, while the owners have little to no control or input in daily management. If public companies want to get out of the spotlight of scandals and ongoing identity crises, they might take a leaf from their family-owned competitors. They should realign management incentives and define long-term goals that include not only shareholders but also employees, customers, and local communities. That’s neither Anglo-Saxon nor German capitalism; it’s simply good business. Source: McCobin, Alexander and Roeder, Fred, February 5, 2018, https://global.handelsblatt.com/opinion/what-americas-family-owned-businesses-have-learnt-from-the-german-mittelstand-883685 |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Planning for Family Business Longevity in Three Steps |
In family businesses, family assets are the unique and often intangible contributions that only families can bring to their firms and are essential to their identities. Long-lived family firms always need to identify and develop those unique family assets that have been sustained and enhanced by each generation of the family. However, as these firms develop and grow over time, family assets can be lost on the growing number of family members and stakeholders, especially if no long-term planning of this special type of asset management has been initiated by the founders or developed by second- or third-generation owner-managers. To develop long-term planning, owner-managers can focus on three key variables:
However, shares in the bank are all owned by the eight partners of the firm who are family members. With approximately 2,000 Hoare cousins in the extended family, the bank does not distribute dividends to all of them. Dividends are only distributed to the eight partners, and the dividend has not changed since 1928. As an unlimited-liability company, each of the eight partners carries unlimited liability for the bank’s business activities. “This influences our behaviour,” said Alexander. “It forces the eight partners to manage and mitigate any risks the bank could have.” By staying focused, families can optimise and enlarge the long-term value of their assets. Moreover, family control is most valuable when the family assets are strong. Source: Bennedsen, Morten. & Henry, Brian., February 16, 2018; https://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/planning-for-family-business-longevity-in-three-steps-8421#jEzK8FoKQYa2QtZ9.99 |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Future-Proofing A Family Business: The Art of Drafting Family Constitutions |
Family firms usually start out as simple organizations. But as they develop and grow they face greater complexities and challenges, often leading to tensions among the owning family over how they run the firm together. A common solution is to develop a family constitution outlining the values, principles and procedures that the family agrees to follow. Such constitutions are important tools in managing expectations, avoiding misunderstandings, specifying roles and responsibilities, fostering greater harmony, and ultimately taking better decisions. Some family members may find the process of developing a constitution stressful or time-consuming. Six tips to make the process as effective and stress-free as possible:
Source: Marleen Dieleman, February 15, 2018; https://www.forbes.com/sites/nusbusinessschool/2018/02/15/future-proofing-a-family-business-the-art-of-drafting-family-constitutions/#14b2bac5f172 |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Spirit of ISB- Neha |
The rich diversity at ISB is best captured through the various student driven initiatives on campus. Every student brings along a unique talent and helps enhance the student life experience at ISB. One such popular initiative which is providing interim relief to students from the stress of the fast paced curriculum is Zumba. Conducted on a weekly basis by PGP student Neha Mohanty, a typical Zumba session sees students taking a break from the rigors of academics and gyrating to popular beats. A former category manager at Domyos, the fitness brand of Decathlon, Neha was also a Zumba instructor for 4 years before joining ISB. Leveraging her past experience, she compiles intense playlists and choreographs moves for every session to attain pre-defined fitness goals. On an average, 800 calories are burnt by each participant which is equivalent to swimming non-stop for two hours! Life at ISB is an enthralling and often overwhelming experience which helps you grow as a person. Students learn to work hard, party hard, handle stress and make everlasting bonds. Zumba captures these unique flavors of student life in totality. Sweating it out for an hour keeps you fit for the hard day’s work ahead, dancing to popular beats (even if you have two left feet) is all about having fun, getting the dash of dopamine is the most effective way of beating stress and bonding over music is a sure way of making friends. This is what the life experience at ISB stands for: Keep fit, Have fun, Beat stress and Make friends! |
FROM ISB PGP Admissions Director Blog: Spirit of ISB- Neha |
The rich diversity at ISB is best captured through the various student driven initiatives on campus. Every student brings along a unique talent and helps enhance the student life experience at ISB. One such popular initiative which is providing interim relief to students from the stress of the fast paced curriculum is Zumba. Conducted on a weekly basis by PGP student Neha Mohanty, a typical Zumba session sees students taking a break from the rigors of academics and gyrating to popular beats. A former category manager at Domyos, the fitness brand of Decathlon, Neha was also a Zumba instructor for 4 years before joining ISB. Leveraging her past experience, she compiles intense playlists and choreographs moves for every session to attain pre-defined fitness goals. On an average, 800 calories are burnt by each participant which is equivalent to swimming non-stop for two hours! Life at ISB is an enthralling and often overwhelming experience which helps you grow as a person. Students learn to work hard, party hard, handle stress and make everlasting bonds. Zumba captures these unique flavors of student life in totality. Sweating it out for an hour keeps you fit for the hard day’s work ahead, dancing to popular beats (even if you have two left feet) is all about having fun, getting the dash of dopamine is the most effective way of beating stress and bonding over music is a sure way of making friends. This is what the life experience at ISB stands for: Keep fit, Have fun, Beat stress and Make friends! |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: The Rise and Rise of Family Firms |
Though late on the scene, standalone family firms have established themselves as formidable players This article was first published in Forbes India magazine, Issue: March 02, 2018; Authors: Kavil Ramachandran and Nupur Pavan Bang https://www.forbesindia.com/article/column/the-rise-and-rise-of-family-firms/49485/1 The year 1991 ushered in a new dawn for the Indian economy with economic reforms across sectors. The entrepreneurial spirit among Indians took advantage of the opportunities, and a new class of family businesses—the standalone family firms (SFFs)—emerged. In a paper titled Family Business 1990-2015: The Emerging Landscape published by the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Indian School of Business in July 2017, we said that by 2015, SFFs accounted for 57 percent of the 4,809 listed firms studied. Close to 73 percent of these were incorporated between 1981 and 1995. SFFs were, in a sense, a creation of the new reforms. Prominence in the ecosystem Though SFFs emerged late in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, they soon established themselves as an integral and leading player, belying worries about the potential of family firms to withstand competition. Evidence suggests that the removal of restrictions and controls led to this spurt. Several factors have shaped the destiny of SFFs. New opportunities: Post-1991, structural changes in the economy and industry provided multiplier effects. Many entrepreneurs were either from business families or became one because of ownership structures. Reduced controls enabled the entry of first-generation-entrepreneurs-turned-SFFs into new territories. Ease of access to the capital markets enabled them to raise funds early on. The average difference between their listing year and their incorporation year was 10.01 years, much lower than business group-affiliated firms or MNCs. Need for scale to be competitive: The removal of ceilings on capacity and investment, the need to improve efficiency, and scale up led SFFs to focus on a single firm with related products, services and markets. Entrepreneurs did not need to diversify and establish multiple firms to grow, as was the case earlier. Break-up of the joint family: Historically, business groups had flourished under the ownership of joint families. The emergence of nuclear families meant there was room for next generations to get involved in the same business, without the need to incorporate multiple firms for the members of the next generations. Unique value creation by SFFs SFFs have long-term orientations towards success across generations; rarely is enterprise exit an option. Most successful SFFs have a strong synthesis of entrepreneurial energy, professional discipline and organisational governance. Promoters with sound family governance provide a strong platform to build the enterprise on a rich resource pool of emotional support, committed manpower and continued purpose. One of the compulsions faced by SFFs is to remain together for economic reasons, if not for emotional reasons. Emerging challenges More than half of SFFs are less than 30 years old, with the founders still actively involved in most. Many would be staring at a change of guard soon. It needs to be seen if these firms survive the change. SFFs have to pay greater attention to their future strategy, professionalisation and governance at family and business levels. There is every chance of a well-run SFF getting into a growth trap unless proactive action is taken on strategy, professionalisation and governance. |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Millennials in the workforce: Do family businesses need to worry? |
How to attract, select and retain talent is a challenge for both family and nonfamily businesses but even more so in family businesses because of the complexity of the intertwined relationship between the family and the business systems. Millennials have surpassed the previous generation in the workforce in the United States. Do businesses need to pay special attention to millennials in their workforce and should they be more concerned about adjusting their human resources practices than their nonfamily counterparts? Millennials often are characterized as narcissistic, unwilling to commit fully to work, disrespectful of authority, lack focus and have a sense of entitlement. They are very attuned to technology, and for them, the internet is as important as oxygen. Motivations of millennials in terms of their duty, persistence and reward may need some adaptation for family businesses to attract, select and retain them as part of their workforce. Some changes are easier given that they can take advantage of characteristics family businesses already have and some others need some redirecting efforts. These are some suggestions: Connect family values to organizational goals: Reports show that although the values of millennials are not necessarily different from previous generations, their attitude at the workplace is different. Family businesses care about their values and their culture, so they need to make sure values are linked to what they are pursuing to have a highly engaged millennial workforce with a clear line of sight. Communicate organizational goals and frame individual contributions to their attainment: This is costly and difficult, but the more explicit each worker’s contributions are the more likely he/she will be satisfied with the job and be more committed to the business in the longer run. Embrace flexibility as a policy not as an individual case effort: Family businesses are flexible, and they usually adapt when either a family or nonfamily employee needs them to. They must be creative in developing policies regarding employee mobility, and family and work models. Create teams where millennials can feel engaged if the supervisor treats him/her openly and fairly regarding growth and promotion: Personal and online discussions, (texting included) where millennials receive feedback and bosses discuss opportunities with them need to be frequent. Develop a challenging work environment in which objectives and goals are clear and not so many tasks or duties: Family businesses are proud of their work environment, and that is positive for others, but they need to get creative in assigning meaningful goals. If challenged, millennials will deliver. Family businesses have an opportunity to adapt and change to recruit and hire the most talented of this generation in their workforce. Source: Gonzalez, Ana., March 2, 2018, https://www.grbj.com/articles/90122-millennials-in-the-workforce-do-family-businesses-need-to-worry |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Avoiding Traps That Kill Family Businesses |
A lot of family businesses in Nigeria have died due to the demise of the founder. For some that are still alive and struggling, they are enmeshed in controversies as the children continue to fight over their share of the investments while the business nosedives. To the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, the principles every enterprise requires to survive and outlive their founders are the same. He stressed the need for entrepreneurs to adhere to corporate governance principles, proper book-keeping among other best practices for their businesses to survive. Also, the founder of LEAP Africa, Ndidi Nwuneli, urged operators of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria to always put in place the right structures for their business to outlive them. Nwuneli, also stressed the importance of governance for any organisation to survive. According to her, every forward-looking firm must have a strong board of directors. On his part, the Managing Director, UPS Nigeria, Mr. Ralph Ozoude said: “Part of the challenges companies have is sustained growth and some of it has to do with corporate governance and compliance. Joachim Schwass of IMD, a Swiss business school, argued that the most common characteristic of failed successions is that the family marks out the eldest son for the top job from an early age, and hands it to him regardless of ability. “To avoid this fate, and increase the chances of producing a strong successor, business families need to grasp two things. The first is that inheritance is a process, not an event. That process involves giving potential heirs a chance to prove their worth. The second thing that business founders must grasp is that behind a successful family firm lies a successful family,” the KPMG report added. The foregoing clearly shows that by keeping family stories and history alive, younger generations are able to understand and appreciate their parent’s and grandparent’s efforts as well as the work needed to build and maintain family wealth. Combining awareness of one’s past with thoughtful strategy for the future can help families overcome the Three Generation Cycle. Importantly, most of the preparation and training for the next generation will have to start earlier rather than later, to ensure a seamless transition in later years. Also, financial literacy amongst members of the family business cannot be over-emphasised as it is the key to making sound business decisions. Taking the company public by listing it on the stock exchange is also crucial for its survival in the long run. Source: Chima, Obinna., February 28, 2018, https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/02/28/avoiding-traps-that-kill-family-businesses/ |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: How to Keep the Entrepreneurial Drive in a Growing Family Business |
Economist Joseph Schumpeter famously identified owner-entrepreneurs as key enablers of economic development. But, once entrepreneurial companies evolve into family firms, can they maintain that positive role in society? Family-owned businesses are often portrayed as the engine of the private sector—pointing at advantages such as faster decision making, a more integrated management style, long-term mindset or a win-win approach toward business partnerships. However, while combining family and business can be a winning strategy, it also comes with limitations, particularly when family businesses become more complicated. So, how can business families successfully mix family and business? Business complexity: If the entrepreneurial founder succeeds, the business will grow and become more mature. As a result, running it will be an increasingly sophisticated task requiring more advanced managerial talent. Family complexity: Most firms are started by a single entrepreneur, sometimes complemented by other family members. At some stage, the next generations may enter the firm, creating a sudden jolt of additional complexity. This typically requires a major adjustment. This process then repeats itself even more forcefully in the third generation, often with greater numbers of younger family members involved. At this stage, it is uncommon for everyone in the family to join the firm management. This creates another layer of complexity in the form of the distinction between “active” and “passive” family owners, something many family firms are unprepared for. Knowing what to do: Family firms can remain dynamic drivers of economic growth if they can address the right problems at the right time. Those with greater business complexity need to focus on business governance–including defining the roles of boards and management, setting guidelines for decision-making and building a capable leadership team. Those with complex business families need to pay greater attention to family governance: setting the rules (often a constitution), creating proper structures such as family boards or a family office and thinking through the roles and powers of those leading them. Family firms where both types of complexity are pertinent need to pay attention to both simultaneously. Most family firms cannot survive past the third generation. However, that does not mean it is impossible. Those firms that anticipate the challenges of greater complexity in family and business stand a better chance to remain dynamic creators of wealth, employment, and economic progress. Source: Dieleman, Marleen, March 12, 2018; https://www.forbes.com/sites/nusbusinessschool/2018/03/12/how-to-keep-the-entrepreneurial-drive-in-a-growing-family-business/#7630467397e3 |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: No guarantee of Success in Business Succession |
The consensus among family business owners, according to The Family Business Institute, is that their businesses will continue to be owned by the same family or families at least five years from now. However, many of the 88 percent of owners who believe this will be fighting the odds given that only 30 percent of family businesses survive into the second generation, 12 percent survive into the third generation, and a mere 3 percent survive into the fourth generation and beyond. Family-owned everywhere: Majority of American businesses are family businesses, and the extensive role that they play in the broader business community makes them indispensable, given their impact on and interconnectedness with all American businesses. It may be worth pointing out that we aren’t just talking about the micro business on Main Street selling antiques to locals or the hardware store owned for generations a just a few blocks away attempting to compete with the likes of Walmart. Remember, a majority share of Walmart’s stock is still owned by the heirs of Sam Walton through the Walton Family Enterprises holding company, thus making Walmart a family business. But what matters most?: Almost all business owners who are serious about an eventual transition of control of the family business to the next generation look beyond the numbers and the financial statements; they look beyond the payout to boost their retirement years. And almost all of them express their gravest concern: how to instill in the future generation of business owners their generational ideals and values. According to a study by Deutsche Bank, what is most important to family business owners goes beyond the transition of financial wealth and extends to the transfer of primary values to the next generation. These include encouraging children to earn their own money, charitable giving, philanthropy and volunteerism. The impending crisis: The 2016 Family Business Survey conducted by accounting and consulting firm PwC highlights the impending family business crisis when it notes that as many as 43 percent of family business owners currently have no succession plan in place. The absence of a business succession plan can lead to incredible and often avoidable tax consequence, significant detriments to profitability and productivity, and worst of all, possible loss of family-ownership in the business. The right professionals: With such a complex array of issues facing family business owners, it is no surprise then that a cadre of professionals is necessary to support those businesses in their planning for transition and in the process of transition itself. The professionals most helpful in a smooth transition include a business law attorney, a CPA with business valuation credentials, a team of financial planners and wealth managers, and an exit-planning and family-values consultancy team. In the absence of one of these professionals, the transitioning business owner can expect a similar hole in his or her final transition. Source: Conte, Anthony. M., March 9, 2018; https://www.cpbj.com/article/20180309/CPBJ01/180309897/no-guarantee-of-success-in-business-succession-guest-view |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: YLP Stage 1 Application Process & Tips |
YLP is a platform that enables bright students aspiring a management career to envision a clear and structured growth path through expert guidance. YLP grooms students through learning interventions and guarantees admission to PGP after gaining 20 months of full-time work experience post-graduation. An ideal YLP candidate would be someone with outstanding academic performance and prowess in extra-curricular activities YLP is open to applicants in the final year or pre-final year of graduate or post-graduate studies. The application process is designed to evaluate your academic & analytical credentials, your leadership potential, and your personal attributes. Here are the 3 stages: STAGE 1 Application form, One Essay and Application Fee STAGE 2 GMAT / GRE score, Two essays & One Evaluation STAGE 3 Face-to-Face interview Since we are close to the Stage 1 Deadline; we have listed down some tips we for you to submit a good application
[*]A fee of INR 3,000/- should be remitted online[*]Once the fee is paid you need to submit the application on or before March 25, 2018, 11:59 pm[/list] [/list] Complete your application here: https://ylpapp.isb.edu/user/default.aspx If you have any queries regarding the application or face any difficulty write to ylp@isb.edu All the best! Team Admissions |
FROM ISB PGP Admissions Director Blog: YLP Stage 1 Application Process & Tips |
YLP is a platform that enables bright students aspiring a management career to envision a clear and structured growth path through expert guidance. YLP grooms students through learning interventions and guarantees admission to PGP after gaining 20 months of full-time work experience post-graduation. An ideal YLP candidate would be someone with outstanding academic performance and prowess in extra-curricular activities YLP is open to applicants in the final year or pre-final year of graduate or post-graduate studies. The application process is designed to evaluate your academic & analytical credentials, your leadership potential, and your personal attributes. Here are the 3 stages: STAGE 1 Application form, One Essay and Application Fee STAGE 2 GMAT / GRE score, Two essays & One Evaluation STAGE 3 Face-to-Face interview Since we are close to the Stage 1 Deadline; we have listed down some tips we for you to submit a good application
[*]A fee of INR 3,000/- should be remitted online[*]Once the fee is paid you need to submit the application on or before March 25, 2018, 11:59 pm[/list] [/list] Complete your application here: https://ylpapp.isb.edu/user/default.aspx If you have any queries regarding the application or face any difficulty write to ylp@isb.edu All the best! Team Admissions |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: St. Helena’s CK Mondavi and Family introduces Fourth Generation |
On Monday, C. Mondavi & Family announced that the next generation of the Mondavi family is officially increasing its involvement in the family’s business. This increased involvement focuses on the CK Mondavi and Family brand with the inclusion of this fourth generation as shareholders in the family owned company. In June 2017 it added members of this next generation to the company’s board of directors. At the same time the Mondavis created a family council, where third and fourth generation Mondavi family members meet on a regular basis to discuss planning and strategy for the company. The members of this fourth generation were also recently appointed official brand ambassadors and are responsible for promoting the brand and representing their family as needed. “With the passing of our father, Peter Mondavi, Sr., in 2016, my brother and I had the opportunity to re-visit the structure of our business,” said Marc Mondavi, co-proprietor of C. Mondavi & Family. “We are thrilled that our children overwhelmingly support continuing this legacy and have decided to be more involved in the business.” The announcement calls this fourth generation of Mondavis the “G4” and stresses it is far from a homogeneous group. Fourth generation family members include Marc and Janice’s four daughters: Angelina, Alycia, Riana and Giovanna; and Peter and Katie’s two offspring: Lucio and Lia. “Each member of the ‘G4’ brings their own approach and expertise to the business, creating a diverse background within the overall umbrella company of C. Mondavi & Family,” the announcement said. “Their daily contributions to the CK Mondavi and Family brand includes serving as brand ambassadors and providing guidance on the direction of the winery that has remained family owned for almost 75 years.” In addition to those ambassadorial responsibilities, G4 members Angelina and Lucio have been made members of the C. Mondavi & Family board of directors, while Riana has become Director of National Accounts, On Premise, according to the press release. The founders of C. Mondavi & Family, Cesare and Rosa Mondavi, moved to the Napa Valley and purchased the winery in 1943 and the CK Mondavi and Family brand was created a few years later with their sons Robert and Peter. Source: Stockwell, Tom, March 18, 2018; https://napavalleyregister.com/star/news/local/st-helena-s-ck-mondavi-and-family-introduces-fourth-generation/article_9bae809f-1150-5395-b5da-c1324a28680f.html |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Family Business Succession takes a lot of Planning |
Experts estimated that there are 5.5 million family businesses in the United States that contribute $8.3 trillion to the economy, employ 63 percent of the workforce and account for 57 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and 78 percent of new job creation. But Anne Smart, director of The Family Business Center of the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago, warns that only 30 percent of privately owned businesses make it to the second generation, and 47.7 percent collapse once the founder dies. Business owners should plan ahead if they hope to pass a business on to the next generation, make it employee-owned or sell it, Smart told a crowd at the Centier Corporate Center in Merrillville on Wednesday. She’s been working with Centier Bank, which has been family-owned since it was founded in Whiting in 1895. “We came up with the not-for-sale pledge,” Centier President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Schrage said. “I made a decision then, at mid-life pretty much, that this is something I want to preserve, this is a legacy I want to work on. “Certainly it comes into our minds as we go through stages of life, ‘Am I going to plan for succession? Am I going to work on an ESOP plan, let the employees run it?'” Schrage continued. “Here, the employees are family. Some people are like, ‘I don’t believe this not-for-sale pledge. What if someone offered you a billion dollars?’ Well, it’s still no. What price do you put on family? What would you sell your kids for? Your wife?” While there is a lot of private equity interested in buying small businesses, Smart said it often makes sense to pass a business on to children, who are often emotionally invested. “They might have come into the warehouse at 7 years old and put boxes away,” she said. “They might have worked there as an employee during summers. It’s a natural progression.” But steps must be taken to professionalize business processes, such as by setting up a board of directors and plotting a succession so that the next generation gets mentored when they start out on the job, Smart said. The next generation must be ready to adapt to market conditions and take the company where it needs to go. “The longest family businesses are no longer in the business they started,” Smart said. “Hermes began as saddlemakers to the king. Now they’re a luxury brand. They had to reinvent themselves over and over.” Source: Pete, Joseph S., March 15, 2018; https://www.nwitimes.com/business/lake-newsletter/family-business-succession-takes-a-lot-of-planning/article_de9e5c3a-bf20-5348-95ad-12aac7bceff3.html |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Li Ka-shing Cedes a Sprawling Empire to his Son |
“TOO long” was how Li Ka-shing, known fondly by locals as chiu yan (Superman) for his business nous, described his working life when he announced on March 16th that he would be retiring in May. Asia’s pre-eminent dealmaker has been around for longer than his fictional namesake, scoring and selling assets in ports, telecoms, retail and property to amass a fortune estimated at $36bn. Few expect Mr Li, who will turn 90 this summer, to hang up his cape for good. He says he will stay on to advise his eldest son, Victor Li, who will inherit his two main businesses. The first is CK Hutchison, a conglomerate with interests in power plants, perfume and much in between. It runs 52 ports and owns 14,000 high-street stores, including Watsons at home and Superdrug in Britain. The second is CK Asset, one of Hong Kong’s biggest property developers. Combined they are worth $79.7bn. Many a tycoon has proved hopeless at planning for his departure. Discussing death is regarded as unlucky. Most cling on past their prime. Not so the meticulous Mr Li. As early as 2000 it became clear that Victor would inherit his empire, after his second son, Richard, stepped down as deputy chairman of Hutchison Whampoa (now CK Hutchison) and went his own way. In 2012 Mr Li made this line of succession official. Although both father and son speak of continuity, many in Hong Kong see Li senior’s exit as the end of an era—and not just for his empire. Mr Li came to Hong Kong as a wartime refugee, fleeing Guangdong with his family in 1940 at the age of 12. He went on to operate container ports, and belonged to the first wave of outsiders to invest in China when it opened up in the late 1970s. In Hong Kong he bought into everything from groceries to pharmacies, and supplied swathes of the city with electricity. Through Hutchison, an old British trading house that he bought in 1979 (the first time a Chinese took control of a British firm), he expanded abroad in a way no other local tycoon has. Unusually for a head of a family firm, he sought out professional managers, many of them foreign. The incoming boss has worked with some of them for decades. Victor is credited with CK Hutchison’s push into overseas utilities, including three big recent investments in energy infrastructure in Australia, Canada and Germany. Still, if he has his own vision for the business, it may not become apparent for two to three years, says Mr Rui. As for Hong Kong, it is less fertile ground for would-be tycoons than before. Oligopolies are entrenched locally. Mainland China, meanwhile, produces a dollar billionaire every five days. Pony Ma and Jack Ma, (unrelated) founders of Tencent and Alibaba, two tech giants, are richer than Mr Li. A new Li Ka-shing is more likely to rise in next-door Shenzhen than in Hong Kong. Source: Mar 24th 2018; https://www.economist.com/news/business/21739191-tycoons-retirement-marks-end-era-hong-kong-li-ka-shing-cedes-sprawling |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: You Need These 4 Attributes to Successfully Take Over A Family Business |
Li Ka-shing’s son Victor has a lot to live up to. Here’s how he, and any successor to a family business, can make a success of keeping it in the family “In the traditional Chinese way of doing things, control of the business is always passed on to the first-born son,” says Roger King, an adjunct professor of finance at HKUST and founding director of the Tanoto Centre for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies. But according to Professor King, first-born children don’t always make the strongest successors. “First-borns are typically very obedient and structured because parents tend to spend a lot of time with them; they usually do well scholastically, but one of their shortcomings, especially among sons, is they are risk-averse. They don’t want to take chances. Most successful entrepreneurs are not first-born. A lot of them tend to be last-born, because they’re usually given more freedom to do what they want.” In a bid to help tycoons choose the most suitable successor for their family business, Professor King developed a model called CCKP—“commitment”, “confidence”, “knowledge” and “passion”. Those who possess these qualities, says Professor King, are most likely to make a successful successor. Here’s why. Commitment: “Many in this generation are educated abroad, so their perspective is very different from the traditional Chinese way of doing things. This is one of the major challenges facing family-owned businesses. The younger generation are under a lot of pressure—they think they should take over the family business, but they have their own interests. Whatever the case, they need to be truly committed to the business to succeed.” Confidence: “As life expectancy increases, the older generation is around longer to observe how the successor runs the business. They usually continue to go to the office and are prone to criticise their child, never really letting go and ultimately micro-managing. If the successor is being told every day that whatever they do they’re not doing it properly, it’s easy to lose self-confidence Knowledge: “Business lifecycles keep getting shorter because of the number of disruptors out there. Today, it’s not just knowing what your existing business is all about, you also have to think how the disruptors in the industry are going to change your entire business model. You need a successor who knows enough to think beyond the next few years. The next generation has to understand the industry, where it’s going and what the business will look like 5-15 years from now. They need to have knowledge and a clear vision.” Passion: “Some people think passion and commitment are the same, but they’re quite different. You can be committed without having passion. Shanghai Jiao Tong University did a survey of family-owned businesses and reported that close to 80 per cent of the next generation didn’t want to join their family’s business. This is perhaps because many family-owned businesses are in sunset industries, and not seen as very sexy or exciting. They see the Pony Mas and the Jack Mas of this world and that’s what they want to do. If you’re going to successfully take over the family firm, you need passion for that business.” Source: Williamson, Lee., March 22, 2018, https://hk.asiatatler.com/generation-t/take-over-family-business |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: How Analytics Is Helping The Payment Business Reach New Heights |
Analytics is the powerhouse for progressive organisations in today’s competitive world. Businesses have realised the importance of having the right analytics organization backing business intelligence and advanced analytics. Strategies led by informative insights gathered from analytics can improve profitability by optimising revenue, cutting costs which in turn improves both top line and bottom line revenues for an organisation. Analytics help businesses to make better decisions every day, ranging from strategic choices to everyday frontline decisions that marketers, financers, operations specialists exercise. It helps in understanding market trends, customer behaviour and patterns that set the business direction. Building the right analytics platform is not easy and it may sometime take years to build a world-class, centralized, data driven analytics platform. Data consolidation challenges: Having a mix of legacy systems and modern systems with wide variety of databases may lead to a challenge in data consolidation. Breaking down all data silos and extracting data from different sources alongside maintaining a single enterprise data lake is an effective solution to this. The huge volumes of data from different data sources are ingested into the lake by batch and stream processing every day. In a scenario where data privacy challenges keeps looming, there is a need for compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This will ensure standard encryption/decryption and hashing mechanism to protect the data. Dedicated risk and fraud management teams will further ensure data security. Usage of Analytics: The data lake processes 50 million records each day and then aggregates and summarises it chronologically to generate intuitive reports. The same data can be reused for running advanced analytics models. This data can be used in various functions like Operations, Business Development, Marketing, CRM analytics, Social media and Fraud risk management. Also, Read Who Is A Data Steward And What Are His Roles And Responsibilities? Business development: The machine learning models can forecast transactions volumes monthly/quarterly to help the businesses achieve the targets set for each product. Analytics provide insights about the product performance and their market share with their competitor’s landscape. Moreover, it helps business design and develop the right scheme of offers for the segmented customers as well as for quantifying the effectiveness of offers in bringing new business. Fraud and risk management: Traditionally, fraud and risk analytics is a set of business rules that was used to assign a risk score to every transaction. It has now slowly evolved into combining the power of algorithms and Hadoop streaming tools and technologies to detect online fraud by building risk profiles from historic data. Offline algorithms are built for anti-money laundering detection and prevention. Using fraud and risk management tools effectively to assess business risk and prevent breaches by predictive analysis of historical data is adding high value to financial businesses. Social media analytics: Companies collect social media data by using open source twitter and Facebook API’s and builds machine learning algorithms for analysing the positive and negative sentiment analysis. If done for a multitude of products, helps top management to take corrective actions on negative sentiments and resolve customer problems through social media messages. Operational analytics: The data generated by various resources such as servers, firewalls, switches and databases in the cloud and on-premise environments are monitored in real time to prevent downtime. The machine learning models can predict transaction growth year-on-year to help the organisation prepare a strategy for capacity planning and hardware expansion. Also Read Ab Initio – Four Views of Analytics CRM Analytics: Customer Support is resource intensive. A chatbot is a simple automated service that can instantly respond to clients’ questions and help them solve their issues. Chabot’s usually assist by solving simple tasks that only require a quick response, leaving more time for customer service representatives to focus on complex customer needs that demand high-touch interactions. Tools and technologies: Adopting open source technologies such as the Apache Hadoop ecosystem and deep learning tools, such as Tableau, Python, R, Hadoop, Hive, Apache Spark Apache Kafka, H base, Sqoop to name a few will help the products and the success factor attached to them by using effective analytics tools. Author: Soujanya Aluri, PGPMAX, Class of 2018 Source: This article is extracted from Analytics India Magazine dated January 12, 2018. |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: India’s insurance industry has turned a blind eye towards people with disabilities |
Upholding the right to health insurance last month, the Delhi HC removed ‘genetic conditions’ from the list of exemptions followed by insurance firms. On 9 March 2018, a historic judgment by a Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra legalised passive euthanasia in India. Now that we have secured the ‘right to die’, we should also perhaps strive towards the ‘right to a healthy life’ for persons with disabilities. India’s insurance companies have expanded in recent years, but still lack an equitable, just framework to address the needs of people with disabilities. As recently as last month, a Delhi high court bench led by Justice Prathiba Singh was hearing the case of Jai Prakash Tayal, who suffers from hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). The insurance company rejected his mediclaim through a letter that cited the following reason: “TPA (third-party administrator) Vipun Medcorp P Ltd had repudiated your claim. Since genetic diseases are not payable as per the policy, genetic exclusion clauses (sic).” It was gratifying to see the high court take a stand on the issue, calling out such exclusions as “discriminatory”. Justice Singh added that the “right to avail health insurance is an integral part of the right to healthcare and the right to health, as recognised in Article 21 of the Constitution”. The court went on to criticise the IRDA (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority) for allowing such discrimination. It stated, “The IRDA had issued guidelines on standardisation in health insurance, dated 20 February 2013, which had a specific exclusion with respect to ‘pregnancy, infertility, congenital and genetic conditions’…” “Unfortunately, however, the term ‘genetic conditions’ is not defined in the guidelines. Thus… the IRDA itself permitted insurance companies to provide for exclusions based on genetic conditions. These guidelines have now been superseded by guidelines dated 29 July 2016, wherein only ‘congenital anomalies’ have been defined and genetic conditions do not find a mention. Thus, ‘genetic conditions’ can no longer be excluded,” the court said. The high court’s decision to remove ‘genetic conditions’ from the list of exemptions is going to have an impact on millions of people. However, the discrimination doesn’t end there. Maitreya Shah, a student at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, is blind due to retinal detachment. A few years ago, his father was keen he got health insurance, and applied to one of India’s biggest public sector insurance companies. With full disclosures, his form was accepted, and Maitreya invited for a medical test. Unfortunately, he was rejected by the medical officer because “we do not give insurance to persons with visual impairments”. The condition is worse for those with congenital disabilities. As the court observed, congenital anomalies are ‘defined’ in the 2016 regulations laid down by the IRDA. This implies that both private and public sector insurance companies have the blessings of the IRDA to discriminate against those with congenital disabilities. Earlier this month, I was rejected insurance by a public sector firm for refusing to follow the broker’s instructions that read: “I will not claim the treatment cost related to arthrogryposis or any disease related to arthrogryposis.” Another insurance company made me undergo a ‘medical test’ where it seemed the doctor was confused whether I had a physical or intellectual disability: Dr: Is your memory OK? Me: Yes, yes. At least I think so. Dr: Do you hallucinate/get delusions? Me: No, no. Not at all Dr: Do you have an abnormal temper? Me: Well, that’s for others to judge However, in many ways, I was lucky. In most cases, there’s not even an explanation given. Avelino De Sa, a 45-year old investment consultant based out of Goa, was born with cerebral palsy. Disability has never held him back from his work, advising clients on investment decisions. Unfortunately for him, it did come in the way of health insurance. Those with congenital disabilities aren’t the only ones facing discrimination. Saurabh Shuklah, a hedge fund manager based out of Mumbai, suffered a spinal cord injury diving into a swimming pool in 2011. His next few years were filled with visits to hospitals, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, but he soon returned to the world of numbers and finance. Earlier this year, Saurabh decided to apply for health insurance. And what followed was the same old story — rejection. Not to be daunted on being shown the red card, he wrote to the founder of the insurance company. His file moved ahead. Only to be rejected by the underwriter. I am not against exceptions on insurance per se — especially when health is risked intentionally by an alcoholic, chain smoker or drug addict. But why punish the uncontrollable? Persons with disabilities anyway have higher costs of living, lower access to education, and fewer employment opportunities. The IRDA’s blind eye has enabled insurance companies to flex their muscles and openly discriminate against those with disabilities. Vishnu Bhatt (name changed) had taken his wife to a resort in Goa in 2011 to celebrate their wedding anniversary. A dive in to the swimming pool went wrong and he injured his spinal cord (swimming pools are the second most frequent reason for spinal cord injuries worldwide, after road accidents). If his situation wasn’t sad enough, his insurance company made it worse by refusing to reimburse his claim on the flimsiest of grounds. These ranged from “a merchant navy employee knows swimming so shouldn’t face such a problem” to “Vishnu must have been under the influence of alcohol”. Seven years on, a court battle is on. His legal bills are mounting but he’s yet to receive a penny from insurance companies. One person who seemed unaffected by these challenges was Preeti Singh, Miss India Wheelchair and an aspiring chartered accountant. “After all,” she told me, “If you are the child of an army officer and have a disability, you get free healthcare till you are self-dependent.” We are quick to bring in the army to justify ‘ultra-nationalism’ and patriotism during TV debates. Perhaps, it’s time our decision-makers learnt something else from the army. Or we’ll continue to call millions of people ‘divyang’, and pay tribute to Stephen Hawking while treating the disabled as second-class citizens. Author: Nipun Malhotra is CEO (PGP MFAB, Class of 2015) Nipman Foundation, and founder, Wheels For Life. He can be followed on Twitter nipunmalhotra Source: This article is extracted from ThePrint dated March 28, 2018. |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Positioning Your Family Business for Transition: A quick guide for business owners |
Family business owners, regardless of industry, share common issues. Most agree that by the end of the journey, they want to have leveraged the work of a lifetime to support their future lifestyle. Many business owners struggle to figure out what to do with their company and how to plan effectively for the next stage of their life. Either by design or by default, you will exit your business, but it is better to exit the company by design. Preparing for a New Direction:
[*]Meet with an experienced estate planning attorney to discuss your options. Many business owners have found that their estate plan may be good for the family, but the arrangement is very bad for the future of the business—such as dividing the business equally among the children, when only one sibling has ever worked and shown interest in the business. An experienced estate planner will be interested in helping you to develop solutions that will be helpful for the family in the short-term and the long-term.[*]Pay attention to the value of your business. Consider working with your accountant to complete a basic valuation calculation, and then determine ways to maintain or increase the value. The reality is that as we age, we tend to invest less money into our businesses, worrying instead that we may not have enough money set aside for retirement. This means that just at the time when we need to be increasing the value of the business for a possible sale, the value is dropping.[*]Finally, begin building your bench strength now. Make sure that you are adding the right people to your team, and you are training them to do the best job possible. Your management team is a key asset, whether you decide to try to sell your company, or pass the business on internally. This team must be part of your overall plan.[/list] You have worked hard for the company you have developed, and you owe it to yourself and your family to ensure you can leverage this investment of a lifetime. Planning for your eventual transition, in whatever form that it takes, will take time, and the earlier you start, the better. Source: Stewart, Lisë, March 26, 2018; https://www.homecaremag.com/april-2018/family-business-transitions |
FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Gender Pay Gap: Family Businesses Vow to Do Better |
With just days to go until all major UK employers have to reveal the difference between what they pay men and women, several of the country’s biggest family firms say they are committed to doing better. In 2017 the UK government introduced regulations requiring businesses with more than 250 employees to publish their gender pay gap and gender bonus gap by 5 April. So far, just under 6,000 companies have reported, of an estimated total of around 9,000. The UK has a national median pay gap of 18.4%, as of April 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics. When it comes to gender pay, the mean—or average—often reflects the usual trend of more men in senior positions, whereas the median (in this case the middle earner of all men and all women) arguably better reflects the pay rate for the “average Joe” worker of each gender within a company. Michael Maslinski, partner group head of strategy and know how at Stonehage Fleming, said there was a growing trend in family businesses for women to become more involved, often in leadership roles. “It is true that in many families the business has, historically, been mainly the preserve of men, but this is changing and in some families it is now taken for granted that men and women are treated absolutely equally,” he said. Maslinski said women often had a positive impact on company culture. “Successful families and their businesses understand the need to adapt to a changing environment and the presence of women in leadership roles is part of that change.” Maslinski said the published pay gap could be misleading unless compared to other comparable businesses. There have been numerous criticisms of the government’s reporting standards. Base pay is calculated by working out a per-hour wage, while bonus pay is not calculated on a pro-rata basis. Because more women work part time, the bonus gap between men and women may therefore be overstated. With more than 3,000 still to report, companies are waiting until the final few days to file their figures, with some commentators saying this is part of a strategy to get lost in the deluge of last-minute filings. Peter Cheese, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, told the Financial Times there was school of thought that went “maybe I should hold off and when there’s the big tsunami of companies reporting I’ll bury it into that”. Source: Newlove, Alexandra., March 29, 2018; https://www.campdenfb.com/article/gender-pay-gap-family-businesses-vow-do-better |
|
||
Hi Guest,
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
R2 Decisions Are Coming Out - Join Chatrooms!
Tuck at Dartmouth
|