Henley Business School
February 2015

This month I facilitated an interactive session as part of the Henley Business School MBA programme and was joined by a very mixed audience from family businesses around the world. Each bought their own experiences to the succession case study that we discussed.

I highlighted how the succession challenges for a family business increase as the business passes down the generations. With increasing numbers of people and perspectives, cousins who grew up in different households can find it challenging to work together as owners or managers. This is also against a backdrop of an ever rapidly changing world.

We discussed how effective structures in both the business and the family can help manage this complexity. One example of this, from the case study we shared, was ensuring that there is a clear, fair and transparent process for selecting the next generation of Directors and preparing this next generation for both leadership and ownership responsibilities well in advance of them taking over.