Family Business Governance - Family Council
by Mr. Ricardo Mercado
The seminar-workshop will expose the participants on how to effectively manage family, business and owner relationships which require special awareness, careful communication (through family council) and extreme effort on the part of family members. Family dynamics will be discussed in relation to the family business. An intervention tool, the family constitution helps in maintaining the harmony of the three (family, business, owner) which are conflicting at times. The seminar-workshop will include an overview of a Family Constitution and what it can do for your family. The process of crafting allows for the family to appreciate the fact that there is an effective alternative to resolving issues and in actually anticipating areas of possible conflict.
Objectives
Course content
Family Relationships and Family Systems
Who should attend? Owners, family members, entrepreneurs, students, professionals involved in family businesses, and others who are dealing with family businesses.
Brief write-up:
Family Business Governance is an interesting topic because it deals with sometimes-competing agendas of family, ownership and business management. It touches on the nature of the relationships of family members, shareholders and managers in such a way that the family business enterprise prospers and the family promotes and protects its unity. Unity of the family members becomes of value that can be translated to the competitive advantage of the company.
Family council, Board of Directors, Family Assembly, Annual shareholders' meetings, Top-management teams all help in governing all important family-owner-management relationships when the boundaries are blurred between family and business.
A family business that is well-governed is free to work toward the highest and best objectives of the business- maximizing profit, improving strategy, creating jobs, fostering employee development and serving all stakeholders, employees, customers, suppliers and the community.
Objectives
- Learn the different components that are important for the healthy growth of the family business. Establishing the family council, board of directors, and effectively conducting meetings with family members.
- Understand the basic structures of Family Governance such as the Family Council, the Board of Directors, the Family Office, the Family Fund, etc and how these can be structured in the Family Constitution.
- Managing the Paradox: Family system & Business system
- Learn the importance of a Family Council, how it works and it’s purpose
- Conducting meetings in the Family Council
Course content
Family Relationships and Family Systems
- Family systems
- What is a healthy family?
- Individual roles/functions in the family
- Balancing family and business demands
- Managing conflict in the family business
- Creating a family council to discuss issues and concerns
- How outside board of directors help family firms
- Planning for the business (strategic planning for the family firm)
- Essential purpose is to periodically provide a forum where family values, needs, and expectations tied in to the business are discussed and integrated.
- Managing the Paradox: Family system and the Business system that seem to oppose each other need to be managed and be supportive to the family business.
- It is the opportunity for the family to create or rekindle the shared family vision.
- Lectures brought to life through dialogue with lecturer/resource person’s framework for managing family firms.
- Interaction/discussion of actual experiences. Brief workshop discussing family and business concerns.
- Lecture on the process of Crafting a Family Constitution.
- Interaction with the lecturer on his experiences with various families in the crafting process and how it has helped them.
- A brief hands-on workshop -- actually engaging in a crafting activity with other participants in a Family Meeting setting.
Who should attend? Owners, family members, entrepreneurs, students, professionals involved in family businesses, and others who are dealing with family businesses.
Brief write-up:
Family Business Governance is an interesting topic because it deals with sometimes-competing agendas of family, ownership and business management. It touches on the nature of the relationships of family members, shareholders and managers in such a way that the family business enterprise prospers and the family promotes and protects its unity. Unity of the family members becomes of value that can be translated to the competitive advantage of the company.
Family council, Board of Directors, Family Assembly, Annual shareholders' meetings, Top-management teams all help in governing all important family-owner-management relationships when the boundaries are blurred between family and business.
A family business that is well-governed is free to work toward the highest and best objectives of the business- maximizing profit, improving strategy, creating jobs, fostering employee development and serving all stakeholders, employees, customers, suppliers and the community.
