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If you're wondering what value there is in discussing family business as a concept per se, you're not alone. Many people still believe that family ownership and management does not significantly impact the running of a company, let alone their own.
I'm here to tell you differently. But that's not all.
This column will illustrate that not only is family ownership an important issue, but for the printing industry, it is the catalyst that is sparking the single most important paradigm shift the industry has witnessed in its short 100-year history.
This 10-part column will discuss the dimensions of family business with a particular focus on the printing and digital imaging industry.
Defining the family business
The concept of family business research and its value to the company owner.
Approaches to studying family firms
By understanding the ways we can study this phenomenon, we are able to customize our approach to problem solving in the field. Since most businesses solve their own problems, guidelines to follow using the five most common ways to evaluate a family business' dynamics will be discussed, including their advantages and disadvantages.
Strategy formulation in family business
Strategy formulation and implementation are fundamental business building blocks and are complicated by family dynamics. Focus will be directed specifically at case studies of printing firms and potential solutions to problems will be explored.
Managing conflict and change in family business
With the interconnectedness of business and family pressures and expectations, conflict is inevitable. Yet with proper guidance conflict can be managed and even exploited as a benefit.
Succession in family business
Succession is the single most important threat to the printing industry. Within this generation, the industry will be forever changed if current owners do not address the issues of succession that face them today.
Succession issues in family businesses are markedly different than in non-family businesses, especially so in an industry that is fragmented, unsophisticated, and vulnerable to powerful outsiders.
Succession as a process
The process of succession is not undertaken in the same fashion in family and non-family businesses. These differences will be highlighted, discussed, and printing industry cases brought to the forefront.
Initiation, outcome, and level of analysis of succession
How the process of succession is approached and eventually concluded can be seen from various points of view. Each point of view will be addressed to meet the needs of the small to large printing company. Special attention will be given to the service aspect of the business owner's concerns.
Ownership issues
The different types and structures of ownership and their role in successful succession will be presented. Several cases will be used to highlight both horror and success stories.
Family business marketing and promotion
How to make the best use of your business' most powerful asset. Before embarking on the creation of a corporate identity or "facelift", critically important decisions must be made. Several exponentially impactful ideas will be presented with actual cases and examples.
The family printing business- where is it headed?
I will discuss my thoughts and feelings on the future of the printing industry within the context of family businesses and the pressures they face. A blueprint for survival will be proposed for typical profiles of industry firms.
Before we engage ourselves in this odyssey of explorations into different perspectives, it is imperative that we define a few concepts and establish a framework which we can all use to discuss this topic.
The definition of family business has been elusive. Even hard-core academics have trouble pin pointing the precise characteristics that make a business a family versus a non-family business. One thing remains certain, however: there are three dimensions that must be considered. They are: ownership, management, and family. These are known as the systems of family business, a term coined by Dr. Ivan Lansberg, the father of family business research.
For this column, a family firm is defined as:
"An organization in which the majority (51 percent) of the business is owned by a single family (or family member), where at least two family members are involved in the day-to-day management of the firm, and in which company control and leadership is expected to be a next generation family member."
As a service, rather than product-centered company, a printing business is that much more influenced by family dynamics, since services are rendered by people rather than corporate mechanisms of delivery and distribution.
The level of interconnectedness and involvement of your family (or your company owner's family) will determine the degree of importance this subject may have for you personally. Keep in mind that regardless of your own situation, three out of four of your competitors are family firms!
It is estimated that 70 percent of the firms that failed could have succeeded had the owner/manager possessed a better understanding of the key issues in managing change and the influence of family business dynamics.
The success of your company and the printing industry depends on everyone's collective ability to deal with the forces at play and to leverage this knowledge to their advantage. This column is a first step on that journey.
Marc R Dussault is an Exponential Growth Strategist, author, recipient of several sales and marketing awards and Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalist with 20+ years of printing industry experience. For exponential business-building ideas, visit his website www.MarcDussault.com.
author: BY MARC R. DUSSAULT