Family businesses make up a large part of the private sector and global economic fabric, they are basic pillars of any country’s economy due to their great commitment with the environment, long-term business vocation, as well as, solid values and principles on which their activity is established. In addition, they are known to have a unique social structure, with particular values, with different challenges and opportunities that set them apart from other organizations.
Núria Vilanova recently presented her new book: The Essence of Family Business. Values and Communication. A journey through the experiences of some of the most important Ibero-American entrepreneurs who run family businesses along with the collaboration of the Ibero-American General Secretary, Rebeca Grynspan, the President of the Family Business Institute and Osborne’s President, Ignacio Osborne, and the IESE Professor, Josep Tàpies.
The book recounts some of the keys to the success of more than 50 of the main Ibero-American businessmen – from up to 18 countries – such as Slim, Servitje, Motta, Luksic, Sarmiento, Gilinski, Benavides, Vicini, Puig, Raventós or Pascual. Among them:
- The family-owned company as a competitive advantage. Family will always be a valuable intangible capital that as individuals, sometimes, pledge their own personal assets for the company. These companies become more involved with the territory, favor long-term investment and take family values into account when managing business.
- The founder’s dream. The creators of these companies are people who have turned their dream into a project. They inspire and embody family and corporate values. They are a role model for future generations to look at and the backbone in building close links with interest groups. In fact, one of its great challenges is the company’s success and the generational changeover.
- Communication. But legacy is not easier than success in business, you have to plan and work on that which guarantees the union: communication. Communication, making us well-liked by our customers, our employees and, of course, our family is the best way to guarantee the company’s future. It may seem like a simple recipe, but it is not at all, given that one in three family companies disappears by the third generation.
- The sense of belonging. The pride of embodying a common project and company passion are the essential ingredients to guarantee the future. The family sagas interviewed in this book agree that one of the great challenges is the transmission of values and intra-family communication, as the family grows and the company expands.
- Technology. The new tools can be our partners in the cohesion and communication of the family when there is a good strategy. Now more than ever with millennials and generation Z, who have a different conception of the world, they are hyper-connected and global.
At ATREVIA we have spent years researching the role played by values and culture in the continuity of family businesses. To learn more, contact Rafael Guardans, Family Business Area Director at ATREVIA rguardans@atrevia.com.
