wal mart case

Family Businesses Case Studies

In today’s world, when one hears about a new business venture, they can’t help wondering whether it is a family business. The term ‘family business’ brings in a sense of excitement and gives altogether a different feeling. I bet many of you will agree with me when I say that while the first thing that comes to mind on hearing the word ‘family business’ is the harmony existing in the family, it also raises some curiosity whether all is well within. Why is it so? How did some family-owned businesses become so popular and are coming from generations whereas some – though well-established and very popular – have lost their mark in the industry? How do the successful ones manage their business and what are the strategies that they adopt to take their business to new heights?

To find an answer to my question, I started researching on the web. In this process, I came across few websites offering case studies on the topic, however, my

search came to an end with www.ibscdc.org which discuss in-depth about the business strategies of many family-owned businesses.

Family businesses are the ones that are owned and managed by one or more of the family members. These members have a significant ownership and majority of the control lies with them. Family businesses exist all over the world and some of them have been around for decades still maintaining the initial vigour and dedication. Some of the oldest business firms are family-owned. For example, Kongo Gumi of Japan is currently managed by the 30th generation and in the contemporary times Wal-Mart of US is a fine example. These businesses are value-based. To successfully manage a family business requires lot of competencies and commitment. Some of the skills required can be conflict resolution, managing finance, managing legal issues and so on. It’s not that every member of the family participates in the business and there is a certain hierarchy that is followed. The challenges that these businesses face depend upon the size of the company and the extent of their operations (domestic or international).Though most of these businesses have family members managing the helm of affairs, with changing times, even non-family members are roped in to manage some aspects of the business. Moreover, the participation of women in family businesses has increased and in the past few years, women-led businesses have grown.

It is obvious for any family business to have difference of opinions among members but though there might be minor differences, the family and business are united. Such businesses have been extremely successful. Examples are Godrej Group and Tatas. But instances of business empires fragmenting are also many. A classic example is that of Reliance Group of companies founded by Dhirubhai Ambani.

IBSCDC has a number of case studies about family businesses and their growth strategies adopted and implemented by various family businesses across the world in various industries ranging from fashion to automobiles to technology. Some of the ones I appreciate are

• The Godrej Group: An Indian Family-owned Business Conglomerate’s Re-branding Strategies
• Mahindra & Mahindra (A): Transformation of an Indian Family Business into a Globally Competitive Firm
• Mahindra & Mahindra (B): An Emerging Global Giant?
• Women Leaders in Fashion Business Yves Saint Laurent’s (YSL) Valerie Hermann
• The Reliance Group Split-up: What Went Wrong with the Indian Conglomerate?

These are a few and there are a lot more. They are very informative and make an interesting reading. In case if any of you are interested in entrepreneurship or strategy as I am maybe your search ends at www.ibscdc.org.

source :http://www.ibscdc.org/family-businesses-case-studies.asp

About the Author

IBSCDC, with well over 2700 case studies, 700 structured assignments and 900 teaching notes, is Asia Pacific’s largest repository of business management case studies. All these case studies are developed for MBA programs, Executive MBA programs,