The 10 commandments of family business

ALBA Graduate Business School organized an open lecture on: The 10 Commandments of Family Business, which took place on February 20, 2008 at 18.00 - 20.00 p.m. at the ALBA premises.

The lecture was conducted by Dr. Panikkos Poutziouris, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship & Family Business, CIIM Business School, Cyprus, Visiting Fellow at Manchester Business School, U.K.

The lecture offered the 10 commandments for the family owner-managers seeking sustainable trans-generational business success. It offered highlights on best practice and tactics that family business leaders need to consider to ensure the developments of their family in business remains on the entrepreneurial course.

Family firms predominate across the corporate landscape. Certain global brands have been engineered by families in business in partnership with their loyal professional managers. Here is some examples of trans-generational family business success where their own-managers have made it to the pantheon of fame: Marriots in hotels, IKEA in furniture, Batas in shoes, Benettons in clothing, Grants in whisky, Mars in chocolates, Boutari in wines, Filippou in yogurt-diaries.

Entrepreneurial family firms irrespective of scale and legal form, constitute one of the engines of the socio-economic development of the market economy. Family business entrepreneurs have played a lead role in the building of the Greek industrial and commercial base and now they are stretching their entrepreneurial wings to exploit market opportunities beyond our geographic borders.

Academic research confirms that that the family business model, despite its critics, has the capacity to sustain business success and value for all stakeholders. Despite their historic proliferation, studies also reveal that only one ten of family firms will reach their 3rd generation of family owner-managers.

In order to thrive, family firms need a multi-dimensional strategic family & business development plan. This evolves across time, and often takes several forms, depending on the size of the business, complexity of the ownership regime and business structure, and of course, the entrepreneurial aspirations about family business continuity.

For more information please contact the ALBA Executive Development Department, tel: +30 210 8964531, e-mail: [email protected]