practice, however, the resolution of such tensions becomes difficult. For example, a parent, motivated by a sense of family responsibility, may become so absorbed in the business that he or she spends insufficient time with the children.
If the business is to survive, its interests cannot be unduly compromised to satisfy family wishes. To grow, family firms must recognize the need for professional management and the fact that family concerns must sometimes be secondary.
The health and survival of a family business require a proper balancing of business and family interests. Otherwise, results will be unsatisfactory to both.
1.1.3.4 Text D. Advantages of Family Involvement in the Business
Vocabulary Notes:
to derive – получать, извлекать;
through thick and thin – несмотря ни на какие препятствия, трудности;
commitment – обязательство;
reluctant – делающий ч. – л. с неохотой;
to hinge on – зависеть от;
to be at stake – быть поставленным на карту, находиться под угрозой.
Problems associated with family businesses can easily blind young people to the advantages that can be derived from participation of family members in the business. The many positive values associated with family involvement should be recognized and used in the family firm. A primary benefit comes from the strength of family relationships. Members of the family are drawn to the business because of family ties, and they tend to stick with the business through thick and thin. A downturn in business fortunes might cause non-family managers to seek greener pastures elsewhere. A son or daughter, however, is reluctant to leave. The family name, the family welfare, and, possibly, the family fortune are at stake. In addition, a person's reputation as a family member may hinge on whether he or she can continue the business that Mom or Grandfather built.
Family members may also sacrifice income to keep a business going. Rather than draw large salaries or high dividends, they permit such resources to remain in the business for current needs. Many families have gone without a new car or new furniture long enough to let the new business get started or to get through a period of financial stress.
Some family businesses use the family theme in advertising to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Such advertising campaigns attempt to convey the fact that family-owned firms have a strong commitment to the business, high ethical standards, and a personal commitment to serving their customers and the local community.
1.2 Class Work. The culture of a family business
1.2.1 Exercise 1. Look through the text and prove the following statements
1 The way the firm is doing business and its priorities is called organizational culture.
2 In a family business the values of a founder can become the values of both his family and business.
3 A number of cultural patterns can be applied in some aspects of family firms.
Vocabulary Notes:
priority – приоритет, порядок срочности, очередности;
particular – индивидуальный, частный, отдельный, особый;
to pick up – подхватить, научиться;
distinctive – отличительный, характерный;
competitive advantage – конкурентное преимущество;
to cater (to, for) – потворствовать, угождать;
to discern – различать, распознавать, отличать, проводить различие;
to appreciate – высоко ценить, оценивать по достоинству;
commitment – обязательство;
legacy – наследство, наследие;
facet – аспект, грань.
Family firms, like other business organizations, develop certain ways of doing things and certain priorities that are unique to each particular firm. These special patterns of behaviors and beliefs are often described as organizational culture. As new employees and family members enter the business, they tend to pick up these special viewpoints and ways of operating.
Organizational culture – patterns of behaviors and beliefs that characterize a particular firm
The Founder's Imprint on the Culture
The distinctive values that motivate and guide an entrepreneur in the founding of a firm may help to create a competitive advantage for the new firm. For example, the founder may cater to customer needs in a special way and make customer service a guiding principle for the firm. The new firm may go far beyond normal industry practices in making sure customers are satisfied, even if it means working overtime or making a delivery on Saturday. Those who work in the business quickly learn that customers must always be handled with very special care.
In a family business, the founder's core values may become part of both the business culture and the family code – "the things we believe as a family." John Robben, the second-generation CEO of RobToy, Inc., describes the legacy of his father, who founded the firm:
But he left us much more than his confidence, and his willingness to take a chance. My father never lied; nor did he ever cheat anyone or take a dollar he didn’t honestly earn. He passed these values on, first to me and then, through me, to his grandchildren. It's funny how that worked. He never talked about these things, he just did them.
The last sentence above tells us something about the way cultural values are transmitted. Family members and others in the firm learn what's important and absorb the traditions of the firm simply by functioning as part of the organization.
Cultural Patterns in the Firm
The culture of a particular firm includes numerous distinctive beliefs and behaviors. By examining those beliefs and behaviors closely, we can discern various cultural patterns that help us understand the way in which the firm functions.
W. Gibb Dyer, Jr., a professor at Brigham Young University, has identified a set of cultural patterns that apply to three facets of family firms: the actual business, the family, and the governance (board of directors) of the business.
An example of a business pattern is a firm's system of beliefs and behaviors concerning the importance of quality. Members of an organization tend to adopt a common viewpoint concerning the extent to which effort, or even sacrifice, should be devoted to product
