Family Business - Research Paper Example

This can foster a feeling of resentment among family members who are not qualified enough to do the necessary work, but share the name of the company’s founder. In such cases, the heads of family-run organizations have to deal with the uneasiness of other family members at the thought of hiring outsiders to be privy to the long-held family secrets. According to a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers to determine how family-run businesses achieve success, a number of the heads of such corporations choose not to involve extended family members in the making o important decisions even if the said members are considered as part-owners.

In this survey, 15% of the surveyed family business leaders said that relatives such as in-laws do not have to be involved in decision-making (Miller and Le Breton-Miller 38). In a different survey conducted by the Egon Zehnder International organization among 720 family business executives and owners from Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Europe, over 60% of business managers felt that the lack of professional procedures and administrative structures is the biggest shortcoming of family-run businesses (Brun de Pontet and Aronoff 45).

In addition, 55% of executives surveyed indicated that divergences among family members, due to a lack of accountability are another big problem. 60% of the respondents in this survey confirmed that family quarrels often get in the way of making good business decisions such as hiring external experts to deal with recurring problems (Brun de Pontet and Aronoff 46). From these two surveys, it appears that family conflict can result in the wrong decision being made due to the absence of an objective perspective.

According to the KPMG and Family Business Australia’s biennial survey, which was conducted with 658 family-run businesses based in Australia, 57% of participants indicated that as family business leaders, they were concerned about the intentions of their potential successors, whether their children, or other relatives. In addition, 63% of the polled family business leaders indicated that they were not impressed by the abilities of their potential successors (KPMG and Family Business Australia Survey of Family Businesses 3).

This corresponds with the findings of the Egon Zehnder International organization survey which also established that 60 % of the family business leaders had doubts about the proficiency of family members. According to these leaders, this was a common cause of conflicts among the family members (Brun de Pontet and Aronoff 46). It would seem that the biggest problem that family business leaders have to grapple with is the refusal of family members to accept the fact that they may not have the necessary skills to function in specialized operations.

This can be a particularly difficult problem to solve because any skilled outsiders who are hired are likely to be met with hostility and subversive acts from disgruntled family members. Another problem often faced by family business leaders has to do with making decision on strategic planning. Today, the family that is successful in progressing at a steady rise from generation to