Wednesday
23 May, 2012
23 May, 2012
The Family Business Forum is designed exclusively for family members with major
family firms or family offices. You will discover the solutions to your unresolved
issues, by hearing from and working with business families from every continent.
Understanding the Evolution of Family Enterprises
Dr. Ivan Lansberg
(United States/Venezuela)
Academic Director, Center for Family Enterprises Executive Programs, Kellogg School of Management
Author of “Succeeding Generations” and “Generation to Generation”
Senior Partner, Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, LLC
Author of “Succeeding Generations” and “Generation to Generation”
Senior Partner, Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, LLC
One of the world’s leading teachers, writers and consultants on family business, Ivan Lansberg
is particularly recognised for his work on family business succession.
Dr. Lansberg will lead the discussions, draw conclusions from other speakers’ experiences and
contribute his own presentations. He will share some of his latest thinking on what is unique about leadership in family companies.
In the opening session, he will explain how family enterprises typically evolve and the challenges associated with each
stage. Dr. Lansberg will introduce a number of key concepts that will be addressed in more detail during the Forum.
Building on Success in a “Sibling Partnership”
Mr. Tabith M. Awal
(Bangladesh)
Deputy CEO, Multimode Group
Tabith Awal and his brother Tafsir succeeded their father, an outstanding entrepreneur, in directing the family firm
day-to-day. Originally a shipping business, it is now a diversified conglomerate with over 9,000 employees in fields
ranging across consumer products, distribution, energy, cement and seed products.
He will cover a number of key issues including how the previous generation decided to divide their interests, how
the brothers – now including their younger brother – have chosen their roles and the change to non-family top
operational management.
Strategic Reinvention and Family Cohesion
Ms. Mary Crump Carvajal
(Colombia)
Board Director and Family Council Member, Grupo Carvajal
Throughout the afternoon of the first day, participants will work together on a live family business case. The Grupo
Carvajal case will be presented by family member Mary Crump Carvajal, whose roles have included family director
and President of the family council.
Participants will hear how this company of 28,000 people faced up to the challenge of strategic renewal, including
reducing its dependence on paper-related businesses. With the company also planning a 3rd to 4th generation
transition and a move to a non-family CEO, how would over 200 family members react? Would their constitution
be a help or a hindrance?
Learning from Each Other
Forum participants will learn from each others’
experience, working in table-sized discussion
groups to identify the key issues and their potential
solutions in the Carvajal case.
Later, Ivan Lansberg and Mary Crump Carvajal
will draw broader conclusions from the ideas
generated by participants in their groups, before
reviewing what actually happened in real life.
Carvajal: Early Days
Trade-Offs in a Family Firm
In the final session, Dr. Lansberg will explore the
trade-offs needed in a family firm.
In particular, he will suggest that strategic changes
are often easier, particularly for a large family, if the
governance architecture is already in place. He will
review the key elements of governance, including
how they can be used to develop family cohesion
and support management actions
Thursday
24 May, 2012
24 May, 2012
Good leadership, planning and governance free up energy for the business.
How do you put them in place? Today’s sessions answer your toughest questions on
inheritance, next generation preparation, rule-setting, governance and leadership.
Encouraging Entrepreneurship
Mr. Hadi Al Alawi
(Bahrain)
Founder & Chairman, Al Hayat Group
Third generation family owner Hadi Al Alawi will discuss the unique model started after the first generation
then followed by his father.
In their model, all the children in each generation are provided with seed capital and encouraged
to start non-competing business ventures or investments, during the lifetime of the previous generation.
As part of this initiative Hadi Al Alawi founded Al Hayat Group in the early 90s.
Preparing for Future Ownership Responsibilities
Ms. Sophie Velge-Lammerant
(Belgium)
Family Council Board Member, Bekaert
Communications and Next Generation Programme Director, FBNet Belgium
Communications and Next Generation Programme Director, FBNet Belgium
Sophie Velge-Lammerant is from the fourth generation at Bekaert – an advanced wire products and
coatings company employing over 23,000 in 120 countries – where she is a member of the Family Council Board
and the Bekaert Academy taskforce. She is also a board member of FBN International and FBNet Belgium.
Ms. Velge-Lammerant will draw from this wide experience to discuss next generation education in large family
businesses, including explaining some of the best practices she has seen or been involved with in her different roles.
Implicit Rules and Necessary Compromises
Mrs. Bella Hopewell
(United Kingdom)
Family Member and Managing Partner, C. Hoare & Co.
C. Hoare & Co. was founded by Sir Richard Hoare in 1672. Well over 300 years later, it remains
100% owned by the Hoare family and is led by direct descendants of the bank's founder.
During its long history, C. Hoare & Co. has enjoyed successes and survived crises.
11th generation family member and Managing Partner Bella Hopewell will suggest that
the company owes much of its longevity to family values,
but also implicit or explicit rules and the resulting compromises.
How is Family and Business Leadership Different?
Dr. Ivan Lansberg
(United States/Venezuela)
In an interactive session, Dr. Lansberg will lead an exercise on leadership. Participants will work in table-sized groups
to consider how, in their own family firms today, different skills are probably being applied to family versus business leadership.
Applying “Ambidextrous Leadership”
In his closing presentation, Ivan Lansberg will share his newest thinking on leadership in family firms. He will suggest that
different skill sets are needed in the family and business dimensions so that it takes “Ambidextrous Leadership” to cover both realms.
Dr. Lansberg will show that leaders cannot ignore whichever of the two dimensions – family or business –
where they are weaker, but need to build sufficient capacity in both. Family leaders need to be able to respond to three questions:
What are the key skills needed? Why are they contradictory? How do I learn to deploy them?
Friday
25 May, 2012
25 May, 2012
Mr. Peter Leach
(United Kingdom)
Author of “Family Businesses, The Essentials”
Founding Partner, Peter Leach & Partners
Founding Partner, Peter Leach & Partners
The final morning is devoted exclusively to a
peer-to-peer discussion workshop, consistently
ranked by participants as the most valuable part
of the Forum.
It is the opportunity for participants to seek
advice on whatever questions are on their minds by drawing on the
experience of the other families.
Workshop facilitator Peter Leach is a leading advisor, teacher and
writer, helping family owners around the world. His work includes
creating governance structures, facilitating next generation
participation and drafting family constitutions.
Participants work in table-sized, peer-to-peer groups to explore
their own challenges and opportunities. Peter Leach answers
questions so that participants return home with clear action steps.
The Family Business Forum is sponsored by (in alphabetical order):
