Family Business & Networking

From successful families to successful
family management system.

Family business stress test

Family companies are the backbone of the German economy:

92% of all companies in Germany are family businesses.
They generate 51% of the turnover of the private sector.
60% of all socially insured employees are employed by family businesses.

One thing is clear: Cross-generational thinking, high value orientation, high customer loyalty, corporate culture and employee retention are all typical family strengths that make companies successful and in many cases extremely resilient. But even family businesses are not immune to crises.

5 specific areas of conflict

Family businesses and entrepreneurial families have very specific areas of conflict. With structural support and a successful family management system, these can be overcome:

1. Conflict field: Capital

Key conflict issues may include: How are financial resources being deployed? How is the distinction being handled between company and family interests?

2. Conflict field: Control

Who has actual decision-making power in the family and in the company respectively? Where are decisions (really) made, within the firm ... or at the kitchen table?

3. Conflict field: Career

What is the process for selecting executive managers? Where does family politics come into play in the process? Who could or should take on what role, and why.

4. Conflict field: Family Issues

Is the family capable of managing its internal conflicts, some dating back to childhood, so as to keep them from spilling over into the company?

5. Conflict field: Family Culture

What Values (defined or undefined) characterise the family culture and the corporate culture respectively? In what manner are these values cultivated and passed on?

Results that count.
Decisions that matter.

Family companies are the backbone of the German economy. But who is there to back up the family companies?

Struktur Management Partner have been working successfully side by side both with and for family businesses right from the beginning. Through our practical experience, we have earned a reputation for understanding the needs of families.

For us it is however important that we understand family businesses not only in human terms, but also that we can strengthen them structurally and professionally and move them forward with a focus on results.

Contact

Konrad Fröhlich Senior Partner Attorney-at-Law

Jessica Hirsch Partner Diploma in Business Administration

Guide Ordering from the website – New guide to running a more RESILIENT family firm
Family stress test Quick Check with immediate evaluation
Stakeholder management Read article by G. Mikhailov here
Radical leadership and conflict management Our recent interview with Dr Reinhard K. Sprenger
Targeted enhancement of corporate resilience Preventive Restructuring (StaRUG)
Crisis management and crisis resilience for family firms Order the latest updated practical guide here
How owners of family firms do crisis-proofing Read the recent Handelsblatt article here