February 5, 2010
Earlier this week Professor ran IMD's first Discovery Event on the theme of family business. The event, entitled "Family and non-Family Managers - Teamwork at the Top", drew great international interest as participants flew in from several continents to IMD's campus to take part in highly interactive and thought-provoking sessions with live cases and guest speakers. Professor Killing, along with IMD Professors and , presented a variety of cases with very different approaches and challenges that family businesses are faced with in their decision on whether and how to work with non-family managers in top-management positions.
Three live cases and the award winning Merck case were presented during the two-day event. The 85 participants were also able to benefit from great networking, buzz groups, and the sharing and exchange of experiences.
The first case study featured the Wates Group of the UK, and the question posed to the class was whether or not the Wates family's intention to hire a non-family CEO was a good idea. The intense debate was followed by presentations from both Andrew Wates and Paul Drechsler, the non-family CEO who was indeed hired. The ensuing financial performance has been excellent, and the Wates family is now on the road to becoming "world class owners".
During all the sessions, both family and non-family managers agreed with the view expressed by Gilbert Achermann, the non-family CEO and soon to be Chairman of Straumann, a Swiss-based family-owned global leader in restorative and regenerative dentistry, that: "Independent directors are worth their weight in gold.” During his presentation Mr. Achermann also raised the question of whether or not family companies that have publicly listed their shares, but kept control, offer the "best of both worlds". Some participants agreed, and some did not!
The third session was led by Bata Shoe Chairman Thomas G. Bata, who presented "live issues" that he currently faces in terms of the governance of the company. The IMD participants, working in groups, made recommendations which were very well received.
Finally, Professor Leleux led the group through an analysis of the award winning 342 year old family-owned Merck Company of Darmstadt. The session enabled participants to understand the sources of its enduring success, and its unique way of dealing with non-family senior executives.
William and Suzanne Warren, CEO & COO respectively at the Deabadh Group, noted that the event was “a great way to tap into the intellectual firepower of the IMD team and also to generate ideas and concepts with our fellow participants.”
The event was a unique opportunity for participants to get better insights into some very current issues and to learn from global best practices and frameworks developed by IMD over the past 20+ years.
This event is planned to be the first in a series of Family Business events that IMD is organizing with the objective of sharing its world-renowned family business expertise with local, international and global family businesses.
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