Managing change

When asked why they prefer to patronize family businesses, many customers say it’s because these companies represent tradition and continuity. But even among those who value the past, change is a force that must be reckoned with.

 

Demographics shift. Technological developments occur. Interest rates change. Parents and their children age—and so do buildings and machines. Relatives marry, bringing in-laws into the picture. A new generation is born—and so is a new group of shareholders.

 

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It’s human nature to avoid confronting major transitions. Change management researchers theorize that people’s reaction to change mirrors the stages of grief described by Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her landmark work On Death and Dying: denial (rationalizing the change away or declaring that “this too shall pass”), anger (“shooting the messenger” or sabotaging efforts to deal with the challenge), bargaining (bringing up other issues to direct attention from the matter at hand), depression (staying away from the office, feeling a loss of control) and, finally, acceptance (focusing on how change can benefit the organization, taking ownership for solutions).

 

Change management can be especially tough in a family firm because the principals must contend with changes in the business environment as well as in the family—sometimes both simultaneously. Wise family business owners anticipate change and prepare for it in advance.

 

In this issue, we highlight several family firms that have met the challenges of change management. Kathryn Levy Feldman profiles S&S Worldwide of Colchester, Conn., a supplier of products for educational, rehabilitation and other markets that started out as a New York City producer of leather goods. Patricia Olsen talks to two couples who stayed together as business partners after divorcing. Andrea Hammer profiles a mother and son, Judy and Richard Kinderman of Brite Star Manufacturing in Philadelphia, who are continuing their business after the death of its dynamic leader.

 

Also in this edition, we offer some tips on planning for change. Leslie Dashew and Bonnie Brown Hartley note that in addition to preparing for the death of the CEO, a family firm must consider how it will be affected if something happens to other family members. And Sharon Nelton describes how some family companies are planning a new role for senior-generation members who remain vital and productive in their 70s and beyond.

 

For many of us, change is uncomfortable. But the consequences of denying it are disastrous, in both our business and our family lives. Think of the proverbial buggy-whip manufacturer, or the parent who refuses to accept that the children are now grown. Facing the future may not be easy, but it’s likely much easier than the alternative.

About the Author(s)

Barbara Spector

Barbara Spector is Family Business Magazine's editor-at-large.


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