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Case
Studies
The
following are a list of family business case studies authored
by Professor John L. Ward. Select a case title below to link
to more detailed information and case ordering instructions.
Kellogg Case Publications "Family Business" Cases
ATF (forthcoming)
By John L. Ward and Carol Zsolnay |
Bata
Shoe Organization (A)
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief; Joachim Schwass; Ulrich
Steger, 2002, Case #: IMD-3-1084
- Case Country: Canada, Industry: Shoes
Ownership structure in G3 company ties hands of family
members who want to affect change to save the business,
sell or not sell. |
Bata
Shoe Organization (B)
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief; Joachim
Schwass; Ulrich Steger, 2002, Case #: IMD-3-1085
- Case Country: Canada, Industry: Shoes
This two-part case study examines the implications of
organizational structure and control issues on company
management and strategy. Effective corporate governance
and its role in efficient operations management is the
focus of these cases. |
Carvajal SA: Building on a Century of Business Growth and Family Values
By John L. Ward; Ivan Lansberg; Sachin Waikar, 2011, KSM Case #: Internal Use Only
- Case Country: Colombia, Industry: Various |
Clemens
Family Corporation (A): The Struggle from Family First
to Business First
By John L. Ward; Christina N. Goletz, 2004, Case #:
5-104-012(A) (KEL115) [Available in Spanish # 5-104-012SP(A)]
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Meat Packing
G3 owners of a regional business, threatened by national
competition, need to make changes to company structure
and family business policies to be able to continue
in G4.
Case A shows how a regional family company, threatened
by national competition, needs to make changes to its
structure and way of doing business or face extinction
or sale |
Clemens
Family Corporation (B): The Process of Change
By John L. Ward; Christina N. Goletz, 2004, Case #: 5-104-012(B)
(KEL116) [Available in Spanish # 5-104-012SP(B)]
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Meat Packing
Case B shows the steps the business takes to make it succeed,
including restructuring that involves eliminating long-time
family managers and planning for succession. |
Clemens
Family Corporation (C): Post Transition (August 2001)
By John L. Ward; Christina N. Goletz, 2004, Case #: 5-104-012(C)
(KEL117)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Meat Packing
Case C shows post-transition successes and areas that
still need work. |
Clinton
Devon Estates: Since 1299, A Culture of Distinction
(A)
By John L. Ward; Joachim Schwass, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1539
- Case Country: England, Industry: Rural Real Estate
What direction should a family take in the future of
governance of a large family estate in the family for
over 700 years.
This two part case series explores the strategic and
cultural implications of recognizing a major reconsideration
of a multitude of long-held beliefs may be needed to
ensure a firm’s survival. The business lines and
corporate culture that had served this landed estate
so well and for so long had been challenged by radical
changes in the operating environment, industry and ownership
assumptions. The company needs to look deep inside itself
and clarify its purpose and core values. The A case
presents the background and colorful history of this
unique business, from 1299 to the year 2000, and lays
out the challenges and options under consideration by
the trustees, family owners and management. Much was
at stake for Clinton Devon. To sell the estate lock,
stock and barrel, spending the future counting newly-liquid
wealth, was not an option congruent with the family’s
heritage and philosophy. However, to do nothing meant
the estate’s near-certain demise.
|
Clinton
Devon Estates: Since 1299, A Culture of Distinction
(B)
By John L. Ward; Joachim Schwass, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1540
- Case Country: England, Industry: Rural Real Estate
How to retool and focus a large enterprise for the future.
How to execute and communicate change with stakeholders.
Case B reveals the innovative and unexpected steps actually
undertaken by this organization and the results that
followed. |
Clinton
Devon Estates: Since 1299, A Culture of Distinction (C)
By John L. Ward; Joachim Schwass, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1543
- Case Country: England, Industry: Rural Real Estate |
Culture and Compensation: Considering Performance and Variable Pay at SRF Limited
By John L. Ward, Sachin Waikar, Carol Zsolnay, 2009, KSM Case #: 5-109-004
- Case Country: India, Industry: Industrial Manufacturing
How much advice should a successful FB take from a global consultancy suggesting changes in HR that conflict with their company and family values and traditional approaches. |
Destira Case (forthcoming)
By John L. Ward and Carol Zsolnay
|
Ensuring Family and Business Continuity at India's GMR Group
By John L. Ward, Kavil Ramachandran, Sachin Waikar, Rachna Jha,
2011, Ivey/ISB Case #: 9B11M075
- Case
Country: India
Most family businesses do not survive beyond two or three generations. One of the main reasons for the short life span of family businesses is due to the lack of governance mechanisms in the family. With better family governance, business development becomes a more enjoyable journey and ensures continuity of the business across generations. This case is about an Indian family business, GMR Group, which was established a quarter century ago, and by 2010 became one of the major diversified infrastructure organizations in the country with large-scale interests in infrastructure (energy, roads and airports) and manufacturing (agri-business, mainly sugar). Since its founding, the Group has come a long way, from an independent proprietary enterprise to a family-owned holding corporation with several companies under its control, along with external stakeholders. The growth of the group has been led by the entrepreneurial zeal and organizational capabilities of its founder G.M Rao. Having seen many family businesses breaking up for want of adequate governance mechanisms, Rao led the way for the writing of his family’s constitution with the help of several experts. The entire family spent many hours, and after several rounds of iteration created and signed a constitution in 2007. The writing process of the constitution, and the policies and processes developed were optimal for maximizing GMR’s performance and the family’s well-being in current and future generations. The case captures the essential processes and output of writing a family constitution. |
EC
Family
By John L. Ward, Denise Kenyon-Rouvinez,
2005, Case #: Internal Use Only
- Case
Country: Europe, Industry: Holding and Trading
How should a complex group of cousins organize a family
council and constitution for the good of their enterprise? |
Entrepreneurial
Philanthropy: "Be A Non-Conformist"
By John L. Ward, Joachim Schwass, Colleen
Lief, 2007, Case #: IMD-3-1743
- Case Country: Mexico, Industry: Philanthropy
Raymundo Leal, a self-made Mexican businessman, turned 50 in 1994. The first 25 years of his life were spent educating himself and getting married. The next 25 were devoted to building a business and raising a family. Would he spend the last part of his life as he had the previous 25 years? Should he continue accumulating money that, according to his lifestyle, he would never use? He asked himself - Is this all there is to life? Would inheriting money be the best legacy he could pass along to his children? Perhaps leaving the leadership of his company and devoting himself to Mexico’s poor with smart, effective charitable giving would be the best use of his time. There were serious ramifications to such radical change. Who would lead the business if he were to devote himself to philanthropy? How would his family react to this shift in priorities and the resulting financial implications? Learning objectives: Identifying an individual path to philanthropy; Family business succession transitions; Exploring philanthropy (or family office or family governance) as a way to maintain family cohesion and direction.
|
Families Fortunes, and Footwear: Reaching Out to the Fourth Generation of Brazil's Lupo S.A.
By John L. Ward, Sachin Waikar, Carol Zsolnay, 2008, KSM Case #: 5-408-753
[Also Available in Spanish]
- Case Country: Brazil, Industry: Clothes Manufacturing
A successful third-generation family business explores whether or not to continue in business as a family into the fourth generation. If they do decide to move forward as a family business, how can they cultivate knowledge and interest among the forty-plus fourth-generation family members? The reasons behind perpetuating a family business are as important to consider as how to accomplish this goal. This case is designed to provoke students to reflect on their own intentions and motivations for their own family businesses. |
Fel-Pro
(A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace
By John L. Ward; Carrie Meek, 2005, Case #: 5-105-001(A)
(KEL118)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Manufacturing
G4 cousins weigh the pros and cons to family owners
and company employees of selling their successful family
business.
A successful, multi-generation manufacturing family
business, with progressive human resource policies,
weighs the pros and cons to family owners and company
employees of selling the business in order to meet the
challenge of global competition. |
|
Fel-Pro
(B): After the Sale-The Lehman Family Transition
By John L. Ward; Carrie Meek, 2005, Case #: 5-105-001(B)
(KEL119)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Family Office
After a family business transition, the family develops
a family office for investments, foundations, new ventures.
After the sale of their multi-generation family business,
a family and business transitions. The family uses the
sales contract to maintain its progressive human resource
policies. The family organizes a family investment office,
establishes foundations, and launches new ventures.
|
| Four
Generations of the Owens Family (A)
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1492
- Case Country: Australia, Industry: Grocery
G3 business reaches a crisis in management and leadership
when the bad relationships of G2 interfere with their
business.
This case series follows the Richard Owens family through
nearly one hundred years of evolution and change. The
A-case describes how the family business started with
one grocery store in 1906 and, by 1974, had grown into
a large private enterprise that included supermarkets,
liquor stores and real estate. While competitors could
not seem to stop the Owens family business, fractured
family relationships and rivalries caused significant
problems. In 1974, the conflict came to a head and the
firm was split into three, one business line for each
sibling. |
Four
Generations of the Owens Family (B)
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1493
- Case Country: Australia, Industry: Grocery
G3 business breaks up and one branch continues as a G1
to G2 family business.
How the businesses fared after the firm was split up in
1974 and how each brother managed his company for the
future are the subjects of the B case. Efforts by one
branch of the family to avoid the kinds of problems that
brought about the division of the original family business
are outlined. Governance and ownership issues now faced
by the next generation are highlighted. |
Four
Generations of the Owens Family (C)
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1494
- Case Country: Australia, Industry: Grocery
G1 to G2 family business develops structures to work in
business harmoniously together. Developing and independent
board, a family constitution, etc. |
Four
Generations of the Owens Family (D)
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1569
- Case Country: Australia, Industry: Grocery
Developing a family constitution for a G1 to G2 business.
This four part case series follows the Richard Owens
family through nearly one hundred years of evolution
and change. The family business started with one grocery
store in 1906 and, by 1974, had grown into a large private
enterprise that included supermarkets, liquor stores
and real estate. While competitors could not seem to
stop the Owens family business, fractured family relationships
and rivalries caused significant problems. In 1974,
the conflict came to a head and the firm was split into
three, one business line for each sibling. How the businesses
fared and how each brother managed his company for the
future are the subjects of the B case. Efforts by one
branch of the family to avoid the kinds of problems
that brought about the division of the original family
business are outlined. Governance and ownership issues
now faced by the next generation are highlighted. The
C case brings participants up-to-date with the evolution
of the Richard Owens family's first constitution and
governance policies implemented to help protect the
family firm for the future. The D case presents the
next step in family and company governance, highlighting
the most recent family constitution dated November 2002.
|
| Freedom
Communications, Inc.: Family Enterprise or Liquidity?
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2007, KSM Case #: 5-307-504
-
Case
Country: USA, Industry: Media
A G3 and G4 business, that has failed to allow liquidity
and has avoided succession issues, is forced to confront
these and decide to sell or not. |
Ghost
in the Family Business (HBR Case Study
and Commentary)
By John L. Ward; Warren D. Miller; Gerry Boschowitz; Rudy
Boschowitz; Joe Mattos; Mary Whiteside, 2000, Case #:
R00308
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Construction
An aging G1 entrepreneur sets his G2 offspring up in business
but the business isn’t going well. What should the
consultant advise? |
| Harilela
Empire: An Indian Family Business in Hong Kong
By John L. Ward; Suren Mansinghka; Elyssa Tran; Bhaskar
Sambamurthy, 2006, KSM Case #: 5-405-757 (TN Available)
- Case Country: Hong Kong & China, Industry: Hospitality
Six aging G2 leaders of a multi-billion dollar empire
who have run the business for decades plan of succession
and deal with challenges related to the post-transition
governance. |
Hilti:
Our Culture Journey
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1434
- Case Country: Lichtenstein, Industry: Manufacturing
A G2 business with a strong corporate culture tied to
the founder wants to maintain the keys to its success
in to the future.
From the humble ambitions of two brothers, Hilti AG came
a long way to win the 2003 Bertelsmann Prize. Hilti was
a world leader in professional construction tools and
equipment with sales approximating $2.8 billion, operations
in 120 countries and a global workforce of around 15,120
who together shared in an award-winning corporate culture.
Culture at Hilti, was inseparable from strategy. So when
challenged at several points in their history, the company
relied on the strength and underpinnings of its corporate
culture to see it through. Now, with new governance changes
afoot, Hilti would need to leverage this valuable resource
once again. |
India's Mewar Dynasty: Upholding 76 Generations of Service and Custodianship (A) (B) (C)
By John L. Ward; Kavil Ramachandran, Rachna Jha, Sachin Waikar, 2011, Ivey/ISB Case
#: 9B11M084
- Case Country: India
There are not many families in the world that can claim continuity of existence for over 76 generations in either business or otherwise. Families that manage such a feat tend to have strong roots of values and culture that are in line with the basic principles of trusteeship — to preserve and grow wealth (both material and spiritual) for the benefit of future generations. This case is based on the history of and current challenges faced by such a family, the Mewar dynasty from India.
|
Keystone
(A)
By John L. Ward; Sue Perricelli, 2001, KSM Case
#: Internal Use Only
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Publishing and Bottling
G2 to G3 succession when two families each hold 50% of
ownership. Family, ownership, governance and management
issues surface. Succession decision is worked out among
the three G3 successor candidates. |
Keystone
(B)
By John L. Ward; Sue Perricelli, 2001, KSM Case
#: Internal Use Only
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Publishing and Bottling
G2 to G3 succession when two families each hold 50% of
ownership. Family, ownership, governance and management
issues surface. Succession decision is worked out among
the three G3 successor candidates.
|
Keddeg
Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of a Small Business
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2007,
KSM Case #: 5-107-012(A)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Manufacturing in the Aircraft
Aftermarket
A G1 couple, whose business IS their retirement savings,
tries to decide whether or not to sell the business to
outsiders or to continue the business in the family with
two from G2. |
Keddeg
Company (B): Twenty Months Later
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2007,
KSM Case #: 5-107-012(B)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Manufacturing in the Aircraft
Aftermarket
A married couple who have a successful industrial B2B business evaluate whether or not to sell the business to two of their offspring, who are both entrepreneurial MBA graduates. Complicating factors include the fact that the sale price and structure need... |
Keddeg
Company (C): March-December 2008: From Go-Go Succession to Non-Family Sale
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2010,
KSM Case #: 5-107-012(C)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Manufacturing in the Aircraft
Aftermarket
A married couple who have a successful industrial B2B business evaluate whether or not to sell the business to two of their offspring, who are both entrepreneurial MBA graduates. Complicating factors include the fact that the sale price and structure need... |
KWS
(A): The Roots of Independence
By John L. Ward; Joachim Schwass, Coleen
Lief, 2008,
Case #: IMD-3-1570
- Case Country: Germany, Industry: Food Production
KWS SAAT AG (KWS) was a leader in sugar beet, corn and cereal seed breeding, operating in 70 countries, employing over 2,700 people and reporting revenues of $724 million in FY 2006/07. It had traveled far from its founding in eastern Germany by two friends in 1856. Through the years, the two families operated the business together and moved through successive generations of hands-on management. The company prided itself on its scientific and innovative prowess. Staying on the cutting edge of the seed breeding business required a consistent and dedicated approach to research. Any short-term curtailment of investment in developing seed varieties that responded to customers’ specific needs regarding climate, pests or other concerns meant falling behind competitors, perhaps irretrievably. The families’ philosophy formed the cornerstone of the firm’s core values. Individual freedom, personal development, independence, confidence and growth were cherished ideas at KWS. Its ability to balance contradiction and reject limits was key to success. Several things came along recently to challenge the company’s approach. Consolidation in the increasingly biotechnology-oriented industry brought major global chemical companies to the industry. Their deep pockets meant that many smaller players were selling out and the field of competitors contracted. The possibility to assure the families’ financial future for generations to come was tempting. At this same time, KWS faced a management issue. The family leader saw retirement on the horizon. Yet, a family successor seemed uncertain. How could the family ensure that their values would continue to guide the firm’s operations, even perhaps in the absence of day-to-day family leadership? This two-part case series explores corporate culture within the context of change, fomenting entrepreneurship and innovation that invigorates, and developing effective strategy for a competitive environment undergoing significant adjustment. Learning objectives: To facilitate discussion of how companies may respond to not only normal, yet relentless stresses but also major events which threaten to derail generations of work; balancing incongruity and dissonance; encouraging entrepreneurial tendencies in staff; examining the role of values in an enterprise; planning for significant transitions in leadership. |
KWS
(B): In Full Bloom - Independence and Continuity
By John L. Ward; Joachim Schwass, Coleen
Lief, 2008,
Case #: IMD-3-1571
- Case Country: Germany, Industry: Food Production
KWS SAAT AG (KWS) was a leader in sugar beet, corn and cereal seed breeding, operating in 70 countries, employing over 2,700 people and reporting revenues of $724 million in FY 2006/07. It had traveled far from its founding in eastern Germany by two friends in 1856. Through the years, the two families operated the business together and moved through successive generations of hands-on management. The company prided itself on its scientific and innovative prowess. Staying on the cutting edge of the seed breeding business required a consistent and dedicated approach to research. Any short-term curtailment of investment in developing seed varieties that responded to customers’ specific needs regarding climate, pests or other concerns meant falling behind competitors, perhaps irretrievably. The families’ philosophy formed the cornerstone of the firm’s core values. Individual freedom, personal development, independence, confidence and growth were cherished ideas at KWS. Its ability to balance contradiction and reject limits was key to success. Several things came along recently to challenge the company’s approach. Consolidation in the increasingly biotechnology-oriented industry brought major global chemical companies to the industry. Their deep pockets meant that many smaller players were selling out and the field of competitors contracted. The possibility to assure the families’ financial future for generations to come was tempting. At this same time, KWS faced a management issue. The family leader saw retirement on the horizon. Yet, a family successor seemed uncertain. How could the family ensure that their values would continue to guide the firm’s operations, even perhaps in the absence of day-to-day family leadership? This two-part case series explores corporate culture within the context of change, fomenting entrepreneurship and innovation that invigorates, and developing effective strategy for a competitive environment undergoing significant adjustment. Learning objectives: To facilitate discussion of how companies may respond to not only normal, yet relentless stresses but also major events which threaten to derail generations of work; balancing incongruity and dissonance; encouraging entrepreneurial tendencies in staff; examining the role of values in an enterprise; planning for significant transitions in leadership. |
Lee
Kum Kee Co. Ltd (A): The Family Recipe
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2006, Case #: IMD-3-1617
- Case Country: Asia/USA, Industry: Food Manufacturing
Four brothers (G4) and their parents (G3) in a 115 year
old business need to set up systems to sustain family
governance in the next generation.
This two-part case series starts with the accidental discovery
of an important condiment in Chinese cuisine in 1888.
The company, Lee Kum Kee Ltd., was born as a result and
over the intervening years grew into a large global enterprise.
Case A describes the development of the firm and family
from the 1st through 4th generations. Development of a
values-based corporate culture, facilitation of entrepreneurship
and the ramifications of family/business crises are highlighted.
|
Lee
Kum Kee Co. Ltd (B): Passing Down the Recipe
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2006, Case #: IMD-3-1618
- Case Country: Asia/USA, Industry: Food Manufacturing
Four brothers (G4) put systems in place to educate the
next generations of young cousins to be involved in the
business.
The B-case of this two-part series examines the 5th generation’s
interest in and engagement with the company and prospects
for the future of family leadership. Establishment of
critical governance structures, preparation for periods
of non-family management and mechanisms for formal and
informal next generation education are key issues. |
Magid
Glove and Safety Manufacturing
By John L. Ward; Susan Perricelli, 2005, Case #: 5-404-760
(KEL120)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Safety Clothing
How should a relaxed, genial, consensus-focused G2/G3
manufacturing business arrange its succession, management,
ownership and governing practices to include up to 17
G3/G4s in the near future?
Based on this multi-generation family business' history,
strategy, governance, and market, what does the future
hold for the business and the family's involvement in
it? Can succession work with co-CEOs? |
Malhotra
(Video Case, Internal Use Only)
By John L. Ward, K. Ramachandran, 2005, Indian School
of Business
- Case Country: India, Industry:
First person account from various generations of family
members regarding their family business. |
Murugappa
Group: Centuries-Old Business Heritage and Tradition
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2004, Case #: 5-104-011
(KEL121)
- Case Country: India, Industry: Holding Company
A successful G5 business separates its ownership role
from its operational management role to meet the needs
of a more global economy.
A successful five-generation family business group in
India separates its ownership role from its operational
management role to meet the needs of a more global economy.
This includes hiring professional non-family managers
of business units and including non-family directors on
the corporate board. |
Oberman
Family and Omeda Communications Inc.
By John L. Ward; Elly Andriopoulou, 2005, KSM Case #: 5-105-003
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Data
Successful and growing G1/G2 business with four G2 sibling
owners tries to plan for succession and develop future
structures.
How should this successful, entrepreneurial family business
plan for leadership, ownership, and governance succession
to the next generation? |
Oracle
of Omaha Meets the Visionaries of the Galilee
By John L. Ward, Joachim Schwass, Colleen Lief, 2008,
Case #: IMD-3-1744
- Case Country: Israel, Industry: Metalworking
Iscar Metalworking was an Israeli producer of metal working and metal cutting tools for industries requiring precise tolerances. Iscar had grown into a global enterprise with employees and offices throughout the world, though it was founded in 1952 in modest circumstances. The business thrived on innovation, passion and dedication to a client-centered approach. Something appeared on the horizon, however, which could potentially disrupt the hard-developed strategies and prosperity of its winning approach. Iscar was a second generation family firm whose CEO was not a family member. Retirement loomed in the medium-term for the family member chairman and the family was unsure of next generation interest in hands-on management of the company. How best to preserve for the future what two generations had worked so diligently to build and nourish? Management evaluated a broad range of options. But Iscar’s special brand of success was unique and to be protected at all costs. It became evident that the best solution for the company was to evolve into a situation where it could remain operationally independent yet have its future—corporate culture, strategic approach-- assured. It felt like looking for a needle in a haystack but the answer finally appeared. Berkshire Hathaway, run by the famed investor Warren Buffett, appeared to operate in fashion very recognizable to Iscar. Independence, maturity, values-driven management were evident in the way BH did business. This case explores Iscar’s steps toward growth and success, its recognition that both a familiar and a different future must be assured for the long-term and the process and reality of becoming part of the BH dynasty. Learning objectives: To allow participants to consider the role of corporate culture and company “DNA” in the context of a need for significant change. Mergers and acquisitions must be approached carefully and in full understanding of the implicit risks and benefits to a company’s culture and history of a transaction. How important are similar or complementary values and purpose in a strategic combination? The approach of the acquiring firm can build or destroy value in the target. What makes the difference between the two outcomes will be explored. |
Plymouth Tube (forthcoming)
By John L. Ward and Carol Zsolnay |
Prince
Family Boardroom Meeting. (Video Case, Internal
Use Only)
By John L. Ward; Lloyd E. Shefsky, 2004, KSM Case
#: Pending
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Retail
Observe the interaction of a board meeting of a G2 leader,
an in-law, two offspring, and two non-family board members.
|
Prudence
and Audacity: The House of Beretta
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2005, Case #: IMD-3-1495
[Also Available in Spanish]
- Case Country: Italy, Industry: Fire Arms
Family leaders in a multi-centuries old family business
recommend major changes to sustain the business while
maintaining core competencies and the family’s values.
After over four centuries in business, the Beretta family's
gun making enterprise stands at an important threshold.
The family and its hometown have provided the cultural
and philosophical underpinnings that have seen the company
through good times and bad. Now, the firm must address
a more insidious challenge. How to continue to grow and
adapt to new market and competitive situations while retaining
the core that brought the company to where it is today.
The role of corporate culture is juxtaposed with stability
in the face of change, dedication to craftsmanship and
the latest technology, close-knit family bonds and an
ardor for individualism. The exercise of seemingly contradictory
business concepts and approaches is examined. |
Creating a Family Business: The Genesis of Rogers Family Enterprise
By John L. Ward; Susan Schwendener; Scott Whitaker
Case Country: USA, Industry: Real Estate/Rehab
Steven Rogers had always thought that someday he would like to own a business with one or both of his daughters. As his eldest daughter, Akilah, finished her final semester at Harvard Business School, she told Rogers that she would like to create with him a Chicago-based real estate venture that included buying, rehabbing and renting homes in the Englewood and South Shore neighborhoods of Chicago.
Rogers quickly realized that his biggest challenge was how to equitably structure the ownership of the business. He gathered advice from family business experts and slowly began to build a plan that would benefit each member of his family. Meanwhile, Akilah assumed responsibilities associated with the business as she finished her final semester at HBS. The case ends with Rogers Family Enterprises owning its first three houses.
|
Scott
Family Enterprises: Defining Fair Process for Cousin Owners
(A)
By John L. Ward; Canh Tran, 2004, Case #: 5-204-267(A)
(KEL124)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Banking and Ranching
G2 Siblings are transitioning leadership to G3 Cousins.
Conflict arises when the agreed upon protocol for board
selection is changed by G2 members without input or vote.
A large family business in banking and ranching is shifting
leadership to the next generation and has developed a
protocol to select board members agreed upon by all. When
the selection occurs, it is not made in accordance with
the protocol and a third generation family member questions
why the selection rules were changed by second generation
members without input or vote. The case highlights the
growing pains of developing fair processes and guidelines
for nominating and selecting board members, meeting family
expectations, communicating with constituents, and encouraging
active roles in governance at the cousin-stage of a family
business. |
Scott
Family Enterprises: Addressing Family Goals and Visions
in the Family Enterprise (B)
By John L. Ward; Canh Tran, 2004, Case #: 5-204-267(B)
(KEL125)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Banking and Ranching |
Spatz
Laboratories (A): Generational Transition and Transformation
By John L. Ward; Canh Tran, 2005, KSM Case #. 5-405-755(A)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Manufacturing, Packaging,
Cosmetics
G2 siblings enter their father’s business and make
changes, including preparing for future growth that will
lead to a viable company with which to make into a family
business. |
Spatz
Laboratories (B): Reorganization and Turnaround
By John L. Ward; Canh Tran, 2005, KSM Case #:
5-405-755(B)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Manufacturing, Packaging,
Cosmetics |
Star
Machining Services
By John L. Ward, 2007, KSM Case #: 5-307-500
[Available in Spanish # 5-307-500SP]
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Fiction
Six G2 siblings with equal ownership conflict depending
on their roles as owners or owner/managers. |
Succession
and Continuity for Johnson Family Enterprises (A)
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2004, Case #: 5-104-013(A)
(KEL122) [Available in Spanish # 5-104-013SP(A)]
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Consumer & Industrial
Chemicals
G4 leader of large, successful family business engages
in succession planning on several fronts —management,
governance and ownership. Unique structures are put in
place to maximize success for the family and for the business
in transition to four in G5 who want roles in the business.
Case A shows the options that exist for a successful transition
of leadership from one generation to the next, based on
a family's and company's unique history, structures and
players. |
Succession
and Continuity for Johnson Family Enterprises (B)
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2004, Case #: 5-104-013(B)
(KEL123) [Available in Spanish # 5-104-013SP(B)]
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Consumer & Industrial
Chemicals
Case B shows successful leadership as a fluid, interactive
process matching individual desires and potential with
strategic business goals and opportunities. |
Succession
and Continuity for Johnson Family Enterprises (C)
(Video Case, Internal Use Only)
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2004, KSM Case #: 5-104-013(C)
- Case Country: USA, Industry: Consumer & Industrial
Chemicals
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| Succession
at Wang Laboratories, Inc. (A) (Teaching
Note with case)
By John L. Ward, Victoria Medvec, Carol A. Zsolnay,
2005, KSM Case #: Pending
-
Case Country: USA, Industry: Computer Manufacturing
Problems in a G1 to G2 transition occur when not all
the available information is used to evaluate who is
best to lead the company. |
Succession
at Wang Laboratories, Inc. (B) (Teaching
Note with case)
By John L. Ward, Victoria Medvec, Carol A. Zsolnay, 2005,
KSM Case #: Pending
-
Case Country: USA, Industry: Computer Manufacturing |
Technical Note: The Family Constitution: It's the Process That Counts, Not the Content
By John L. Ward. © 2009 Kellogg Case Collection #7-309-502
This note introduces the importance to family businesses of drafting a family constitution to maintain success and continuity of governance of the family’s enterprises. The process of family members/owners being involved in making the draft provides the most value for the enterprise, more so than the content of the finished product. |
Technical Note: Ten Secrets of Successful Business Families
By John L. Ward. © 2009 Kellogg Case Collection #7-309-500
This technical note is a descriptive list of factors that are present in large, successful, long-term and/or multi-generation family businesses. |
Technical Note: Why Bond? The Benefits of Family Ties across Time, Space and Generations
By John L. Ward. © 2009 Kellogg Case Collection #7-309-501
This technical note contains examples from other fields on the benefits of bonds of families, extended families, and communities for members of multi-generation family businesses. |
Thomas
Mann's Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family: Great German
Novel or Great Family Business Story?
By John L. Ward; Carol A. Zsolnay, 2005,
Case #: 7-404-750 (KEL284)
This case looks at Thomas Mann’s 1901 novel of four
generations of a German grain merchant through the lens
of family business principles. |
Torvald
Klaveness Group: From Old Traditions To Future Innovations
By John L. Ward; Colleen Lief, 2002, Case #: IMD-3-1123
- Case Country: Norway, Industry: Shipping
How G2/G3 owners change a divisive G1/G2 succession agreement--that
ties shareholding to active management and requires potential
successors to compete with each other—to something
that is viable to the business and to family harmony.
From its beginning in 1947, the Torvald Klaveness Group
succeeded in the shipping business through innovation
and the vision of one man, Torvald "TK" Klaveness.
The company grew and prospered until 1989, when TK handed
the reins over to the second generation. His eldest son
remained true to his father's principals and business
philosophy. As yet another management transition drew
closer, the next generation considered changes to the
founder's succession plan and the company's strategic
approach. |
Weston
Nurseries Inc. (A)
By John L. Ward; Brian Colton, 2004, KSM Case #: 5-105-002(A)
- Case Country: Norway, Industry: Horticulture
Business board, with three independent directors, must
figure out what to do with G3 feuding brother leaders
who each own 50% of the company. They must make changes
at the top to succeed to G4. Options include hiring a
non-family CEO until G4 is ready to lead.
Brothers in a multi-generation family business engage
in a power struggle and the board must decide on a new
leadership strategy. |
Weston
Nurseries Inc. (B)
By John L. Ward; Brian Colton, 2004, KSM Case #: 5-105-002(B)
- Case Country: Norway, Industry: Horticulture
A non-family board member of a multi-generation family
business is tapped as CEO during a leadership crisis.
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