Synopses & Reviews
Preparing to pass the family business on to the next generation is perhaps the roughest and most critical challenge facing business owners. Yet most businesses don't realize that succession is a lifelong process of planning and management. Leaders will learn how to create a succession plan; how to develop opportunities for succession candidates; how to build consensus with the family and leaders on succession plans; and when and how to let go of their own role in the business.
Review
"The provide us with a wealth of answers to the succession challenge from specific family case histories addressing the powerful issue of how the family business and it's legacies can be continued. Too many families neglect the succession issue until it is too late to preserve the essence of what made the family great." —Harry Martin (former Head of the Cargill McMillan Family Office), Family Advisors, LLC, Mystic, CT
"… a must read for those serious about succession." —Marshall Paisner, Chairman, ScrubaDub, Natuck, MA
" provides practical guidance on tough family business issues." —Ross W. Nager, Sentinel Trust Company, Houston, TX
"While our father was a great journalist and businessman, and a wonderful parent, his transition planning was inadequate. Fortunately for our family and business we used the principles we found in Family Business Succession: The Final Test of Greatness to help guide us as we developed and implemented our succession plan. As a result, we are a healthier and more prosperous family and family business than we ever dreamed possible." —Betsy McCool, Chairman, Western Communications, Bend, OR
Synopsis
Addresses the number one concern of all family businesses—how to pass on the business successfully
About the Author
Craig E. Aronoff is Co-founder, Principal, and Chairman of the Board, of The Family Business Consulting Group, Inc. He is a leading consultant, speaker, writer, and educator in the family business field. Aronoff is perhaps the most prolific writer in the family business field. As the founder of the Cox Family Enterprise Center and current Professor Emeritus at Kennesaw State University in Marietta, GA, Aronoff invented and implemented the membership-based, professional-service-provider sponsored Family Business Forum, which has served as a model of family business education universities world-wide. He has held the Dinos Eminent Scholar Distinguished Chair of Private Enterprise and was a professor of management in Kennesaw State's Coles College of Business. The Aronoff Professorship of Family Business at Kennesaw State University was named in his honor.
John L. Ward is Co-founder of the Family Business Consulting Group Inc. He is Clinical Professor at the Kellogg School of Management and teaches strategic management, business leadership and family enterprise continuity. Ward is the author or co-author of several leading texts on family business, Keeping the Family Business Healthy, Creating Effective Boards for Private Enterprises, Strategic Planning for the Family Business, Perpetuating the Family Business, Unconventional Wisdom and Family Business Key Issues. He is also an author of a collection known as The Family Business Leadership Series, each focusing on specific issues family businesses face.
Stephen L. McClure is a Principal at the Family Business Consulting Group, Inc. and specializes in family communications and decision making, succession planning and implementation, and governance & management in family firms. He has taught business planning and family business management and governance to retail networks of international manufacturers, clients of law practices, international trade groups, business advisors, and to the members and owners of family businesses, both domestically and internationally. As an innovator in providing unique services to private businesses, his articles on consulting methods appear in three volumes of collected works. Dr. McClure has worked with family businesses for over 25 years.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction: The Final Test of Greatness * II. The Pieces of the Succession Puzzle * III. The CEO's Personal Challenge: Preparing for a New Life * IV. Preparing Your Business for Succession * V. Developing Effective Successors * VI. Preparing the Family for a Successful Transition * VII. Preparing the Responsible Owner Team * VIII. The Evolving Roles of Leader and Successor * IX. Implementing Succession * X. Understanding Family Tensions * XI. Other Pitfalls: Where Are You Most Likely to Stumble? * XII. Summary * Appendices * Index