家族企业有本难念的生意经

    但家族企业特别容易陷入某些特定的麻烦之中，主要是围绕继承问题。即便庞大的新闻集团（News Corp）默多克家族也难以幸免。据《名利场》杂志（Vanity Fair）12月份的一篇文章报道，默多克家族曾与一位心理学家讨论过家族继承问题。周五，奥本海默家族将其持有的钻石矿业公司德比尔斯（De Beers）40%的股份出售给英美资源公司（Anglo American），据称后者涉及更为严重的继承问题。

    麦克卢尔认为，总体而言，家族企业中的年轻一代在三十岁时，会焦躁不安地渴望改变。这也符合公司进行结构性改革的需求——原因主要在于两代人之间发生的技术进步，以及不断变化的消费者需求。

    家族企业咨询师艾德•罗森菲尔德称：“代沟不可避免。年长一代通常更愿意守成，为退休后的生活保障做打算。而年轻一代为了能在更短时间内把企业做大而倍感压力，否则他们就无法享受自己想要的生活方式。”

    人们总是会被自己的家庭角色所束缚，即便是涉及公司业务也依然如此。家族成员会记得哪位亲戚总是一事无成，谁是麻烦制造者，谁又是家中的金童玉女，但实际上这些角色根本不会影响工作能力。麦克卢尔经常建议家族企业未来的接班人暂时离开自家的公司一段时间，到其他公司证明自己拥有杰出的才能，这样一来就可以打消人们对他能力的质疑。

    他说，能力问题之所以常会引起注意，是因为家庭与企业在互动方式上存在很大的区别：在家庭中，最弱势的人通常会得到最大的协助，而最能干的人遭遇则恰恰相反。麦克卢尔称，他所在的公司建议亲人之间利用家庭关系，而不是工作关系，来帮助有需要的家庭成员。

    但人们可能很难接受这样的建议。安吉尔说：“在理智和逻辑上，他们可以理解，但在情感上他们不能接受。”

    实际上，Rothstein Kass的研究显示，最成功的家族企业与其他类型的企业没有太大的差别。公司的独立顾问行使着董事会的职责，他们的意见通常会得到公司的重视。这些公司的决定不会过于偏袒特定家族成员，而且当家庭中出现问题时，公司并不会受到影响。

    麦克卢尔称，要想打造一家成功的家族企业，无需所有家庭成员一齐上阵；如果他们在进入公司时能甩掉作为家族成员角色的包袱，他们将受益匪浅。

    译者：阿龙/汪皓

    Nonetheless, family businesses are susceptible to certain troubling patterns, mostly surrounding succession. Even the mighty Murdochs have hit succession problems at News Corp (NWS). The family has had discussions with a psychologist over succession troubles, according to a December article in Vanity Fair. And on Friday, the Oppenheimer family sold its 40% stake in diamond miner De Beers to Anglo American, which some have described as part of a larger succession problem.

    Across the board, the younger generation in a family-owned business tends to grow restless for change when they reach their thirties, McClure says. This can also coincide with a need for organizational changes at the company – technology advances between generations, and customers' needs evolve.

    "Differences are unavoidable between generations," says family business consultant Ed Rosenfeld. "The senior generation generally has an interest in preserving what they've built and an economic incentive to protect their retirement. The younger generation feels pressure to grow the pie in a shorter time frame, or they're not going to get the lifestyle that they want."

    People tend to get locked into their family roles, even when they enter the business. Families still remember when their relatives were screw-ups, troublemakers, or golden children, though those roles may not affect competence at work. McClure often advises a young family member who is a potential successor to leave the business for a short period of time and prove his or her prowess at another company, which can relieve tension about the person's merit.

    Merit questions surface often, he says, because of a key difference between family and business dynamics: in a family unit, the neediest person generally gets the most assistance, as opposed to the most competent person. McClure says his company urges people to use the family network, not the business network, to support needy members.

    It can be tough for people to hear that advice. "They'll understand it mentally and logically, but emotionally is where they have the trouble," says Angell.

    In fact, the best-run family-owned businesses, according to Rothstein Kass' research, are difficult to distinguish from any other company. They tap into insight from independent advisers that serve the same purpose as a board. They make decisions that do not favor certain family members excessively, and the business portion of their lives doesn't dissolve when there's trouble at home.

    A family doesn't even really need to be entirely functional to run a successful business, says McClure. But it helps if they can drop all the baggage that comes with being a family when they step foot in the office.