One of the most powerful challenges in family businesses is managing the naturally occurring tensions between the family 和 the business.
明智的家庭都知道解决这个难题的办法是 而不是选择其一,但 坚持两者的首要地位.
在之前的专栏中(掌握家族企业的两极分化),m88体育探索了成功的家族企业管理两极分化的方法. m88体育区分 极性 和 问题. 例如,一个问题有一个解决方案, 在哪里建一个新设施, 是否雇佣一名新的首席运营官, 要从银行获得多大的信贷额度. 相反,一个极性没有解决方案,它只能被管理. 管理两极是具有挑战性的,因为它们由两个极性组成, 看似截然相反的两极,却只能加以控制, 没有解决.
几十年来, we’ve known that families tend to lean towards being either family first or business first. m88体育可以这样描述这些趋势:
在m88体育与家族企业的合作中, it has become clear to us that successful businesses seek to gain the advantages of both family-first practices 和 business-first practices. They do not allow themselves to be forced into choosing one exclusively over the other, 但要同时兼顾这两种方法. In fact, they redefine the l和scape, no longer asking “Which comes first?,现在却在问:“m88体育如何才能兼顾家庭和企业??”
Successful family businesses instinctively realize that choosing either family or business is not wise. They appreciate the power of both family 和 business factors in making the difficult decisions that face them every day. In fact, they recognize that strengthening family leads to a stronger business, 和 vice versa.
例如, when the owning family carefully articulates 和 communicates its guiding principles 和 values, 它使商业领袖具备了专注的能力, 独特的商业策略. 和, when the business leaders create systems clearly grounded in performance 和 accountability, it makes it easier for the family to make a longterm commitment of tangible capital support 和 intangible stewardship support for the enterprise.
和所有的极性一样, what at first seems to be an opposing pair of irresolvable conflicts is soon discovered to be a complementary set of opportunities that contain the seeds of excellence. Wise families know that the key to managing this challenge is respecting 和 including both options, 他们积极地追求这条道路.
The first step in managing a polarity is to fully underst和 the upsides 和 downsides of each option. 极性图可以帮助理解这一点.
极性地图©:管理家庭/企业挑战
更大的目标:家庭和企业的成功
感谢Barry对本文的贡献. “极性地图© 2016极性合伙有限责任公司(www.polaritypartnerships.com)、版权所有”以及“极性图”® 和极性管理® 是否是极性合伙有限责任公司的注册商标

最深的恐惧:家庭和企业的失败
This general polarity map can be used as a starting point for developing a map for your family business. The map can be used at a high level to address the overall business philosophy or it can be applied to a specific business issue, such as employment or compensation policies or vision 和 strategy development.
Drafting a map together as a group allows the family to discover imbedded assumptions about how the family 和 business should be run. The polarity map allows families to identify 和 discuss points of disagreement in a neutral, 中立的方式. It can also be used to identify opportunities to balance 极性 和 improve the outcomes for both business 和 family.
在以后的文章中, we will apply a polarity map to family compensation to demonstrate how the tool can be used to articulate family 和 business philosophy.