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www.fegime.comNEWSLETTER 02.2019
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…all the family assets (such as values, heritage
& connections) but also the family roadblocks.
That succession is such an essential topic is proven
by these statistics fromUK (other countries are just
the same): 70% of all family businesses have a
life expectancy of 24 years, only 30% will make
it into the second generation, only 13% into the
3rd generation - but a staggering 60-70% have
no succession plan at all.
This fitted in well with the next session: Thriving
in Eco-Systems by Dr Shaz Ansari from Judge
Business School, Cambridge. In these times
of disruptive innovation his aim was to give
participants tips on how to survive. In groups
they were invited to look first at a gym and then at
a hotel in order to “reinvent” the business model.
Using the “Four-Action Framework” tool, the final
task was to examine which factors of the business
could be “eliminated, reduced, created or raised”.
Shaz’s tip: balance past, present and future.
With the ever-increasing speed of change, you
just can’t expect to be able to keep on doing what
you have always done, said Patrick Reinmoeller.
You need a breakout strategy to examine where
you can take your business in the coming years.
Patrick’s advice: “Break out from your core
business to adjacent or transformational sectors
despite the risk of uncertain returns. Otherwise,
you are betting the future of your company on
the world never changing.”
There were not many takers for that bet, so the
next topic was Change Management presented
by Sandra Krisberga-Sinigoi, from Cranfield
University. We are all living in a volatile, uncertain,
complex and ambiguous world so we need to
adapt as soon as possible. But change is difficult
because we are creatures of habit who like
everything to remain just as it always was.
So far so good, but what does this have to do
with Lego? Sandra introduced FEGIME Future
to the Lego Serious Play method which has been
used for academic research already for 20 years.
Teams were given Lego bricks and then asked to
build something representing various ideas and
concepts such as “How does my team feel about
changes?”. This is an excellent way of enabling
exploration without consequences, of unlocking
creativity & internal resources and thus enhancing
teamwork.
A working group proud of their results and the whole team in Barcelona together with Prof. Patrick Reinmoeller (right).
FEGIME President, Ricardo Gomez, came
to the Graduation Ceremony and presented
the certificates. “I am sure you have heard
it said of family companies that we do not
inherit the business from our parents, but we
borrow it from our children,” said Ricardo.
“I am convinced that at FEGIME we are on
the right track - into the next generation.”
But that is only half the battle. To quote Steve Jobs:
“Ideas are nothing. Execution is worth millions.”
And Prof. Luis Vives, from ESADE Business School,
Barcelona, confirmed that. His topic: Business
Model Innovation (his definition: the discovery
of a fundamentally different business model in
an existing business, a way to grow profit &
avert threats from competitors). The exercise
he set FEGIME Future was an eye-opener.
Groups of different sizes were given the task of
“manufacturing” letters on small pieces of paper
with the aim of creating as many English words
as possible with as little wastage as possible.
When the results came in, it became clear that
the largest group had had the hardest time
as more coordination & communication were
needed. But all the groups made the mistake
of not doing sufficient market research and not
taking the requirements of the customer into
consideration. Luis’s warning: “The biggest threat
to businesses today is not digital technologies
but loss of relevance & the inability to adapt to
change. You must not forget that the customer
comes first. Adapt to their requirements.”
So, that point went right to the top of participants’
“To Do” lists for the first day back in the office.
Actually, whywait?Nowadays everyone is always
connected to their work, always available. But
sometimes it gets too much. How is it best to cope
with this and achieve sustainable performance?
That was the question posed by Dr Jutta Tobias
Mortlock, from Cass Business School, London.
Her topic was “Slowing Down to Speed Up”. Jutta
had a lot of tips for achievingMindfulness (being
fully present AND responding appropriately). For
example: you must switch off regularly.
There was little time for switching off in Barcelona.
As ever the group worked on the Tool to Take
Home that can be implemented immediately. The
topic was Relationships in the Digital Age (REiDA).
Patrick’s instructions: analyse howyou reach out to
your customers and map out the current situation,
show the desired profile (where you want to be
in 5 years) and define three steps to reach it. The
results inspired Patrick to the following summary:
“If FEGIME Future continues to coordinate goals
and shares best practices, members will benefit
frombetter management of customer relationships
and even greater collaboration within FEGIME.”