Family Business Objective-Free-Samples for Students -Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the key Positive and Negatives influences, or the outcomes that result when a Family Controls any Busines. Answer: Introduction The assignment is based on a business unit in Singapore named Putri Mas Bridal and Beauty. The firm specialises in manufacturing beautiful modern wedding dresses for the bride and groom that are within a fixed budget. It has recently taken up the business of event management and is arranging weddings at a very low cost. The company was registered under the Singapore Marriage law in the year 2012 and is a family business. It has its office in one of the most happening areas of Singapore, at Changi road. The company has suffered a crisis situation in the recent past which was instrumental in restructuring the hierarchy of the business. The aim of the project is to find out the different problems related to a small family business and also the different strategies and decisions that were taken to revive the business. The researcher had met the objectives of the organization in a systematic way to attain the objectives of the report. Family Business Family Business can be specifically referred to the type of business that is established by an individual in a family or the family members and is totally controlled by the person or the group. The family business is not like the other businesses that have a number of shareholders. There are no shareholders or external source of capital which makes the company vulnerable to external threats and challenges its sustainability. Family Business usually possesses some special kind of resources: Human Capital: Human Capital is the primary resource of the business which involves the task division among the family members according to their ability and skills. The segregation of work among the members based on such factors help the business to attain success. Financial Capital: Finance is the heartthrob of any organization as without finance it would be hard for any organization to thrive in the market. The financial capital of family business is usually supplied from equity and personal financing from the different members of the family. A proper supply of finance helps the business to survive the extreme conditions of the market. Longevity capital: As mentioned earlier family business always has the fear of collapsing because of the absence of a proper backing from investors and shareholders of the market. The members of the family must be prompt enough to provide loans and emergency funds when the company faces crisis. Establishment of Social Network: Family business helps to establish social networks which promotes relationships outside the business and helps the associates of the business to acquire specific skills. Lower Managing Cost: Absence of typical costs like accounting, safety measures, and legal measures help these businesses to reduce the costs of managing the business. The trust present between the family members helps to delete these factors and leads them to the path to success. Bridal Small Firm Bridal firms are generally business firms that engage themselves in preparing bridal dresses and different accessories or gift items that are needed during a marriage ceremony. These organizations also arrange the bridal ceremony according to the wishes of their clients (De Visscher 2016). The researcher has specifically chosen Putri Mas Bridal and Beauty which is one of the latest such company in Singapore. The organization is different from the other companies as it is a family owned company. They provide their client with variety of services like Wedding gifts Decorations related to wedding Different cars for brides and grooms Printing wedding cards for the invitees Decorating and catering services Provides quality photography Arranging cultural functions and music Arranging theme based marriages Choice of Control A family business must have a strict control or else it would have a negative impact on the business. There can be problems and differences between the choices and decisions of the different family members that may disrupt the smooth running of the business (Almodvar et al. 2016). The mentioned company in this report has taken some steps to ensure full control of the organization. Experience: The entrepreneurs of the bridal company were selected in a proper way. The most common thing which was considered before selecting the family members was the experience of these members. The members who had an earlier experience of working for some other company were the most preferred (Ward 2016). The manager of Putri Mas explained in detail about the uses of such a selection. He explained that as their company was a family business it was essential to take the best experienced members who could provide best solutions and decisions to influence the growth of the country. Responsibility: The business must ensure that each and every family member must be held accountable for the decisions regarding the organization. The members must provide their own decisions and take responsibility of such decisions. This will be helpful for the organizations to form a compact business structure where every member will be treated equally. Discipline: Putri Mas has been able to experience success in the first few yew years because it has maintained a strict discipline in the office. The head of the family who is also the chief of the explained that the organization shows no leniency towards any of the family members and comes hard on people who breaks the rules. There are also different rules that must be followed by all those members of the organization starting from the chief executive to the youngest member of the business (Pukall and Calabr 2014). Termination: There are various cases where Putri Mas have expelled some influencing members of the family from the business due to misconduct and disciplinary measures. These decisions help to make the organization more stable and can make the organization survive in the long run (Daspit et al. 2016). Before starting the business, the members of Putri Mas carried out a detailed marketing research to make sure that their company can attain their objectives. PutriMas applied for a permit from the government of Singapore. The company also applied for a reseller license that is a must for businesses engaging themselves in bridal makeover and wedding ceremonies. The company obtained the permit in the year 2012 and thereafter started its business (Pukall and Calabr 2014). Two of the members in the family were MBAs who carried out a detailed research on the local market. The research was conducted to identify the different competitors in the market and their strategies (De Massis and Kotlar 2014). The research also provided a detailed analysis on the prospects of the bridal market of the country, the different problems that they might face while operating in the market. Detailed information on the statistics of the wedding industry was also obtained during this research. The members of the family assembled at their house and decided on an innovative marketing strategy to launch their business. The main aim of Putri Mas was to capture a healthy market share within a year to achieve reputation in the particular business sector. Putri Mas announced super cheap rates for the first fifty couples who would register themselves and also promised to offer quality bridal services at cheaper rates than the other existing organizations. Having a good supply of raw materials helped Putri Mas in its quest of achieving success in business. The different members of the family were allocated different tasks to arrange for raw materials that were needed for producing bridal costumes. The eldest member of the family with vast experience in event management struck deals with different organizations to arrange and plan marriage ceremonies (Dalpiaz et al. 2014). As mentioned in the beginning of the report the company has its corporate office in Changi road which is considered to be the busiest business centres of Singapore. Having the office in such a prime location of Singapore has helped the organization to attract more customers. Organizational Structures of Family Business An organizational structure involves the definition of the works and activities of the employees in an organization to meet its objectives. The organizational structure personally helps the employees to achieve their own objectives in life (Liu et al. 2015). The organizational structure in a family business can be segregated into different parts, Task division: Dividing the works of the members of the family according to their skills and abilities Coordination: Coordination involves the linkup of the works of the different members of the family so that the organization runs smoothly. Control: The members of the organization must be controlled efficiently so that no internal problems arise within the organization. Data Flow: All the information related to the business must be presented in an organized manner to all members of the organization. The continuous flow of information will help to maintain transparency. Putri Mas is a small scale business establishment engaged in bridal business. Though it is small in nature it faced huge difficulties during its incorporation and operation. Having a small organizational structure thus does not ensure less trouble. The mentioned organization in the following report faced a lot of difficulty while determining its organizational structure. The company decided to take a careful approach so that it can have the best organizational structure (Salvato et al. 2015). The model was fixed on the basis of the particular goals and aims of the business entity. There are a number of organizational structures that were considered to be used at the beginning of the business (Scholes et al. 2015). A simple structure reflecting the natural traits of a manger was considered where the organization would be engaged in maintaining a formal business structure. Apart from the formal structure a strictly personal structure was also considered to be incorporated in the busine ss which was based on only the manager or the head of the company decision (Benavides-Velasco et al. 2013). Putri Mas incorporated the positives of both the models in a hierarchal manner where the leadership and the decision making powers would be passed from one step to the other. The hierarchal process was perhaps one of the best processes to apply as the concerned entity was purely a family business (Cater and Young 2016). The company gained tremendous success after incorporating this particular structure in the business. Research shows that this was mainly because of some unique principles Decentralization: All the important plans and decisions regarding the organization have to be taken after consulting with all the members of the family engaged in the business. This starts from the chief of the organization and ends with the person holding the lowest rank in the hierarchical structure. The transparency of the organization can be maintained by doing so and also the company can make sure that the decisions were taken in majority confidence (Neubauer and Lank 2016). Parity Principle: The hierarchal structure provides the company with the best decision making process. Every member associated with the business has the power to instruct the work that has been undertaken (Leppaho et al. 2016). Absence of such a power in other structures is a serious problem because the companies will be unable to complete a particular project in a proper manner. Control Power: Putri Mas was initially successful in establishing a proper control over the members of the business but the death of the founding head led to the loss of such a control. Control power generally determines the ability of the management to control its juniors. The more efficient is the management the more is the control that they can establish. The efficiency is mainly because of the experience of their experience and also sometimes due to the capability of the juniors to quickly adapt themselves to the organizational needs (Zacca et al. 2015). Principle of Unity: The organizational structure of the bridal company as mentioned in the report has ensured that there are quite a lot of officers in charge to address the employees. Having more officers help the employees to perform much better as they are assigned different tasks at different intervals. Putri Mas has a set of six different managers in charge of looking after the employees of the organization (Walters 2016). Principle of Uniqueness: This principle helps the employees of the organization to work freely as they are free to discuss any of their problems related to work or any other problems that may hamper their work to the managers of the company. The managers or the members of the family in turn can discuss these issues in the meetings of the business. Putri Mas failed in its later stages because they struggled to answer the issues of the employees (Levenburg and Eshbach 2014). The organizational structure of Putri Mas gained popularity in the early days but failed to maintain consistency in the later stages. Lots of issues crept up after the death of the founder which shook the very foundation of the business. The issues have been discussed by the researcher in the next part that will follow. Problems that Arose as a Result of such a Control The structure of family business leads to a number of problems. A death of the founder member of the family, the chairman or the head of the organization can lead to a huge structural change within the organization (Ibrahim et al. 2015). Putri Mas has had the similar kind of problems in the recent past. The time when its founder member died the members tried to hand over the power to the next generation of entrepreneurs which was vehemently opposed by the daughters of the family as they found themselves to be neglected and thought that they might be denied of any further role or share of profit (Koeberle-Schmid et al. 2014). The organization failed to connect the strategy planning to the changes that may occur in the lifecycle of the organization like the death of the family members (Mathews and Blumentritt 2015). Development of the business in terms of strategy must be linked to planning process. In the case of the mentioned organization the son and the grandson of the family felt e motionally attached to the founder member of the business. The business has suffered for this reason as there was a lack of professional ideas and more importance was given to maintain traditional forms of business ideas as contemplated by the founding member (Ibrahim et al. 2015). The son and the grandson of the person thus feared to deviate from such ideas and declined the use of contemporary methods. The business slowly lost the plot in the market because of such a negative feeling. Putri Mas mainly suffered because of the inability of the company head to trust the other members of the family who are in the business. The initial success of the company made him overconfident and he started taking some key decisions all by himself without consulting the other members of the team. This made the other members frustrated and they started questioning on the future of the company. The typical behaviour of the head was because he considered the business to be a plant which was nurtured totally by him. After the death of the head the son found himself to be suddenly the owner of the company and he tried to list the total powers of the organization in his name which raised internal conflicts within the company. The unique problems that Putri Mas faced due to the organizational collapse were: Sudden death of the chief executive of the bridal company Frustration among the members for being neglected in making key decisions Differences with the women members of the organization Absence of a long term planning Aims and objectives of the organization were absent Dispute between the son and the grandson regarding taking up the reigns of the company Financial problems that arose after the death of the head of the business. The members of the business were reluctant to invest once again fearing neglect from the top management of the company Loss of market to other business units. Putri Mas lost its major market to some of the small and large players of the bridal industry as they took the advantage of the organizational failure of the concerned industry Asserting powers to the younger members of the family were a gamble as because some of the younger members made use of the power in wrong way. The company failed to arrange weddings properly because of the failure in its operational structure. The failure in a number of occasions attracted negative reviews from the clients and ultimately loss of reputation. The daughters in the organization opted for a buyout clause of the company. This was not acceptable to the other members of the organization because they wanted to continue the company. The company was also unable to cope up with the market pressure give its use of traditional technologies. Positive aspects of family control over business When a family runs any business together and shares a common vision that drives their strategies, it imparts meaning to their work and contributes to reinforcing commitment at the different levels of organisation (Schjoedt et al. 2013). This vision is important especially in the case of businesses owned by families as this is integral to not let the interest in ownership values decrease. A successful leader is one who is able to inspire the people to be committed to a common vision or target. However, there is little or no relationship between this quality to inspire commitment or the family climate and the success rate of the leaders of the subsequent generations (Nos et al. 2017). The success rate of any business is ultimately determined by three factors compassion, measure of the vision, and the general positive outlook. The present scenario is such that the maximum market share is occupied by family businesses; firms owned by families constitute the top positions in the list of the worlds largest companies. The main positive aspects of family-owned businesses are employee loyalty and the ability to maintain long-term relationships (Lee, Lee and Lin 2015). Putri Mas Bridal and Beauty has been in existence since 1986, and this has surely given rise to a generation of loyal workers who have stuck with the company through the years. Any family business will provide the family members with a number of advantages, namely the freedom of being independent and a sense of control. They are also providers of benefits like being flexible and prestigious, with pride for their community and a sense of creativity. The upside to family control over any business is that they are reportedly less bureaucratic, and they have a well-established network of trust because of the enduring relationships and they also impart training and an exposure quite early on for the next generation of the family members regarding the business. Similarly, the family members involved with Putri Mas have been flexible in the past, and they have had a sense of independence and freedom because of their association with the business. Problems faced by family businesses Every family business has faced their share of problems some time or the other. There can be accusations of nepotism, and some of the employees might feel that the family members are being given positions and jobs in the company simply because they are related to the owner; it becomes difficult for them to prove their efficiency and display their talents in a company that hires outsiders but is run by a family. Also, when the leadership changes from the previous to the next generation of owners, the employees might have problems in adjusting to that new leaders way of management and governance and might not even accept that person whole-heartedly. Family-owned businesses need to take extra measures to ensure that the workplace is a fair and just place so that none of the workers can feel that they are being partial to the family members (Aronoff, Astrachan and Ward, 2016). There should be a clear demarcation between the personal and professional lives of the family members. It is important that the leader is impartial when making decisions and therefore he or she should choose to ignore the personal differences and go ahead with the daily operations without letting any such issue interfere with the running of their business. When there were disputes among the younger generations of the Putri Mas owners, it gave rise to a number of conflicts which were difficult to be isolated from their personal lives as well. Every family-owned business has many generations of workers, and due to the generation gaps, their theories and ideologies might just be vastly different. The older members are usually very passionate about their company and therefore might be disapproving of the newer and more productive work policies that the younger generations might want to implement. This in turn gives rise to disputes and can hamper the smooth functioning of the company. Moreover, the newer members might want to move on to other jobs and try new prospects, but most of the time that becomes impossible for them, as they are pressurized to live up to the expectations of their elders and help to continue the family legacy (Priem and Alfano 2016). The newer members of the Putri Mas family have much improved and innovative techniques for the betterment of the company, but the presence of a stubborn leader figure will always bar them from implementing those changes. The pressure to not let the business crumble down to the ground is also very high; this is because there is no guarantee that a well-established business would not face any hindrances or be weighed down by any obstacle in the near future. The newer generations of leaders are often at a loss of decisions regarding what to do since they are conflicted because of the dilemma of having to choose between running the business the old way and implementing changes to ensure improved returns. Critical analysis of the pros and cons of family owned businesses Like every other thing, a family-owned business has its own set of pros and cons as well. The boundary between business and family is relatively unclear; they are in other words, unusual business entities even though they are among the most primitive forms of businesses or organisations. Most of the successful businesses in the world are owned by families, and are characterized by a strong sense of responsibility towards the employees who often get treated like the members of an extended family and their commitment towards quality. The pros to a family business are many. They instil the members with pride and infuse them with a sense of prestige and creativity. The mode of contact with the management is much easier and on a highly personalized level. Also, the members of the family are trained accordingly from a very young age, and this moulds their character and personality. There are many downsides to family businesses as well. With the pros come the many cons or challenges; they are always under the scrutiny of the press at all times, and therefore come under a lot of criticism when the issue of succession comes up. The glaring question of who would take up the reins of the business after the preceding leader often attracts a lot of attention, along with the issues of sibling relationships and rivalries, and identity development. The main problem that arises in succession is when the older generations do not allow the younger succeeding generation to grow and groom themselves effectively, and it so often happens that the business relationship between the members of the family worsens because of difficulties in communication within the immediate family members. This kind of behaviour and miscommunication makes the involved members critical, judgemental and conservative, and they eventually do not support each other in their decisions (Business.com 2017) . Every family that owns a business typically has a set of values or principles and shared traditions which have firm roots in the history of the family. Whether the effects are negative or positive is solely dependent on the point of view of the person considering or researching about that particular business. There are thus both positive and negative influences of the family traditions and values and the perception is what attributes to them that quality. The world is ever-changing and if the family members can recognise that change and be adept at selecting the best line of action for maintenance of both the business and their traditional values, they will be able survive simply because this course of action enables the company to be prosperous and successful. This is because such an approach clears the pathway for change and progress, and understands the importance of not allowing even traditions and values stand in its way (Aronoff and Ward 2016). Also, traditions themselves chang e and evolve with the passage of time. The best situation as to when to restructure and change the familys traditions regarding the business is when it seems to endanger or be in conflict with the success of the business in the long run. There is solidarity as well; there is office politics involved in every company, and a similar situation can arise in the family as well (Pettigrew 2014). However, because the people involved are family, disputes are more likely to be solved quickly, and thus there is stability in the picture. The leaders also usually retain their positions for a longer period of time, till a natural life event such as sickness or death or a voluntary retirement results in a change in the leadership. The level of commitment is also high since the needs and the reputation of an entire family is on the line in such cases. Such dedication is hardly seen in case of companies that are not family firms, and such an attitude enables one to develop a better understanding of the concerned industry, their job and organisation. This also fosters stronger relationships with the customers and thus an improved scenario in their sales and marketing. When family members work together, there is little scope for the usage of the word no. This is because of the flexibility of the involved members, who are most of the time willing to take on different roles which may not be listed in their formal job description (Poza 2013). Family businesses usually have a long-term outlook; they usually think and act keeping in mind the bigger picture and the returns in the long term, while non-family companies are more focussed on meeting the targets of the next year or lesser. Family members working together are more likely to make sacrifices for the sake of the business, including in the financial sphere, to ensure that the business survives. There are negative aspects to a family business as well. There is a chance of conflicts all the time; fights that last for a long time can seriously make the business suffer and can even lead to the breaking up of the firm. The involvement of the family members can often make it difficult to resolve those disputes, and the endings may not be favourable at all. Issues related to governance and hierarchies are often seen as less serious issues when involved in a family business, and this can be detrimental to the working of the company in quite a serious manner. This is mainly because the level of trust is also high when a firm is owned by a family. As mentioned earlier, nepotism can also be a factor in the family businesses, and this can give rise to dissatisfaction among the employees who are not a part of the family (De Massis and Kotlar 2014). Lack of a structured succession plan is also a drawback; the leaders often do not recognise the fact that they might have to step down one d ay and hand over the reins of the business to someone younger and capable. Conclusion The survival rate for businesses owned by families is nothing impressive; there is often a lack of a common vision or goal, and the next generation of leaders might as well be weak, and these are the two primary reasons for the failure of family business firms. The pros and cons to establishing and running a family firm is many, and it is also no secret that most of the successful companies in this world are all owned and run by distinctive families. Putri Mas is no exception either; it has been there for almost two decades, and continues to be a successful organisation in the field of beauty and bridal-wear. There have been many conflicts in the family of this company, but they have overcome those difficulties and have stood strong and passed the test of time. They had started out small, but are now a well-known name among the people of Singapore. They are proof that family businesses, if run with the right attitude, are actually the most successful companies in the long run References Aronoff, C. and Ward, J., 2016.Family business values: How to assure a legacy of continuity and success. Springer. Aronoff, C., Astrachan, J. and Ward, J., 2016.Developing family business policies: Your guide to the future. Springer. Bee, C. and Neubaum, D.O., 2014. The role of cognitive appraisal and emotions of family members in the family business system.Journal of Family Business Strategy,5(3), pp.323-333. 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