Family business research center to be set up in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Experts in the Family Enterprise led by the University of Asia & the Pacific (UA&P) and the Pacific’s Southeast Asia Business Studies, will soon establish a facility that will help family-owned and managed companies sustain their lifespan despite difficult transition to the second generation family members.

Jon Ramos, president of the Premier Business Family Consultants Inc., said that there is a need for Cebu to have this kind of facility, to be called “Family Business Research Center”, as this year is considered as the most critical year for the family business transition, that will make or break a family business, if transition will not be managed professionally.

The Center will be accredited by Family Firm Institute based in Boston, USA, and will be managed by a foundation, as a non-profit entity.

According to Ramos, in Cebu alone there are a lot of companies that are still largely family-managed, and that patriarch or the founders are already set to pass on the business to the second generation.

 In this very competitive business environment, professionalism in the family enterprises should be adopted otherwise, businesses of these kinds may experience heavy conflict of worst conflict that will cause the corporation to fold up.

 Unlike in the past when family-owned corporations stood from generation to generation withstanding family crises. This time, he said there is a need for family enterprise to get professional help so they will understand the full dynamics of a family-managed company and how to embrace a smooth transition that will avoid squabble among family members.

Most of the challenges being faced by the family companies right now, is after the founder retires, family members are up for conflict on who will sit as the head of the company, or professionally called “shared power” conflict.

The Philippines, of which majority of companies are family owned and managed, facilities like this is very important, Ramos said.

Because of this need, a Family Enterprise Excellence Conference will be held in Cebu on April 13 (2013) at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino.

Ramos said the experts have recognized the need for Cebu and the rest of Visayas and Mindanao to provide a channel for the family businesses to take a step forward in order to be competitive in the complex business environment.

The conference, with the theme “From Inheritance to Legacy—Growing and Sustaining the Family Business for Next Generations,” is aimed at nurturing the participants skills in running his enterprise a midst challenges of a family business.

Ramos, who is one of the founding organizers of the Conference, added that the rationale of the conference’s theme is to highlight the leaders in family enterprise management who have successfully grown their family businesses while maintaining unity across several generations at the same time.

To complement the success stories, Ramos said the conference will feature professionals specializing in other key functional areas of a family business enterprise, such as finance, legal, strategy, and governance.

 These professionals he said will provide useful tips and insights to family enterprises in their journey to sustainability.

Co-organized by the UA&P, which, from the academe perspective, sees the need for executive business families to access world-class education whose programs are carefully crafted to consider and integrate the family dynamics and aspirations of a family in business.

“There are a lot of educational programs available for Families in Business, but there is a need to make them more accessible for families doing business based in the Visayas and Mindanao area,” said Ellen Soriano, director for UA&P-SEABS. (FREEMAN)