Leadership Dilemmas
in a family owned
business
Name
Company
Country
Item No.
1.
Question
Do you have experience of working for a family owned
company? If yes
1.1
What was your role in the organization?
1.2
What was the business of the organization?
1.3
2.
Designation
Service Years
Qualification
2.1
2.2
What was the size of the organization and geographical
spread?
Do family owners get involved in management of the
company?
In what capacity the owners were involved in
management?
 Only as members of the BOD
 Executive, like CEO, CFO
 Executives and senior management
3.
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
Is your company a 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation family owned
business?
Did family owners change KPIs or goal post midway
through year?
Compensation of professional management was based on
market surveys and not owners discretion?
Did owners follow Management by Objectives (MBO)
Approach or judge performance through no. of hours
spent in office?
Was compensation of professional management linked to
results achieved or inflexible irrespective of results?
Was there any attempt by owners to follow divide and rule
policy to run the company?
Was the objectives of the company set for:
 Revenue growth
 Profit growth
 Market share growth
Yes
No
Answers/ Comments
3.8
3.9
4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
5
Do you believe that distribution between ownership and
control reflects in the company’s operating results?
Major vision and long term planning decisions are made
through structured Business Plan process and not owners’
gut feeling.
Do family owners activity involve in the management of
company?
Family members are inducted in business through
structural training process or directly given leadership
roles?
Do you believe that family management is providing
leadership required by the organization?
Do you think your organization provide competitive
capabilities against professionally and non family
management competitive business
Rank the advantages of a family management business
compared to non-family business by scoring (1 to 8) with
1 being the least advantageous and 8 being the most.
A
Decision making
B
Lower management overheads
C
Organizational Resources
D
Organizational capabilities
E
Leadership
F
Succession Planning
G
Employees’ Motivation
H
Competitive advantage
6
What are the factors primarily responsible of failure of family owned business in order of score (1-6)
A
Incompetent Leadership
B
Inadequate management skills
C
Family baggage in business
D
Failure of employees’ motivation
E
Failure to develop required resources and capabilities
required to stay competent
F
Lack of long term vision
,