Instructions: For the case, simply ID the KEY ISSUES, and apply CLASS THORY in giving RECOMENDATION(s) – while delivering it in a professional manner.

The class I’m taking is called “Family Business,” here is the COURSE DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE:
Family business will explore and analyze business practices for family-owned businesses– the functions, issues, operations, and dynamics of family businesses from a strategic management perspective. Topics include, but are not limited to the strengths and weaknesses of family businesses, managing family business conflict, management of succession, professionalization, strategic planning, and family businesses in an international context.

The challenges and opportunities facing family-owned enterprises are primarily the result of issues presented by the interaction of family, management, and ownership—particularly where the family wishes to continue to exert it influence and/or control from generation to generation. While 37% of the Fortune 500 companies remain family controlled, the vast majority of family-controlled businesses experience the difficulties of moving from one generation to the next as well as one-person general management to an institutionalized form of management that results in competitive fitness across generations.

Family-controlled businesses are characterized by challenges that put their continuity in serious jeopardy. It is common knowledge that leadership and succession crises are the norm in a family business, where 75% do not make it to the second generation; and of those that do, 90% do not make it to a third generation. On the other hand, family businesses possess distinct core competencies that can result in unique competitive advantages.