reflection

Hey guys,

So I posted this cartoon in my newsletter but I think as a reflection it would best to talk about how I feel this satirical cartoon below reflects on the overall issues in regards to a family business. I was just thinking about MNCs and the general codes of conducts they implement within the workplace. Usually in a professional environment it is frowned upon to have people who are related working within the office it is also prohibited for people to have relationships with co-workers. These rules are imposed in order for people not to mix business and personal relationships in order not to astray from office affairs. In many of our MICA cases Ed always said we weren’t talking about the business and we were always focusing on family affairs, but in my opinion this was just inevitable. We always feel with our families that we have leverage to say and act out in a certain way that may not usually be accepted with others and this is why I believe family affairs naturally intertwine with a business. The business just becomes a way of life for the family.

When family and business comes together and boundaries are dissolved they can sometimes create disaster.  As we can see in this photo there is definitely a lot of nepotism involved in a family business which can cause issues such as communication problems where families want to maintain family harmony without realizing this can have a negative effect on the business. A lack of communication within a family business amongst family members can definitely harm the business AND the family in the long run. I think this cartoon and our final discussion of Ilapak definitely showed me that the two most important things within a family business are succession and also valuing your non-family employees. I feel some families forget their employees are their most valuable asset in moving their business forward and keeping it stable and family matters are secondary when it comes to the business.

On a side note I was going through many articles in regards to family business and I feel one matter we did not really get into is profits and the family. A company’s primary goal is to make profits but what happens when the family takes advantage of the business and uses it as a bank? Family members sometimes forget that they cannot overcompensate themselves because this once again may effect non-family members and demotivate them. I definitely believe owning a family member requires discipline in not having to interfere personal and business matters.