Legacy Business Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legacy Business Project - Essay Example Completing legacy business project on Cliff’s hardware instilled in me clear knowledge about systems and agency or stewardship surrounding family businesses. Completing the project made me realize the family business system is comprised of three mutually dependent and overlapping groups, which include the family, business and ownership. The overlap creates numerous groups within the family business with varying opinions, interests and objectives. Besides family owners, there are family members, family employees, family owner-employees, non-family owner employees as well as non-family employees. For example, we found out that Cliff’s hardware family business is managed by the family members including Martha Asten and Terry Asten Bennett, who has been Cliff’s Variety manager since the 1990s. There are also employees, who are not part of the Asten family. Based on the research, it was clear that the probability of a family business transitioning successfully from the first to the second generation is usually slim and grows slimmer as the business progresses to successive generations. Like in every business, family business is not immune to the issues of stewardship of agency. The interest of the family business must be protected because the overlapping groups with varying interest and opinions try to push for their own ends. A healthy family system is usually advantageous to the family business while a broken family system will negatively impact the health of the family business. Trust is often a critical ownership tool in family businesses. Holding regular meetings is crucial for the growth and survival of legacy businesses because it creates a platform for discussions beyond the confines of boardrooms. For example, in our project during our attempts to reach Martha, a second-generation member of the family business, we were told by Frank, an employee at Cliff’s that Martha and other family