PART III

Managing the Developing Family Business

THIS SECTION focuses on ways to guide the family business as it moves along all three developmental dimensions. Our conclusions are based on the “lessons from experience” that we gleaned from working with companies in the field, and on our own and our colleagues’ research and writing about family firms. Chapter 8 summarizes the organizational structures and operational plans that we have found the most useful in companies that manage their developmental dynamics successfully. We have been as specific as possible in describing our view of “best practice” in each case, so that family business members can discuss these suggestions and experiment with them without any outside consultation, if they choose. Chapter 9, on the other hand, deals specifically with occasions when the family and the business are considering outside consultation. We have addressed the chapter both to our professional colleagues and to family business leaders who make use of their services. It presents our ideas about how to customize standard consultative practice to make collaboration between consultants and family businesses as successful as possible. It also discusses what family members should expect from a family business specialist.