Report on Conflicts, Culture, and Growth of Family Businesses

This report delves into the multifaceted challenges faced by family businesses, particularly within the Asian context. It identifies key sources of conflict, including differing visions, communication breakdowns between family members across generations, and financial disagreements stemming from the entanglement of personal and business assets. Furthermore, the report examines the impact of business culture, highlighting the informal structures often found in family businesses, and the importance of understanding the family's interests. The report also touches upon the need for strategic growth, emphasizing the importance of securing capital and resources. It underscores the potential for conflicts and the need for effective management to ensure the long-term viability of these businesses. The analysis references several sources to support its claims and provides a comprehensive overview of the issues.

Family businesses have been key features of the business world for centuries and are still
relevant today (Colli & Rose, 2008). Family business also makes up a large part for our
economy in Asia.
Rivalry, conflict and related challenges of the family, such as excessive emotions and
personalisation
Rivalry, conflict and related family issues such as excessive emotions and personalisation of
matters
Conflict is common in family businesses as it is an amalgam of individuals which involves
every members in the business who are more likely to hold opposing views on a matter that
leads to differences on strategic or tactical questions (Levinson, 2014). In reality, if there is
no dispute, it represents that people do not think or attempt to change, or that they have no
power to say. Conflict may occur from many areas within the company, but it is especially
acute in a family business as the business expands and the number of stakeholders increases,
it is hard to address everyone’s needs and expectations (PricewaterhouseCoopers).
I have found out few sources of conflict. The first one would be conflict of direction for the
family business. For example, the failure to share shared vision and values frequently leads to
conflicts between family members. If the company is not aimed at a collection of common
strategic goals, disagreements will occur (Wayne, 2015). The second sources of conflict will
be communication issues between the family members. For example, there may be a
communication barriers and credibility gap between different generations. The disparity
between owner and manager and specialists in goal whether is short-term or long-term goal
also brings rise to conflict. Failure to communicate can be emotionally burdened but the most
important is it will damage relationships between key family members which eventually
affect the company. The third conflict will be finances. Money-related issues also become
significant sources of family conflict. In cases where there is little or no difference between
individual and business assets, these disparities are compounded.
1. Business culture
The second issues that Asian family business cannot ignore is the business culture. Getting a
laid-back atmosphere is a positive attribute for many companies (Colli & Rose, 2008),

but the informal structure and culture seen in many family businesses can be tantamount to a
lack of paperwork, rules, and established strategy and objectives.
Many Asian and European firms operate under intricate company structures which make it
difficult to identify ownership and even management. Therefore, family business is a cultural
as well as a strictly "ownership-related" concept, and knowing the family and its interests is
crucial to the family business knowing
3. Sources for growth, determine where and how to get the capital and resources needed to
grow the business
Families and businesses become so entangled that the company's loss, even when the
founding family has no continuing financial interest, may feel like a family death.
Colli, A., & Rose, M. (2008). Family business. Oxford handbook of business history, 194-218
Wayne, R. (2015). Top 15 Sources of Conflict in Family Businesses. Retrieved September
16, 2020, from
https://newsletters.isb.edu/FamilyBusiness-Newsletter/File/Article_Summary_03_Nov_
2015.pdf
Levinson, H. (2014, August 01). Conflicts That Plague Family Businesses. Retrieved
September 16, 2020, from https://hbr.org/1971/03/conflicts-that-plague-family-
businesses
PricewaterhouseCoopers. (n.d.). The Asia Pacific Centre for Family Business Excellence.
Retrieved September 16, 2020, from https://www.pwc.com/sg/en/entrepreneurial-and-
private-clients/asia-pacific-centre-for-family-business-excellence.html