Strategy in transformation
Family strategy consulting for business families: develop a shared understanding of family, ownership and entrepreneurial responsibility together.
A business family is bound together both as a family and, through ownership, to the company. A family strategy creates a framework in which expectations, goals and future roles can be discussed openly and together.
Decide who is involved, their roles and the decision-making mandate.
Discuss values, ideas about the future and points of conflict in a suitable format.
Align family decisions with ownership, management and corporate strategy.
We start from how the family and the company have developed. This brings differing expectations to the surface: about ownership, about working together and about the future of the company.
Which responsibilities belong to the family, which to ownership and which to operational management? Rules on information, participation and decisions help keep these levels apart and connect them.
Succession is more robust when family and company explicitly work through their different decisions.
The results can be brought together in a family charter. Just as important are the formats the family uses later to review and develop its agreements. An upcoming generational change can be a particular occasion for this work.
Book an initial callIn generational change, we distinguish questions for the business family from decisions of the company. A change at the top affects ownership, leadership, expectations of family members and the future direction of the business. If these topics are dealt with exclusively in day-to-day operations, different roles and interests remain mixed up. A family strategy creates a framework for discussion and decision-making for the owning family.
We clarify which people and generations need to be involved, which values and goals they associate with the company and how different ideas about the future are dealt with. The assignment can also cover how to deal with family members who are not operationally active and with external managers. The specific composition and confidentiality are agreed with the family.
The family strategy gains importance when decisions on succession, owner roles and future business development come together. We make the expectations of those involved visible and separate questions that the family must decide for itself from tasks of management. In consulting family businesses, we link family strategy, generational change, strategy development and organisational design. This does not imply a mandatory standard sequence.
For some families, a shared vision of the future comes first; in other cases, a specific handover needs to be prepared. Results can be agreed guidelines, clarified roles and a process for decisions still open. A published case on generational change shows the practical connection between the levels; its project-specific statements are in the case study and are not promised here as a general success.
Familie gemeinsam entscheidungsfähig machen: Wenn Interessen, Werte und Ziele auseinanderliegen, kann eine Unternehmerfamilie ihre Entscheidungsfähigkeit verlieren. Der im Leistungsportfolio beschriebene Prozess sammelt Sichtweisen, bezieht Gefühle ein und klärt Bedürfnisse. Anschließend entwickeln die Beteiligten Handlungsoptionen, treffen eine gemeinsam getragene Entscheidung und begleiten deren Umsetzung.
Gesellschafterverantwortung vorbereiten: Gesellschafterqualifikation verbindet Unternehmensstrategie, Organisationsdesign und Familien-Governance. Sie vermittelt Zusammenhänge zu Konflikten, unterschiedlichen Grundhaltungen in Unternehmerfamilien und zur Unternehmensnachfolge. Welche Kenntnisse und Fähigkeiten erforderlich sind, ergibt sich aus der konkreten Gesellschafterrolle.
Arbeitsergebnisse: Gemeinsame Ziele und Erwartungen der Unternehmerfamilie; Geklärte Rollen und Entscheidungsregeln; Grundlage für Familiencharta und regelmäßigen Austausch.
Organisational and family matters are coordinated with legal and tax advice where needed.
The family and the company need different spaces for conversation about succession. In the family, it is about expectations regarding ownership, responsibility and belonging. In the company, it is about leadership, strategy and the reliability of decisions. These levels influence each other but should not be dissolved into one another. Together with those involved, we clarify which questions are decided within the family circle and where management or external leadership should be involved.
A shared frame of orientation can help to name explicitly different ideas about the role of the next generation. Not every person has to be operationally active to have legitimate questions about the future of the company. At the same time, a family expectation must not unnoticed become an organisational requirement. The results are documented in such a way that they support the further strategic and succession-related steps: clarified responsibilities, decisions still open, agreed conversation formats and a picture of the desired connection between family and business. The published generational change case shows one possible form, but does not replace a separate clarification of the mandate.
For the family, it can be helpful to record one distinction explicitly: a person can be an owner without taking on an operational leadership role. Another can lead the company without deciding alone on long-term ownership questions. These roles are linked to succession and future strategy. We translate them into understandable contribution expectations and decision paths. Where there is not yet agreement, the question is documented as open and a suitable follow-up conversation is agreed. This provides orientation without concealing a conflict through premature wording.
The clarification becomes very concrete. We ask about the history and identity of the family, written and unwritten rules, shared values, family and business goals, and roles in ownership and leadership. The question of whether “family first” or “business first” should apply in the event of conflict is also asked explicitly; the family must understand the consequences of its choice.
An inventory can give rise to a jointly formulated family strategy with a preamble, principles and rules for future decisions. We apply this structure only insofar as it suits the respective family. A charter is helpful if it records genuine agreement; it does not replace conversation about unresolved expectations or how conflicts are handled going forward.
That depends on ownership, the generations involved, leadership roles and the specific mandate the family gives us. We clarify which people and generations need to take part, what values and goals they associate with the company and how differing ideas about the future will be handled. The work can also include family members who are not active in the business, as well as external executives.
No. A family strategy clarifies the family’s expectations and decisions and then connects them with how the business develops. Which responsibilities belong to the family, which to ownership and which to operational management? Rules on information, participation and decisions help keep these levels apart. When advising family businesses, we link family strategy, generational change, strategy development and organisational design.
Not necessarily. A family strategy can in fact help clarify criteria and roles for later decisions. Some families first need a shared picture of the future; others have to prepare a specific handover. There is no standard sequence. Outcomes can include agreed guidelines, clarified roles and a process for decisions still open.
Who takes part, how conversations are held and how results are handled are agreed in the brief. The process described in our service portfolio gathers perspectives, takes feelings into account and clarifies needs before participants develop options and reach a decision they all support. Organisational and family matters are coordinated with legal and tax advice where needed.
Case study
How a business family brought together succession, strategic options and new roles.
What decision are you facing? Together, we clarify your situation, the people involved and the right next step.
Director | Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Head of corporate strategy competence team
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