Integration (The Institutional Choice of Private Enterprises)

Author: Yuan Youjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Family businesses and family-style management are two distinct concepts. A family business refers to the form of ownership of a company, while family-style management pertains to the operational approach. As investors and owners, family businesses are eternal and can grow over time. However, as a management style, family-style management must continuously adapt to changes in both internal and external environments. The typical characteristic of family-style management is relationalism in the management process, where the business is likened to a family and relationships within and outside the company are handled according to family ethics. In contrast, modern businesses treat the company as a machine, establishing organizations and managing operations based on cost-profit principles. The formation of family-style management is driven by cultural, environmental, and the objective requirements of the company's own organization. In East Asian Confucian regions, which are influenced by family-centered traditional culture, family-style management in businesses is more pronounced. The transformation of family-style management occurs during generational transitions. Currently, the operators of private enterprises are generally founders of the first generation. In the face of continuous success, they still focus on management systems, as well as issues like capital, technology, products, and markets. As the company expands and external environments change, the drawbacks of family-style management begin to surface. At this point, the company's system needs to be adjusted with the change in operators. The evolutionary trend of family-style management in private enterprises lies in organically integrating traditional Chinese family values with modern corporate governance structures to establish a modern family business system. Here, the owner serves as both the head of a large family business and the chairman or general manager of an economic profit organization. The transformation of the family-style management mechanism is a gradual and incremental process.