50 Common Causes of Family Business Conflict ... and how to deal with them.  

Family Business Mediation Audio No 46:  Ethnic Issues & Cultural Norms.   

By Jon Kenfield - Solutionist and Family Business Mediator.  

• When a family’s culture is strong, it can exert powerful influences on personal expectations and behaviours - both in the family and in its business activities.  

• Most ethnic cultures are based on historic traditions which, by definition, are anchored by the past: from another time, another place, and usually very different circumstances.  

• These cultures may make little sense, and have limited appeal, to people who haven’t grown up immersed in them - which is the classic situation for first and second generation migrant families from a troubled Europe.  

• We often see something similar with Asian families - when parents had a traditional upbringing, and their children have grown up in modern Australia.  

• When “old-school”, ethnically influenced decision-making produces business decisions that are seriously out of step with modern (normal) commercial thinking - over anything from business leadership and family succession to business investment - cultural differences and generational tensions flare into catalysts for frictions which, left unresolved, lead to conflicts - with current and next generation family members, and non-family employees. The consequences can become very unpleasant.  

Solution  

• Respect differences: there’s nothing wrong here, just an inappropriate and probably unworkable mixing of family with business decision-making that’s failing to satisfy anyone, and everything.  

• Separate family from business decision making.  

• Create separate plans and rules for each.  

• Establish separate structures and different processes - and remember which environment you’re in when making decisions.  

I'm interested in your comments below.  Thank You.