Empresas familiares formam a base da economia europeia e são extremamente importantes no Brasil também. Embora não exista uma pesquisa abrangente sobre o tema, estima-se que entre 60% e 70% dos empregos em nosso país sejam gerados por empresas familiares, que respondem por 40% a 50% do PIB. Na Italia, esses números são ainda mais expressivos. Há muito tempo a Europa dedica atenção especial às empresas familiares. Este artigo, escrito recentemente por Luca Petroletti, apresenta aspectos muito interessantes da realidade europeia que podem servir como referencial para o Brasil.
The family business is the model that most closely reflects the cultural orientation of Italian business which is famous throughout the world for being creative, tenacious, hard-working and quality-oriented. In Italy:
- Between 80-90% of all companies are family-owned;
- as are over 40% of the 300 largest companies.
These are the highest percentages in Europe. Overall, Italian family-run businesses number about 5 million and, also taking into consideration the smaller companies, contribute 80% of Gross Domestic Product, making them a cornerstone of the country’s economy. Therefore, when family-run businesses function well, the entire country benefits.
At the basis of all this is the fact that family and business are two distinct aspects based on completely different values:
- Solidarity and protection being the first and
- Risk, competition and meritocracy the second.
In family businesses these two aspects are seen in structural areas that overlap and often risk triggering conflict, tension and problematic situations.
The knotty problem of generational succession
According to a report based on research conducted by the European Commission, less than 33% of companies on the continent are able to maintain operations and ownership following the transition from the first to the second generation, and only 15% are able to assure continuity following passage from the second to the third.
Over the next ten years, a million small- and medium-sized companies will have to face this phase—more or less 100,000 every year—and it is calculated that, without adequate transitional planning, at least half are destined to disappear.
Therefore, family businesses must adopt the right mechanisms to allow them to optimize co-existence and plan continuity in order to confidently face the delicate phase of generational succession.
A “custom-fit” approach
It was back in the late 1980s that The European House – Ambrosetti perceived the need to assure effective solutions to the problems of family-run businesses.
Since then, it has been involved in several hundred concrete cases in many different corporate situations and with different families and this has allowed the firm to gain unparalleled experience in managing family business relations.
Our professional services, tailor-made to the specific needs of each client, are:
- Agreement/Statute among members of the family. This involves a system of shared rules, criteria and mechanisms through which family members establish the “rules of the game” and their behavior towards the company in order to safeguard common interests and the greater good. The method by which these delicate issues are taken on is of fundamental importance and represents one of the most unique aspects of our approach.
- Working alongside younger family members during their professional development in order to maximize their potential for self-realization.
- Developing within family members knowledge and skills to effectively carry out the role of partner and member of the board of directors.
- Creating and implementing bodies and mechanisms to promote dialogue and positive coexistence (family councils, etc.).
- Patrimonial strategy. The European House-Ambrosetti provides support to clients in defining and applying a strategy appropriate to the quality of life of family members, their economic needs, control of the company and its governance and the risk level of investments and related balancing requirements.
A Prosperidade Consultoria é uma empresa fundada em 1994. Com amplo histórico de projetos em estratégia corporativa, internacionalização de negócios, modernização gerencial e processos de transformação empresarial, a Prosperidade vem se consolidando como consultoria de excelência em temáticas emergentes, dentre as quais inclusão, diversidade e mercados micro-segmentados