Unconventional Wisdom: CounterintuitiveInsightsfor Family Business Success (IMD Executive Development Series) [Paperback]

John L. Ward (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470021659 | ISBN-13: 978-0470021651 | Publication Date: August 1, 2005 | Edition: 1

Family businesses prosper by pursuing unconventional strategies. Because they are values-driven and think very long-term, they take approaches not popular with current management fashion or most companies. That is the key to their competitive advantage. However, family businesses must find ways to simultaneously serve business needs and family goals, which require very different priorities and principles. As a result, they must think paradoxically, and find insights that single-purpose enterprises need not contemplate. They must dare to be different.Family business requires a different governance system, but it must nevertheless be one that can be controlled. Building on insights from the world???s premier family business executive education course, this book offers the Unconventional Wisdom needed to leverage the strategic and cultural uniqueness of a family business for enduring success.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...this book gets straight to the heart of the matter...a tough-talking, no-nonsense guide to running a family business..." (Management Today, Oct 05)

"...the theory is well balanced, with plenty of practical advice. One to keep on the desk or kitchen table." (Management Today, 11th October 2005)

"...a fresh look at family businesses..." (Business Adviser, Winter 2005)

From the Back Cover

Family businesses prosper by pursuing unconventional strategies. Because they are values-driven and think very long-term, they take approaches not popular with current management fashion or most companies. That is the key to their competitive advantage.

Family businesses must find ways to simultaneously serve business needs and family goals, to safeguard economic interests and strengthen personal relationships. Both are equally important, yet they require very different priorities and principles. As a result, successful families in business must think paradoxically. They must find insights that single-purpose enterprises need not contemplate. They must dare to be different.

Family business is very personal and very culture-particular. As such, two fundamental insights have emerged from IMD’s research and teaching experience with enduring family firms: 1. Individual responsibility is the most important ally to change; 2. Best practices are less important than fitting solutions to the specific family business context.

Family business requires a different governance system, but one that can nonetheless be controlled. Building on insights from the world’s premier family business executive education course, this book offers the Unconventional Wisdom needed to leverage the strategic and cultural uniqueness of a family business for enduring success.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470021659
• ISBN-13: 978-0470021651
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #854,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Academics issue a clear compendium on family companies, May 4, 2006

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unconventional Wisdom: CounterintuitiveInsightsfor Family Business Success (IMD Executive Development Series) (Paperback)

This brief book is the product of an academic collaboration but its professorial essays are mercifully clear and free of academic jargon. This collection, edited by John Ward, explores the performance, management and governance issues that matter most to family businesses. The title refers to the fact that family-owned companies are unconventional, at least in comparison to publicly owned businesses and, therefore, they need a distinctive management approach. Family businesses derive competitive advantage from precisely those practices that conventional managers abhor - such as nepotism. We recommend this book to anyone engaged in a family business, and certainly to other academics studying this subject.

4.0 out of 5 stars Judo for business families, February 6, 2006

By 

Larry A. Hollar "Author" (La Junta, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unconventional Wisdom: CounterintuitiveInsightsfor Family Business Success (IMD Executive Development Series) (Paperback)

Similar to using an opponent's strength against him, as in martial arts, Unconventional Wisdom shows business families how they can turn a negative into a positive. Or think of it like this: what used to be considered a negative has been discovered to be a positive. Nepotism is not a bad thing, for example, using nepotism positively awards the business with a loyal, passionate, dedicated employee.
Other examples abound in this fine book, like how family business frugality is a positive. Long range planning can better be done by families with a multi-generational viewpoint.
Perhaps soon there will be university courses for NON-family business people to learn from the world's leading family businesses. As referenced within Unconventional Wisdom, the family controlled businesses in the S&P 500 were found to be more valuable and more profitable than the non-family controlled businesses.
And that quotation you always see about how few family businesses make it into the fourth generation? It does not apply to the modern world: if you are the second or third generation in a family business, you have nothing to worry about as long as you build upon the STRENGTHS inherent in family businesses.