Success and challenge for family business in the GCC

In an era of corporations with global reach, multinational workforces and board-dominated corporate structures, it is easy to overlook the fact that some of the most successful companies are still family businesses — the oldest type in the world. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest corporation based on sales, Ford, Cargill and Bombardier in the Americas all began as family businesses. Peugeot, LVMH, IKEA and Bosch in Europe also fall into the category, as do Tata, LG and Samsung in Asia. These businesses have survived economic downturns, wars, family feuds and other challenges. They not only have survived — they have out-performed their respective index: a Credit Suisse index shows that family firms have outperformed non- family firms in shareholder value creation by 15 percent from January 2005 to October 2008. Our analysis of international and regional family businesses indicates that the most critical factor to success is families’ coordinated and sustained