ISB to host first Asian parley on family business

HYDERABAD, The Indian School of Business (ISB) is organising the First Asian Conference on Family Business from February 1-3, at the ISB campus, Hyderabad.

It is organised under the aegis of the Thomas Schmidheiny Chair of Family Business and Wealth Management under the theme 'Sustaining Growth in Family Business'.

The prominent participants include Adi Godrej - Chairman, Godrej Group, Mallika Srinivasan - Director, TAFE, G. V. Prasad - CEO, Dr. Reddy's, Ashwin Choksi, Chairman, Asian Paints, Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Corporate Service Ltd, Pramath Sinha - Founder and MD, 9.9 Media, Cyril S. Shroff - Managing Partner, Amarchand and Mangaldas and several others from India besides prominent heads of family businesses from Sri Lanka, Middle East, Kenya and Switzerland.

They will share their experiences in successfully leading and managing their businesses.

Speaking about the importance of such a conference, Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group and Executive Board Member, ISB, said, "Family businesses are at the core of India's extraordinary economic growth.

I am delighted that the ISB is holding a research based International Conference on Family Business."

M. Rammohan Rao, Dean, ISB, said, "Family businesses have been contributing almost 70% of the GDP in several countries.

They face several unique challenges that have not been addressed, especially in the Asian region.

This conference will bring together the rich experiences of family business leaders, professional executives, and academicians. It will help business leaders to understand how to build and strengthen a successful business across generations."

The conference will also host a research meet of leading academicians from countries such as China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, USA, and Europe besides India.

They will discuss and debate on the emerging trends in family business across different cultures.

The conference will focus on Family Business Research, Leadership Challenges, Professionalisation Challenges, Family Governance, and Mentoring/Coaching CEOs and the Next Generation.

Explaining the relevance of the research in the area of family business, Prof. K. Ramachandran, Associate Dean, Academic Programmes and Thomas Schmidheiny Fellow of Family Business and Wealth Management, ISB, said, "We have conclusive evidence that with appropriate governing mechanisms and timely actions, family businesses can sustain themselves and prosper.

The ISB has pioneered comprehensive research in this area and aspires to become a knowledge partner for the industry by creating a strong research base on family businesses, with a special focus on emerging economies."