Articles

Conclusion

At a conference, I spoke with a director who had just been hired to take over her university’s Forum Model. As I recall, to keep her job, she had two or three weeks to recruit five new family businesses. I would challenge universities to do almost the opposite. Starting a center without strategic planning is like starting a 100-mile hike with no sense of direction, map, or decent shoes. Sure, you might just make it, but who needs that kind of challenge? Furthermore, such energy and resources would be far better spent in a focused manner.

If this center is not aligned with the university's mission and values, then it will always be at risk of being marginalized and, more than likely, seen as an adversary. Once that alignment takes place, then the strategic planning to develop the goals, objectives, ways to implement those, and means to measure the progress all become imperative. Even if that vision is perfect, it becomes far less powerful if it is not constantly, clearly, and concisely shared with all key stakeholders. That process of ongoing communication builds ownership, generates insightful feedback, and often cultivates the elusive but extremely important resources of passion and ownership.

At the same time, the selection of the champion and the director are also crucial. The champion (someone besides the director) must be in the position and have the ability to stand up for this center in ways the director often cannot. The dean, the president, or a trustee, might be an ideal candidate. They must share the vision and, at least to some extent, the passion.

The director's position is, perhaps, the most crucial. Much of his or her credentials, skills, and experiences can be distilled from the vision for the center. Experience in family business, credibility within the university setting, and strong strategic and innovative thinking are probably essential. Equally essential are highly effective communication skills, a diplomatic sense of tenacity, and a true passion for the vision. Even with these two positions aptly staffed, the university must take a hard look at its reaction to innovators. The bureaucracy, fear of change, politics, and attachment to short-term solutions must all be addressed for the center to succeed. No small task.

Two points in closing: first, the premise that most centers need to be academically based and, second, that the holistic approach will improve the strategic planning of any center. Beyond a land grant university or perhaps a center funded with the mission to conduct only outreach or even a continuation of an existing Forum Model center, it is difficult to think of other settings that would justify outreach as the strategic foundation. Even for such centers, the holistic approach will serve them well—looking at how the parts relate to the whole and how the stakeholders can relate. Managing these relationships—be they among teaching, research, and service or students, faculty, and families—they need to be thought of as all parts of the system or whole that the center needs to serve.

References

America's 100 largest family businesses. (2000). Family Business Magazine, Autumn, 46.

Astrachan, J. H. (1992) An Interview with Craig E. Arnoff, founder of the Kennesaw State College Family Business Forum. Family Business Review, 3(1), 44-67,

Astrachan, J. H., & McMillan, K. (2000). Practical research: The pivotal role of research in academic programs. In G. McCann & N. Upton (Eds.), Rethinking the role of the university- based family business center (pp. 47-54). Deland, FL: Stetson University.

Bledsoe, T. (2000) Unpublished family owned business research, School of Business at Meredith College, Raleigh, NC.

Capra, F. (1996). A new scientific understanding of living systems: The Web of life. New York: Doubleday.

Carlock, R., & Ward, J.(2001). Strategic planning for the family business. London: Palgrave.

Cowen, S. (1998). Universities and family businesses: A valuable partnership. In R. L. Narva (Ed.), International family business program association director’s manual (2nd ed.). Needham, MA: Family Business Resources.

Cox, E. S., & Heck, R. K. Z. (2000). Stakeholders' responses: Summary views of the key stakeholders. In G. McCann & N. Upton (Eds.), Rethinking the role of the university-based family business center (pp. 87-99). Deland, FL: Stetson University.

DeMoss, M. (1999). Family business center parent and student survey. United States Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship 13th annual conference. San Diego, CA.

DeMoss, M. (2002). Developing consumer-driven services in university-based family business programs. Family Business Review, 15(2), 119-129.

Family Business and Entrepreneurship: Building Bridges Through the Life Cycle. (1998, July 23-25). Family business center survey. Proceedings of 1998 Fifth Annual Conference of the International Family Business Program Association, San Antonio, TX.

Frishkoff, P. A. (1998). Strategic questions for university based family business programs. Family Business Review, 11(4), 355-361.

Hofer, C., & Schendel, D. (1978). Strategy formulation: Analytical concepts. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing.

Jaffe, D. (1991). Working With the Ones You Love: Strategies for a Successful Family Business. Berkeley, CA: Conari Press.

Jaffe, D. (1998). Building communities of learning in family business programs. Family Business Review, 11(4), 363-375.

Jaffe, D., & Lane, S. (2000). Reaching out to family businesses: Design notes for family business programs. In G. McCann & N. Upton (Eds.), Rethinking the role of the university- based family business center (pp. 55-66). Deland, FL: Stetson University.

Keyt, A. (2000). The role of the director. In G. McCann & N. Upton (Eds.), Rethinking the role of the university-based family business center (pp. 39-46). Deland, FL: Stetson University.

McCann, G., & DeMoss, M. (2000). An overview of the Holistic Model. In G. McCann & N. Upton (Eds.), Rethinking the role of the university-based family business center (pp. 1-7). Deland, FL: Stetson University.

Narva, R. L. (Ed.). (1998). International family business program association: Directors manual (2nd ed.). Needham, MA: Family Business Resource, Inc.

Poza, E., Alfred, T., & Johnson, S. (1998). Changing the family business through action research. Family Business Review, 11(4), 311-323.

Stetson University. (2001). Stetson University 2001-2002 bulletin [Brochure].

Upton, N. (1998). New concepts and approaches and their application to family business in the 21st century: Audience specific programming. In R. L. Narva (Ed.), International family business program association: Directors manual (2nd ed.), Tab 7. Needham, MA: Family Business Resource, Inc.

Upton, N. (2000). The role of the university and the Holistic Model. In G. McCann & N. Upton (Eds.), Rethinking the role of the university-based family business center (pp. 21-26). Deland, FL: Stetson University.

Vinton, K. (2002). Book review of The Holistic Model: Rethinking the Role of the University- based Family Business Review. Family Business Review, 15(2), 152-154.

Greg K. McCann is an associate professor and director of the Family Business Center at Stetson University, Deland, Florida.

The author wishes to thank Dr. Michelle DeMoss, Ms. Jill Perry, and Dr. Nancy Upton for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.