In This Newsletter
Heritage is a newsletter geared toward the interests of family business
owners. It is published by the Family-Owned Business Institute at The
University of Tulsa. To learn more about the Family-Owned Business
Institute, visit our website at:
http://bus.cba.utulsa.edu/fobi.
Notes from the Director:
FOBI - A Great Year, A Great Future
During the past year I have had the genuine honor of working with a wonderful group of people, the Family Owned Business Institute. I use the word “people” because in the final analysis that what FOBI is all about. People make FOBI work and it has worked well this past year. It was a year that mixed tradition with new initiatives and planning with action. Work was undertaken that will make FOBI more valuable and enjoyable now and in the future.
In the fall, a task force of FOBI members was created and set to work on charting a strategic initiative for FOBI. Claire Cornell also contributed to this task force. This task force worked hard to examine many elements of other family-business organizations throughout the United States. Educational programs, member services, dues structures, membership development, and leadership organization were all considered. The result was an overall plan for FOBI that fits the unique needs and goals of our membership.
"All in the Family" Column - Critical Questions
Member Profile
APSCO Inc. (originally Air Power Systems Co., Inc.) was created by William J. Mocha in 1964, building products in his garage. Initially the company provided air control kits for oilfield trucks, specializing in brake and clutch control kits.
In January of 1970, son William L. (Larry) Mocha graduated from Oklahoma State University (OSU) and joined the firm as the first full-time employee. Six months later he was laid off due to poor business conditions. The family continued to work part-time on the business until it reached a level to support an employee. In 1972, Larry Mocha again joined APSCO as a full-time employee.
Click here for complete article
The company
recognized by the Wall Street Journal as the oldest family business
operating in the United States today is the
Zildjian Cymbal Co. of Norwood, MA. It was founded in 1623 in
Constantinople and moved with the family to the United States in 1929.
It has been harder to identify the oldest family firm that was actually
started in the United States (or possibly pre-statehood) and continues
to operate to this day. The
Institute for Family Enterprise (IFE) at Bryant College has
conducted some interesting research into this question. The research
team had to rely upon data collected from old newspapers, historical
societies, Chambers of Commerce from the 50 states, and old business
journals. They believed they had identified the oldest firm as being
the C.P. Washburn Company (1632) of Middleborough, Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, on November 1, 1998, Charles P. Washburn IV, a member of
the 11th generation, was unable to pay $120,000 in back taxes and
company was closed! Click on the link above to read their interesting
report on the oldest family firms in the United States.
At our April meeting, FOBI invited Mr. Bill Evans from The Evans Group , a Dallas-based human resource training and development consulting firm, to lead an all-day training program entitled, “FOBI Forums: Maximizing the value of confidential, peer interaction.”
After
talking to members of the FOBI planning committee, Bill compiled a 96
page training manual specifically for this event. This training manual
is similar in structure to the YPO manual, but it addresses the specific
needs of our organization. Bill has been a member of YPO since 1986 and
has trained hundreds of YPO members. He has worked with forums in all
stages of development with the goal of helping them to develop richer
experiences.
"All in the Family" Column -
Critical Questions
by Mike
Henning
It has been said, “Often the question is more important than the answer.” When we give comprehensive thought to this idea, it becomes transparent why the question can and often is more important than the answer.
Here is our reasoning. Frequently the questions are about omissions, goals and the future. For example, running a small to medium sized company requires the boss to wear many hats including day-to-day hands-on work in the operation. Thus, working on the development of the company and addressing how to serve customers better is often left to chance or people adopt the strategy of the previous generations and take the direction “if it was good enough for the last owner it is good enough for us.” Omissions can be exposed when the right questions are asked, such as how can we best serve our customers? Ask each employee what they would suggest about how they can do their jobs better or be more productive. What exactly is your target market and how can you attract and serve them better? What can we do to make sure our customers remain customers by coming back again and again?
Low Expectations Can Bring Down Family
by James Lea
In
my 20 years of experience advising owners, executives and boards of
family companies, I've encountered too many of them that were shackled
by their own low expectations.
The myth of Pygmalion, the ancient Greek sculptor who created a statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it, inspired George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play "Pygmalion" and Lerner and Lowe's 1956 Broadway musical "My Fair Lady." In both plays, the rough-edged street girl Eliza Doolittle is transformed by Prof. Henry Higgins into an elegantly mannered Edwardian lady, with whom he then falls in love.
Editor:
Claire Cornell
Publisher:
Nancy Shelton