Chennai Business School and Madras Round Table Conference jointly organized a conference on ‘Family Business: Role and Development of Generation Next’ on November 9, 2009.

The aim of the conference was to understand the challenges faced by family owned business and evolving solutions to make them sustainable. The conference featured presentations and panel discussions by those heading family businesses, professionals, academicians, and experts from many backgrounds providing a platform for dialogue and sharing of experiences. Several sessions, including those on managing transition across generations separating ownership and management and retaining tradition while managing change were held.

Delivering the keynote address, Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Capital Funds, said that keeping the spirit of entrepreneurship alive in the family businesses was very critical and certain facets like ethics and commitment to values remained as relevant as ever.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr.Srini Srinivasan, Consultant, Global Business Strategy and former CEO of HAY group said that family businesses were very relevant in the Indian context. He added that lose to 95% of all registered businesses in India as well as East Asia and the Middle East were family owned.

The Vice Chairman of the Murugappa Group, now in its fifth generation, Mr.M.M. Murugappan, outlined the role of professionals in the family owned Murugappa group. He said that whether it is a family or a non-family professional, the role of each constituent must be clearly defined and a system of checks and balances instituted that encourages productive discussion and debate at each level, but ultimately results in consensus and determined action.

Pradipta Mohapatra, Governing Council member, Chennai Business School, and Chairman of the Coaching Foundation of India, who spent a large part of his career in family owned businesses defined what he called immutable principles for professionals working in such businesses: earn the trust and respect of the owners, define your role and responsibilities, communicate frequently, articulate and build the vision and values of the group, offer oneself for regular reviews, discover the story behind the story and learn to stand up in a crisis and be the brand ambassador for your group.

Mr.J.N Amrolia, Governing Council Member, CBS and Executive Director, Construction and Allied Business, Ashok Leyland Ltd., Mr.Mohan Menon, Governing Council Member, CBS and former Member of the Board of Ogilvy & Mather, Mr. Ravi Santhanam, MD, Hindustan Motors, Ms. Sangita Reddy, Founder and MD Apollo Health Care and Mr.Narayan Sethuramon, MD, WS Industries were some of the prominent persons who attended the Conference.