THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN A SMALL, FAMILY-RUN BUSINESS: THE DILEMMA OF THE ROBSONS, FATHER AND SON
Published date: 31/08/2021
Dilemma: a discussion between two managers, from different generations, raised the dilemma of evaluating a decision made. This dilemma focuses on analysing how such a decision affects the interests of the company, the partners, as well as other stakeholders.
Educational objective: to reflect upon the management process in a family business environment, highlighting issues such as decision-making, leadership, power relations, management styles, human behaviour in organizations and strategic planning.
Contextualization: the decision-making process requires transforming data into action; therefore, the quality of the decision is the key for the success of an organization. Paper & Art is a family business, located in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and has seven employees. The teaching case focuses on the story of a father and son who, when running a business in the stationery industry, are faced with challenges that require the need to combine the efforts of those involved, preventing disparities in the objectives of the members from harming the company.
Main theme: the case enables discussions on decision-making processes, decision quality and conflicts between generations in family businesses.
Audience: the case can be applied to business students and in undergraduate or graduate disciplines that involve decisions, power and conflict.
Originality / value: the combination of the efforts of those involved is necessary for the context presented, it could prevent disparities in the members' goals and harm the company. This is the originality of the case.