The business world was introduced to a new gem as the 244-pager Beyond Three Generations was launched at JW Marriott, Kolkata, last month. The book is set to be “the definitive guide to building enduring family businesses” and is authored by Navas Meeran, M.S.A. Kumar, Firoz Meeran and George Skaria. Moderated by Professor Chadradeep Mitra, advisor and mentor at IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, the launch was attended by several business luminaries, like Debashis Sen, MD of HIDCO, Mayank Jalan, CMD of Keventer Agro and Dr. Suborno Bose, founder and CEO of IIHM. A panel discussion accompanied the launch which was followed by high tea.
Beyond Three Generations features 12 case studies of family businesses and provides an analysis of these cases instead of offering theories. The book highlights challenges faced by small enterprises and by close examination of triumphs of other businesses, it provides practical and useful solutions. The book came about after Navas and Firoz discussed their issues of a family business with other dignitaries from the same background.
Talking about the intricacies of writing the book, M.S.A. Kumar said: “Beyond Three Generations came about because the pain point in family businesses is the choice of lifestyle where families tend to drift away. This book gives answers to those issues and more... things that affect such businesses the most in our decades-long experience. The narration in this book is anecdotal and case studies are included to make the book give realistic examples and solutions.”
Navas said: “We wanted to focus on small enterprises from different states and not companies worth thousands of crores. Moreover, all the existing books that India reads are about family businesses from abroad and they do not discuss country-specific issues that our motherland faces. That was another driving force towards writing this book.”
The panel also touched upon some issues faced commonly by businesses run by families of which Navas gave a humorous instance: “Everything might be all right between siblings and then one son’s wife might say that my child has to be CEO and it does not matter whether the child is capable or not. Our book talks about these relatable issues and helps readers navigate them and make their businesses last beyond three generations.”
Talking about the issue of generation gap, Navas said: “We have quoted 10 distinguished segments in the book where the importance of communication and discussions are highlighted. So, when the younger generation feels that the older generation should take a back seat or vice-versa, there needs to be a conversation around the same. It is important to understand that every generation has something new. If not discussed, things like these develop into issues that result in an unsuccessful business.”
Only two case studies out of 12 deal with women-led enterprises and we asked Firoz about the future of women in family businesses. He said: “First, this book serves as an advisory note to everyone starting a business. Women are definitely welcome in a family business. While the change is underway it will definitely take time.” M.S.A. Kumar said: “That is definitely a good idea for book two though, women-led family businesses.”
Navas Meeran is the chairman of Group Meeran, ME Meeran Foundation and former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region; M.S.A. Kumar, an alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad, is a family business advisor and a CEO coach; Firoz Meeran is the vice-chairman of Group Meeran and ME Meeran Foundation; George Skaria is a senior journalist, communications specialist and author.