WHAT ASIA’S FAMILY FIRMS CAN TEACH WESTERN BUSINESS ABOUT PURPOSE ONG BOON HWEE AND MARK GOYDER Ong Boon Hwee is CEO of Stewardship Asia Centre. Mark Goyder is founder of Tomorrow’s Company. Joint authors of the new book, ‘Entrusted – stewardship for responsible wealth creation’ is published by World Scientific.
In the book Ong Boon Hwee and Mark Goyder argue that companies can thrive if they rediscover stewardship, balancing the needs of shareholders, community and environment. “Nothing has ever belonged to me. I believe the key for continuity and long-term prosperity is to maintain inherited assets as if they are not my own properties. They are under my management and governance. Thus, understanding this mission, we have to work hard to grow the value and assets, in both quantitative and qualitative terms.” These are the words of Zengoro Hoshi, the current patriarch of a 1,300-year-old company, which operates the world’s second-oldest hotel, Hoshi Ryokan.
needs of business, community and environment. In a 2017 study of 200 successful and enduring family businesses in Asia Pacific by Stewardship Asia Centre, 80% agree that their organisation has a clearly articulated purpose, which is crucial to the development of the organisation. In the same study, business leaders ranked uplifting the community as the key priority out of a list of nine. It is significant that profitability came in seventh, and
the leadership trait that the leaders believe to be most crucial is the long-term vision that ensures that the business consciously builds for the future. Of course a successful business must first be profitable. Yet multigenerational businesses recognise that to be successful, a ‘profits-only’ approach mantra is unsustainable. There is an interdependence between companies that thrive, the relationships they nurture, and the stakeholders and community they impact upon. Intuitively, these companies inject the
Founded in 718, this Japanese familyrun business has flourished for 46 generations. The family has not only grown the inn business over the years, but as part of the company’s conservation efforts, the inn makes a point of caring for the hot spring on which it is built, which it regards as a precious gift from nature. Coupled with its philosophy of ‘less greed and realisation of enough’, the family seeks to maintain a balance between the www.familybusinessunited.com 24
