Aurum Furniture and in - Law Management

Aurum Hurniture and In-Law Management Case, Jan Duda (C600039)

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1) Discuss the key personal, family and business challenges that John encountered when he started work at Aurum. 

• Personal:

• John has to decide between a lucrative offer in television news which aggravated because he is uncertain of his future in the firm – whether he e.g. will ever be able to act as CEO

• Family

• John in not considered a full member of the family as he is an in-law through his wife
• Family succession in not clarified
• John occasionally faces trust issues from family members other than his wife

• Business:

• Firm doesn’t have a uniform strategy on how to grow further – for which John is seen as a fresh mind with a non-family business background
• John faces the challenge to transform the rather paternalistic family business into an efficient organization – including a clear succession strucutre
• He is set in between to rivaling brothers to mediate which often sets him in unfavorable situations

2) What tactics did john use to overcome these challenges?

• John always tried to interact as a supporting and mediating role but never burned any grounds by counteracting any parties.
• Instead, he contributed with his externally acquired expertise and only influenced decisions to a more professional organization through his supporting wife.
• In this sense, he acted as neutral advisor and employee, especially in finance-related topics rather than as fully responsible executive of the firm. This way, he incrementally gained the trust of all family members

3) What benefits did Aurum derive from John's attempt to professionalize the firm?

• Above all, it developed towards a more structured and professionally led organization
• As such, it introduced its first non-family manager into the executive team
• And began developing a clear plan about the Aurum’s succession plan and future ventures

4) What would you recommend to John to make his integration into the family and firm faster and smoother?

• He could begin outlining his expectations from his involvement into the family business more clearly, especially to his father-in-law which currently has the last say
• As such, he could also be more actively involved into solving the rivalry between his two brothers in law and this way gain more supporters other than her wife
• One way to do that is to more openly show his contribution to the firm. On the other hand, this might backfire if he could be perceived as bragger.
• Other than that, it seems as if the family’s trust is difficult to gain. Unless, he brings in significant more business which make the original business’ value shade, there is not much he can do other than continuing his genuinely effective way on improving the family business