New FEC course to help family enterprises make most of unsettled world
Shining a light on opportunity amid disruption, three-day sessions are directed at enterprising families and advisors
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The pace of change is accelerating, and enterprising families have never faced a more complex web of emerging issues. In response to these challenges – from AI to DEI, cybersecurity to carbon-zero – Family Enterprise Canada (FEC) has created a timely new certification called Thriving in a Changing World: Strategies for Family Business.
The program will launch with two live, in-person sessions, one in Toronto from February 28 to March 1 and a second in Vancouver from November 25-27.
FEC saw the need to address the issues and opportunities for family businesses in our rapidly changing world, says Claire Lynch, the organization’s national director, advisor programs, who is based in Vancouver.
“Family businesses don’t exist in a vacuum. They are embedded in society, in the economy and in the environment, and they are being called upon daily to address these challenges,” says Lynch, who says she does not know of any comparable course being offered in Canada. “Not just because of social and legislative responsibility, but because the younger generation demands it. Employees and the rising generation are urging family business leaders to address these issues, which sometimes threaten profitability.”
The certification has been designed for family business leaders and their advisors, answering urgent and topical questions, she says: “Why and how they guide their businesses forward; how to navigate these changes in day-to-day business; and how to succeed in their aim of continuity and building legacy over generations in an increasingly complex world.”
As the title suggests, Thriving in a Changing World is not focused on damage control. Instead, it takes a more optimistic view of the present global situation. This outlook is encapsulated in the concept of “intrapreneurship,” which Lynch characterizes as “the concept of being an entrepreneur within an entrepreneurial environment and having the ability to innovate.”
Taking the approach that disruption reveals new possibilities, “we really shine a spotlight on the opportunity for them,” she says. For every challenge, the course identifies fertile ground for innovation and growth. For instance, “we are now experiencing a rapid transition from non-renewable to renewable resources. We see that as an opportunity for entrepreneurs: How are we going to reduce our carbon footprint and still make a profit?”
Issues of equity and diversity as well as climate change and even neurological diversity will be addressed in the course. “The big one is artificial intelligence, and the course offers practical tools and strategies for addressing these sometimes-scary issues.”
Increasingly, a new mindset of social responsibility is being demanded of family business owners, and family office leaders need to be able to guide the conversation, Lynch says. “How do you tie together the importance of being responsible to the planet but also to your employees and your margins? The course addresses profit full-on; we don’t skirt around it. It’s very practical and very hands-on.”
The course takes place over three full days and offers networking opportunities with four instructors and other family business leaders and advisors. The faculty are Gaia Marchisio, PhD, FEA, an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University in New York; Pramodita Sharma, PhD, the chair of Family Business at the noted Grossman School of Business at the University of Vermont; Paris-based Ambra Mazzelli, PhD, an associate professor of strategy and organizations at the international SKEMA Business School; and Robert Nason, PhD, MBA, BA, associate professor at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University in Montreal.
Thriving in a Changing World is priced at $5,000 per participant, and $4,500 for Family Enterprise Canada family members and designated FEAs. Readers of Canadian Family Offices are invited to attend at the member rate with the promo code CFO2024.
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