Tougher for family businesses to deal with succession

In its study on governance in Asian business families, the SMU Business Families Institute (BFI@SMU) found that while 85 per cent of the 102 business families surveyed expect to undertake succession planning within the next five years, only 17 per cent have structures in place to facilitate this process. SMU Vice President (Business Development) and BFI@SMU Academic Director Annie Koh, who presented the findings on May 26, said that while family governance practices remain in the early stages of development and adoption in Singapore, these practices are insufficient to ensure continuity of the business within the family. Prof Koh highlighted that family firms looking for guidance can turn to master classes run by SMU, and new teaching materials for these classes will be ready next year.