文章來(lái)源：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》Apr 8st 2023 期 Business欄目??The?lure?of?the?family?business

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Family business makes for compelling drama. Just ask anyone tuning in to the final season of “Succession”, which has recently begun airing on HBO. This Bartleby prefers “Buddenbrooks”, Thomas Mann’s chronicle of the decline and collapse of a German merchant family over the course of four generations. That novel, first published in 1901, drew heavily on the author’s personal experience. The dilemmas of working for an organisation which an immediate family member runs or in which they own the majority sound alarming enough in fiction, never mind real life. And nepotism can be plenty dramatic even without the plot twists.

家族企業(yè)造就了引人注目的戲劇性。只要問(wèn)問(wèn)正在收看最近開(kāi)始在 HBO 播出的《繼承》最后一季的觀眾就知道了。巴托比更喜歡托馬斯·曼的《布登勃洛克一家》，這本書(shū)記錄了一個(gè)德國(guó)商人家族四代人的衰落和崩潰。那部小說(shuō)于1901年首次出版，大量取材于作者的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷。在一家由直系親屬管理或由自己持有多數(shù)股權(quán)的公司工作，這種兩難境地在小說(shuō)中聽(tīng)起來(lái)足夠令人擔(dān)憂(yōu)，更不用說(shuō)現(xiàn)實(shí)生活了。即使沒(méi)有情節(jié)轉(zhuǎn)折，裙帶關(guān)系也會(huì)非常戲劇化。

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These days it is frowned upon—most publicly listed companies and professional firms ban it. Still, family businesses make up more than 90% of the world’s enterprises. Many of them, quite literally, are mom-and-pop shops. Some are large-ish businesses in smallish economies, like the one in Athens where this guest Bartleby, straight out of university, was put in charge of managing relations with institutional investors. A handful are giant global corporations: think of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire (which allegedly inspired “Succession”) or Bernard Arnault’s $460bn luxury conglomerate, LVMH (which, as it happens, has grown by acquiring other family firms, such as Bulgari and Fendi).

如今，這種做法不受歡迎ーー大多數(shù)上市公司和專(zhuān)業(yè)公司都禁止這種做法。盡管如此，家族企業(yè)仍占全球企業(yè)的90%以上。其中很多，毫不夸張地說(shuō)，是夫妻店。有些是小型經(jīng)濟(jì)體中的大型企業(yè)，比如在雅典的一家企業(yè)，大學(xué)畢業(yè)的巴托比就被派去負(fù)責(zé)管理與機(jī)構(gòu)投資者的關(guān)系。少數(shù)是大型全球企業(yè): 想想魯珀特·默多克的媒體帝國(guó)(據(jù)說(shuō)是《繼承》的靈感來(lái)源)，或者貝爾納·阿爾諾價(jià)值4600億美元的奢侈品集團(tuán)LVMH(該集團(tuán)正好是通過(guò)收購(gòu)其他家族企業(yè)(如寶格麗和芬迪)而壯大)。

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Regardless of size, all family companies face common challenges. Filial loyalty and multi-generational thinking can morph into resistance to change, and if a firm has outside shareholders, clash with their interests. The process of generational transition can be particularly draining and frustrating to the staff members who are not family, raising uncomfortable questions about social mobility, or the lack thereof.

無(wú)論規(guī)模大小，所有家族企業(yè)都面臨著共同的挑戰(zhàn)。子女的忠誠(chéng)和幾代人的思維可能演變成對(duì)變革的抵制，如果公司有外部股東，就會(huì)與他們的利益發(fā)生沖突。對(duì)于不是家庭成員的工作人員來(lái)說(shuō)，代際過(guò)渡的過(guò)程尤其令人疲憊和沮喪，從而引發(fā)了關(guān)于社會(huì)流動(dòng)性或缺乏社會(huì)流動(dòng)性的令人不安的問(wèn)題。

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For the corporate heir, meeting family expectations and continuing a legacy while achieving personal fulfilment can generate a mass of contradictions, as Mann splendidly illuminated. Even in companies that insist they are meritocratic, no amount of skill will convince all your colleagues that you have actually earned your job. Any pre-existing domestic frictions might make their way into the business. And vice versa: disagreements over the business can breed feuds, often between siblings. In India, the bitter dispute between Mukesh and Anil Ambani over their inherited empire, Reliance Industries, lasted for years after their father died without leaving a will.

對(duì)于企業(yè)繼承人來(lái)說(shuō)，滿(mǎn)足家庭期望和繼承遺產(chǎn)，同時(shí)實(shí)現(xiàn)個(gè)人成就，可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生大量矛盾，可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生大量矛盾，曼精彩地闡述了這一點(diǎn)。即使在那些堅(jiān)持精英管理的公司里，再多的技能也無(wú)法讓你所有的同事相信你的工作是應(yīng)得的。任何已經(jīng)存在的家庭摩擦都可能影響到生意。反之亦然: 在業(yè)務(wù)上的分歧會(huì)滋生不和，通常是在兄弟姐妹之間。在印度，穆克什?安巴尼和阿尼爾?安巴尼之間圍繞他們繼承的信實(shí)工業(yè)帝國(guó)的激烈爭(zhēng)執(zhí)持續(xù)了數(shù)年，他們的父親去世時(shí)沒(méi)有留下遺囑。

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No wonder some heirs decide to hold on to their shareholdings, perhaps a board seat, but pursue a career elsewhere. Not all Waltons work for Walmart; it is hard to find Hoffmanns among executives at Roche, the Swiss drugmaking giant founded by their forebear in 1896. They thus avoided being accused of belonging to the “l(fā)ucky sperm club”, as Warren Buffett calls those who might well possess the managerial skills to lead a large organisation but never had to jump through the same hoops as everyone else. Hilton and Marriott, two of the world’s biggest hotel chains, as well as Lego, a toymaking giant, are examples of companies which did not produce a strong successor and eventually ended up in the hands of professional managers.

難怪一些繼承人決定保留自己的股份，也許是董事會(huì)席位，但在其他地方發(fā)展事業(yè)。并非所有沃爾頓家族的人都為沃爾瑪工作; 在霍夫曼家族的祖先于1896年創(chuàng)立的瑞士制藥巨頭羅氏公司的高管中，很難找到霍夫曼家族的身影。因此，他們避免了被指責(zé)屬于“幸運(yùn)精子俱樂(lè)部”。沃倫?巴菲特稱(chēng)這些人很可能擁有領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一個(gè)大型組織的管理技能，但從未像其他人一樣經(jīng)歷過(guò)重重考驗(yàn)。世界上最大的兩家連鎖酒店希爾頓和萬(wàn)豪，以及玩具制造巨頭樂(lè)高，都是沒(méi)有培養(yǎng)出強(qiáng)大接班人，而是最終落入職業(yè)經(jīng)理人手中管理的例子。

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For those who nevertheless decide to take an active role in the family business, it does not have to be a poison. Some of the logic that historically made family firms de rigueur continues to stand. For example, designated heirs—like Mr Arnault’s five children, all of whom now run parts of LVMH—are groomed early on, so by the time they are ready to take over they have already acquired some industry knowledge by osmosis.

對(duì)于那些決定在家族企業(yè)中發(fā)揮積極作用的人來(lái)說(shuō)，并不一定是一種毒藥。歷史上使家族企業(yè)成為慣例的一些邏輯仍然存在。例如，像阿爾諾先生的五個(gè)孩子這樣的指定繼承人，他們現(xiàn)在都管理著LVMH集團(tuán)的一部分，他們都是很早就開(kāi)始培養(yǎng)的，所以當(dāng)他們準(zhǔn)備接手時(shí)，他們已經(jīng)潛移默化地掌握了一些行業(yè)知識(shí)。

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At the personal level, work is not solely about money but also about empowerment and prestige. Your name on the door may bestow a sense of purpose. Preserving the legacy of an empire can be rewarding, so long as the heir displays passion and persistence. They can probably forget being one of the gang when it comes to office gossip, but they can earn their colleagues’ and subordinates’ respect with modesty and hard work. The serious heir knows that showing up simply because it is easier than venturing out on their own doesn’t cut it.

在個(gè)人層面上，工作不僅關(guān)乎金錢(qián)，還關(guān)乎權(quán)力和聲望。你的名字出現(xiàn)在門(mén)上可能會(huì)給人一種使命感。保留一個(gè)帝國(guó)的遺產(chǎn)是值得的，只要繼承人表現(xiàn)出激情和毅力。當(dāng)談到辦公室八卦時(shí)，他們可能會(huì)忘記自己是一伙人，但他們可以通過(guò)謙虛和努力工作贏得同事和下屬的尊重。認(rèn)真的繼承人知道，露露臉比大膽?yīng)毩⒄境鰜?lái)更容易，但是露露臉不能解決問(wèn)題。

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Ultimately, being entrusted with a business by people who share your DNA is something you ought to earn, not expect. As the adage goes, “A family business is not a business you inherit from your parents, it is a business you borrow from your children.” Disregard for this nugget of wisdom is what makes “Succession” such riveting television—and Waystar Royco so dysfunctional.

說(shuō)到底，要想讓和你有相同基因的人把公司委托經(jīng)營(yíng)于你，是你應(yīng)該爭(zhēng)取的，而非是去期待著。俗話(huà)說(shuō):“家族企業(yè)不是你從父母那里繼承來(lái)的，而是你從子女那里借來(lái)的。”對(duì)這一智慧的忽視是《繼承》如此吸引人的原因，也是Waystar Royco傳媒帝國(guó)如此失衡的原因。