Conference

08:30-9:00      Registration

09:00-9:30      Opening and welcome addresses

Prof. Dr. Reinhold Mayer, Member of the Advisory Board, Corvinus Center of Family Business (on behalf of the Péter Horváth Stiftung)

Dr. László György, State Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Innovation

9:30-10:10      Lecture – Markus Handtmann, Owner, Handtmann Group

How to manage professionally the multigenerational owner family of an innovative technology company?

10:10-10:50    Lecture— Attila Csányi, Owner and CEO, Bonafarm

Building the agro-food business of the 21. century – Results and challenges

10:50-11:20    Coffee break

11:20-12:00    Podium Discussion 1: Professionalizing Ownership, Leadership, and Organization Culture in Family Firms            

Participants:       

Moderator: Dr. György Drótos, Head of the Corvinus Center of Family Business                                                  

12:00-12:30    Lecture – Kenneth McCracken, Family Firm Institute (UK), Member and Secretary of the Board

Development of successful family businesses in the UK

12:30-13:30    Lunch break

13:30-14:00    Lecture – Bálint Fazekas, Sales Managing Director, Euronics

Parallel developments in sales, logistics, marketing, product mix, and strong digitalization – the second generation is coming to the scene (working title)

14:00-14:30    Lecture – Attila Gódi, Owner and CEO, Terrán Tetőcserép Gyártó Kft.

From manufactory to regional multinational company – The 100-year history of Terrán and its most important lessons through the eyes of the third generation

14:30-15:00    Lecture – Dr. Norbert Palanovics, Ambassador of Hungary to Tokyo

Augmented reality: The unique world of centuries-old Japanese family firms

15:00-15:20    Coffee break

15:20-15:50    Podium Discussion 2: Professionalization of Business Functions and Systems in Family Firms

Participants:       

 Moderator: Dr. György Drótos, Head of the Corvinus Center of Family Business

15:50-16:30    Lecture – Dr. Attila Wieszt, Senior Researcher and Dr. György Drótos, Head of Center, Corvinus Center of Family Business

                        Research results and recommendations of the Corvinus University with the focus of family business succession and professionalization

16:30-17:00    Summary and Closing

* The language of the event is English and Hungarian, simultaneous interpretation will be provided for both languages.

Professionalization of a business is like becoming adult: we are less and less dependent on our parents (on the founders) and our actions are driven more by reason than emotions. While the complexity of our life increases exponentially, we can still manage it by following rules, and applying methods and routines we have learned in childhood.

In family businesses, the founders’ characteristics, e.g., their exceptional entrepreneurial spirit, dynamism, work capacity, creativity, and charisma may slow down or even postpone the maturation of their companies. However, there is a point in the life cycle of every company when these factors turn from strengths into weaknesses that hinder growth by not always being able to deliver more, in constantly high quality, and according to the client’s other expectations.

Professionalization is even more critical when a company seeks international markets, either by exporting, franchising, or opening foreign offices: the trust of potential business partners can only be gained if the newcomer complies with the industry-related rules and the expected business culture. Professionalization can also be a driver of succession: it is not difficult to acknowledge that a transparent, well-organized, and data-driven company is more attractive for potential successors, let they be within or outside the family.

Professionalization, however, does not happen overnight: it is an evolution. It is not equal with hiring an external CEO – the whole leadership and organizational culture should be transformed, in which, however, family members can still keep a key role. You cannot “get over it” by purchasing the most expensive Enterprise Resource Planning or Business Intelligence system either: without having a comprehensive business strategy, changing the underlying processes, and establishing new decision-making procedures it is just waste of money and time. Finally, if the firm is already professional, but the owner family does not function in a coordinated and predictable way, it is still a looming risk for the future of the company.

Professionalization might be a tough cookie, but the effort is rewarding!  In our conference representatives of industry leader family firms (foreign and Hungarian alike) will report on how they have gone through it to become members in the League of the Best.

Our conference, as in the previous years, is open to family business owners, family and non-family member managers, scientific researchers and university students interested in the topic, and also to representatives of the government institutions and the professional services industry supporting family businesses.

We look forward to your registration and active participation on site or on our online channel!

Participation in our conference is free of charge, but is subject to registration.  Our budget is limited, so if you think you would like to support the work of the Corvinus Center of Family Business, you can do so by sending your support to the bank account below. If required, the University will issue a certificate of donations received. Thank you!

In the case of transfer from abroad: