Family Business

The media hype associated with the trends of the new economy has shown how modern management principles may come and go. The rise and fall of 'dot-coms'have left many people wondering what future business trends and principles will be. Throughout the good and bad times of the changing realities in the 'new'economy, a group of companies has stayed true to its core principles: the hidden champions. Many of the characteristics of the hidden champions run parallel to those of family-run businesses. In fact, many of the hidden champions are exactly that – family-run.

The beginnings of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group as a family business can be traced back to the birth of Angelo Zegna in 1859 in the northwestern part of Italy known as Piedmont. Born the fourth child of a farmer, Angelo first worked as a watchmaker. He later became a weaver, which is not surprising, since wool-making and weaving was the most common industry in this isolated and impoverished mountainous area.

Millions of European consumers know the top brands of Ariston and Indesit, but fewer realise that behind those household names is a family business whose history epitomises the sector and its most traditional values.

Vittorio Merloni, head of Merloni Elettrodomestici, harks back to the simple philosophy of his father Aristide, who founded the original company back in the 1930s. "My father loved to say that in every business venture, success has no value if it lacks involvement in social progress, "he recalls.

Krister Ahlstromis a busy man. As head of one of Europe's biggest independent companies, Finland's Ahlstrom Corporation, he oversaw enormous change as the business diversified and globalised from its origins in the paper industry.

Ahlstrom himself built a reputation as a sound corporate thinker, a man who has won widespread acclaim for his ideas on corporate governance, and on the management of change within family enterprises. As a result, he is in demand at numerous conferences and seminars.