Events

Events

TAİDER 10. Ulusal Aile İşletmeleri Zirvesi

Friday, November 4, 2022 İstanbul Swissotel the Bosphorus

TURKEY'S FAMILY BUSINESSES TALKED ABOUT THE VALUES AND CHANGE

"Values and change" were discussed at the 10th National Family Business Summit organized by TAIDER Family Business Association, which was established to support the sustainability of family businesses with the motto "Unity in Family, Sustainability in Business". Nearly 300 family company members from many cities of Turkey attended the summit held at Swissotel the Bosphorus Hotel.

The 10th National Family Business Summit, traditionally organized by TAIDER Family Business Association, was held at Swissotel The Bosphorus Istanbul on 4-5 November 2022 with the theme of "Change with Our Values from Past to Present". Saying "Welcome" to nearly 300 family business members from many cities of Turkey at the opening of the summit, TAIDER Family Business Association Chairman of the Board Tekin Urhan said, "The world is changing, our values are also changing. We have to be ready for the future and transformation. We see that huge enterprises that are institutionalized, ready for change, but do not keep the next generation ready and do not make efforts for this, are disappearing.”

Taking the podium for this year's opening speech of the summit, Faruk Eczacıbaşı, President of Turkish Informatics Foundation, said, “Not only time, but paradigms have changed. The internet revolution has happened. In my eyes, this refers to the period when the industrial revolution ended and the post-industrial revolution began. I think the post-industrial era really requires a different mindset.”

FAMILY COMPANIES HAVE GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

The National Family Business Summit, traditionally organized by TAIDER Family Business Association, which was established to support family businesses in Turkey to become high-performance, sustainable institutions and to transfer them to future generations in a strong and healthy way, was held for the 10th time this year. At the opening of the summit held at Swissotel The Bosphorus Istanbul on 4-5 November 2022 with the theme of "Change with Our Values from Past to Present", TAIDER Family Business Association Chairman of the Board Tekin Urhan emphasized that the economy is on the shoulders of family companies and continued his words as follows:

“According to EU Reports, 50 percent of the world economy is dominated by family businesses. In our country, 90% of the economy is in family businesses. Yes, we are directing the society, we have added serious weight to the economy. We have a serious added value. But we are eroding; Unfortunately, we cannot transfer what we do with our teeth and nails to the second generation. Our rate of transition to the second generation is only 30 percent. In a country where there is a generational transition every 25 years, 70 percent of businesses are lost every 25 years. The rate of transition to the third generation is 12 percent. The fourth generation and fifth generation are also scarce to be pointed out. If we don't think about how we should make the transitions, our economy will erode.”

"INSTITUTIONALIZATION, CHANGE AND TRANSFER PLAN”

Pointing out that TAIDER Family Business Association, which set out with the motto "Unity in the family, sustainability in the business", offers significant support in this regard, Urhan said, "We tell our esteemed members and family businesses that there are three things they must do if they want to leave a legacy for the future. First, institutionalization. Companies need to focus on institutionalization from the moment they are first established. Second, society is changing very quickly. We have to be ready for the future and transformation. The third issue is the transfer plan. We see that huge enterprises that are institutionalized, ready for change, but do not keep the next generation ready and do not make efforts for this, are disappearing," he said.

Noting that the world is going through a very serious economic turbulence caused by the energy and Russian crisis, and in this uncertainty, "the responsibility of strengthening the sails of family companies is increasing day by day", Urhan said, "In this process that we will enter the 2nd century of the Republic, I sincerely want to see the century-old companies in this hall. Because we need deep-rooted and strong institutions for an economy to be strong.”

"NO VISION, THERE IS CHAOS"

Stressing that change is important, but not every change means improvement, TAIDER Family Business Association President Urhan said:

“You have to decide how you are going to change right from the start. You have to determine your vision and route correctly and use the resources correctly. False starts such as chaos without vision, anxiety without talent, resistance without encouragement, disappointment without resources, wrongly buttoned shirt button without action plan.”

Stating that businesses that are fast and agile, give importance to innovation, keep up with digitalization, and value network and collaboration intelligence, have succeeded in change and development, Tekin Urhan also drew attention to the fact that a new stage has been passed in the uncertainty period defined as the VUCA era. “Companies have to be digitalized, original, compassionate and ingenious in this process. Our values are the foundation of family businesses, but our values can also change. You cannot build the future with yesterday's values. For this, we have to walk the path from profit to purpose, from hierarchy to network, from control to organization, from planning to experimentation and from confidentiality to transparency, while changing while preserving our values.

"NOT JUST TIME, BUT ALSO PARADIGMS CHANGE"

Faruk Eczacıbaşı, Chairman of the Turkish Informatics Foundation, who took the podium for the opening speech after Tekin Urhan, said, “I started my working life 43 years ago. I was the representative of a second generation family business. Our fathers were the first entrepreneurial fathers of a Republic that emerged from the slum,” he began. Explaining his own experiences along with Turkey's economic developments, Eczacıbaşı said, “In the early 1980s, we brought the first PC to the institution as one. I did a reporting job that normally takes two to three weeks in one night. That wasn't a big deal, kids do it today. But with the arrival of personal computers in front of people, transferring the information in people's brains to computers somehow seemed to attract the reaction of the upper generation," he said.

Emphasizing that the internet has changed all business processes, Eczacıbaşı continued his words as follows:

“Not just times, but paradigms have changed. The internet revolution has happened. In my eyes, this refers to the period when the industrial revolution ended and the post-industrial revolution began. I think the post-industrial era really requires a different mindset. The average age of today's world leaders, especially in the world of politics, is over 60. The average age of the world is 30. Governments were born before the internet, but the other half of the world was born in the post-industrial era. This is one of the most important reasons for the fundamental tension we experience in the world. Our children are young people who are much more intelligent, adaptable and flexible than we imagine. As far as I can see, they don't worry about most of the issues we worry about ourselves. We have to get used to a much more flexible structure in our companies.”

Explaining that the enthusiasm and interests of the young generation should be encouraged and their competency sets should be developed, Eczacıbaşı said, “I think that the mistake of trying to force these young people on our master-apprentice relationships stems from our generations. Most importantly, if I had to give a name to the post-industrial age, I would call it the network age. Because where different cultures, people and information touch each other, there are opportunities.”

TWO IMPORTANT RULES IN THE FAMILY CONSTITUTION

Faruk Eczacıbaşı gave examples from his own children and concluded his speech with the following words:

“My mission is to support the future of my own children. The experience they gain will come to our benefit one day. For this, I accept it as my duty to do my best especially to develop their own competencies. We also prepared our Family Constitution. One of the main articles of our Family Constitution is about transferring our values to the next generation. But at the same time, to provide the greatest personal freedom that can be given to young people and to establish a structure that does not give up on those values. One of the items is that spouses other than family members do not work in the company and are left out. Maybe working all together, as relatives, sounds good. However, we do not know how long-term harm will be done by gossip at the dinner table or in the bedroom at night.

After the speeches, TAIDER Family Business Association President Tekin Urhan presented Eczacıbaşı with a ceramic sphere specially designed for TAIDER as a souvenir.

The summit, where the announcement of the opening of applications for TAIDER North Star Sustainability Program 2023, continued with the sharing of experiences of family businesses.

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