Simpson Family Case Study

Simpson Seeds has been faced with a very tough situation of planning the transition of the ownership and leadership of their family business on to the third generation of the Simpson family. With a family that has grown to include 25 members of the Simpson Business Family, making a succession plan will be a tedious job in order to please everyone involved. In this transition, the Simpson family would like to maintain interfamily relationships with all family members – not just active (in the business) family members. In the following text, I will discuss how they should proceed with their succession planning to maintain their number one priority, family values, I will discuss who should lead the succession process for the family, and who all

Succession processes usually take on two stages before the succession has actually taken place, and the timeline can be quite a long time. The two stages of succession are management authority and then ownership. Gaining professional advice at every stage is very important in making sure that this transition to the next generation maintains family ties and keeps everybody happy – and is what Simpson Seeds should do. A formalized system will allow the second generation of the Simpson family to commit to developing the third generation in the Simpson Seed roles in order for the business to continue to be successful. Knowing that there is a succession plan in place allows the third generation to identify their skills, experience, and development opportunities to help them become prepared to manage and work when the time comes. As Greg had mentioned, the new red lentil-splitting plant would be a great way to introduce a development opportunity to the third generation and a way to prove their abilities to add to the family’s growing legacy. Greg specifically knows how hard it is to develop the skills necessary to be a successful owner-operator, but this gives him an advantage in knowing how to train the up and coming generation in their new

Simpson Seeds Inc. would not be what it is today without family. Although there may be family members that choose to not be an active member within the family business, it is still important to see them as what they are: very important allies. No matter the circumstance, each family member has some sort of responsibility to the company in order to keep both the business and the family strong (Aronoff, 2017). Although the Simpson’s lawyer advised them not to mix non-active and active members, I believe they have to in order to uphold their number one value of family. When a family business chooses to exclude family from the family business, it introduces contemptuous attitudes that are toxic to a family dynamic. A family business is combined with the family’s identity, and even though non-active members of the family do not participate in the business, they still share that family identity (Aronoff, 2017). To exclude them from their family identity would send a very awful message, and it is not something that the Simpson’s want to do to their family – as Greg has expressed validly about his sister Sandra. It helps to provide non-active family members with information about the business and the proceedings, because whether the active members realize it or not, non-active family members have made subconscious contributions to the business as well have provided support to those who are active within the business. By continuing to hold