CASE STUDY

From Swords to Ploughshares: Three generations of Family Entrepreneurship, Conflict, Transition, and Connection



1. Describe how successful the business has been at recognizing and satisfying stakeholder interests.

According to the case when the dispute broke out with in the family between the brothers, the minority shareholders of the company who are also the stakeholders of the company were not satisfied by the brothers and the business as well as the dispute was also hurting the interest of the minority shareholders. As a result of this the minority shareholders decided to sue the two brothers who had disputes between them both for their own personal interest. The decision to sue the two brothers was led by their own sister as she also thought that the brothers were fighting with each other for the sake of their own interests and had forgotten the interest of the other stake holders. Before the dispute had started, the stake holders were quite satisfied and were being recognized as well by the business. Especially under the founder of the company who was also the father of the brothers who were in dispute, the stake holder's interests were mostly and always recognized and satisfied. At that particular time the founder had always taken keen interest in the satisfaction and recognition of the stakeholders interest as it is also always in the best interest of a company to do so. But once the founder of the company passed away and the brothers got involved in the functioning of the company and took over the business that their father had initially started, disputes started to brake among them due to which they weren't able to satisfy and recognize the interests of the stake holders of the company as well as they were only interested in satisfying and recognizing their own interests only.

2. Describe the mechanisms that are available to manage relationships with stakeholders and to influence the strategic direction and performance of the company.

The stake holders of the company were its board members who comprised of top family executives, an accountant, a family lawyer and a good friend. Furthermore, the stake holders of the company also included the share holders of the company as both the board members and the share holders were somehow or the other affected by the company and its performance and the company was also somehow or the other affected by them and their performances. The ...