Family Business 4.0 – Taking the first step towards a new entrepreneurial spirit

Family businesses find themselves under severe innovative pressure due to the persistent digitalization inexorably disrupting traditional industrial value chains. Like all firms, family firms are forced to respond to disruptive threats by establishing innovative avenues for value creation, including new business models. As I have already emphasized in my previous Viewpoint

As I have already emphasized in my previous Viewpoint, one of the major challenges in the face of digitalization is the accelerating pace of change. Despite the fact that in particular later-generation family firms are accustomed to recurring changes, the speed of change is becoming ever faster with digitalization.

Therefore, it remains essential for family business decision makers to gain a full understanding of the nature and the possible impact of these changes to ensure their competitiveness. In contrast to many family businesses, startups seem to embody the nature of digitalization and especially its inherent cultural changes. They are characterized by lean, agile and flexible organizational structures, high customer centricity, and a corporate culture that can accept failure.