One third of Sri Lankan family firms don’t have a succession plan: survey

July 20, 2017 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors and global strategy consulting firm Stax, highlighting their 2017 Family Business Survey, says 32 percent of Sri Lankan family firms do not have a succession plan.





In addition, one out of two Sri Lankan family firms in the second generation (sibling partnerships) have reported that they do not currently have a long-term strategy. These findings reveal some of the ambiguities and challenges experienced by Sri Lankan family businesses today.



“Sri Lankan family businesses are in a transitional mode, so a new generation is looking at new ideas and they want to make an imprint,” Director at Stax, Kumudu Gunasekera, pointed out.





While family entrepreneurship is pervasive, these organisations wrestle with very specific challenges. In 2016, PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that 43 percent of global family businesses did not have a succession plan in place, with just 12 percent making it to a third generation.



According to the Family Firm Institute, family businesses account for two thirds of all firms around the world and create an estimated 70 to 90 percent of global GDP annually. Stax in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors is to present ‘Taking Over the Mantle’, an event to unveil the results from the first-ever survey of Sri Lankan family firms.

‘Taking Over the Mantle’ will take place on 02 August 2017 at Cinnamon Grand which includes a panel discussion with some of Sri Lanka’s finest family business leaders across generations. Moderated by Gunasekera, the session will have Chairman Laugfs Holdings W.K.H. Wegapitiya, Managing Director Jetwing Travels Shiromal Cooray and CEO of SAIG and Orion Jeevan Gnanam as panelists.







Keynote speaker Ruwindhu Peries, Managing Director of STAX, will speak on insights from the 2017 family business survey findings. It is aimed at those second and third generation leaders who are at the helm of family businesses and who want to ensure an impactful transition in ownership and management. The conversation will evolve around planning and management for business continuity while eliciting best practice from family business leaders.