Letters: Generation gap

“Lessons from family feuds” by Bhupesh Bhandari (January 13) turns the spotlight on a topic that is critical to understanding Indian business — the benefits and pitfalls of family run enterprises. The internecine struggles at Apollo Tyres and Ranbaxy in the 1990s and the Samajwadi Party at the moment highlight the challenges that family run businesses and joint families have to grapple with as one generation hands over the baton to another. Generation gap may contribute to misunderstandings. There may be concerns that the progeny have not been fairly treated by the patriarch. The lesson from all of this is that the patriarch must keep an open mind, be ready to share authority with the next generation, and even concede that perhaps youngsters know better.

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