1) Narrow broad definition. 90 (ou 19) 50%. Beaucoup de dfinitions.

De je ne sais pas qui. Deux critres : Ownership + governance.

- +50% de titutalirt familiale avec exception pour entreprise publique 25%.
- one family member should be involved in management, CEO, board directors.
- Est-ce que lon voit ce business comme un family business ? Autre critre.
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2) Deux aspects :
- Governance of the business :
- Governance of the family : Its unique. Not always beneficial, can be harmfull.
Not quite easy. The more complexe the family becomes (de plus en plus
denfants, de personnes dedans), the more complexe the structure will be. On
peut buy out certains membres de la famille pour quil reste une hirarchie claire.
Ou faire en sorte que chacun soit impliqu.
6) What is the role of the agency theory within the corporate governance of companies and
specifically in Family Businesses?

Agency theory : The most frequently used theory in FB. Its a management
theory.
Owners hire people to run the company, managers. Owners dont have full
informations, but they are supposed to control managers.
Managers know more than the owners. Can you full trust each other ? Can be
harmfull, costy if not efficient.
Owners may say : You can link your wage to the company profit. So everyones
happy because it closes the gap between owners and managers. Everyone has
interests in making company grow and be viable.
Some people said 20 years ago that owners and managers are the same people.
So FB are very efficient, they dont have cost from [].
But others said thats not because owners and managers are the same that you
cant have agency problem, you can have problems inside the owners and
managers. Ex. : Someone old who wanna rule for 20 years more even though
hes outdated..
(Agency cost ?)
Ex. Agency problems between owners themself : Imaginons que lon soit 5, un
50% et les 4 autres ont 12,5%. Celui 50% peut contrler les autres et peut faire
des choses que les autres ne veulent pas. You can find it in family business. A lot
of people have some ownership but are kinda out of that family business, so they
dont know whats going on in the family business.
Agency theory is still used today, but its a little bit twisted inside the FB.
7) Do you think the stewardship theory is a relevant alternative to the agency theory? Which one
has your preference?

Everyone is in a company for your own interests Prmisse de lagency

company.
Dans les FB, on na pas que des gens qui ne pensent qu leurs intrts, il y a
aussi des liens familiaux, ils peuvent sunir et ne pas penser que pour eux, mais
aussi penser pour les autres.
Les gens ne se comportent pas que comme des agents (qui ne pensent qu
eux), mais pensent aussi aux autres Thorie de stewardship.
Agency theory is only about the money, the wealth maximalisation.
Stewardship theory can be more about environment, about the family. Ex. : The
goal is not the wealth maximalisation, but the wealth of the family, including the
family business.
The 2 theories are more complements. You need the 2 theories to explain the FB.
They completes each other. Les deux sont prsentes lintrieur de la thorie.

3) How, concretely, is applied the shareholder information principle outlined in the "Code
Buysse"? Is it applied by many Family Businesses and do you have any noticeable example?

[] Impliquer les gens. Si on ne veut pas les gens, on les paie out. Sinon, on les
garde et on fait avec, sans leur cacher des infos, on les informe, on les implique.
4) How, concretely, is applied the succession outlined in the "Code Buysse"? Is it applied by many
Family Businesses in Belgium and do you have any noticeable example?

Better talk soon than late, because it takes time to develop, in a psychological
way. Let yourself be guided in that process, try to find people who can help you.
If you transfer the family company youve worked for 40 years (in the ownership
and the management), it may be hard to let it go.
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8) Do you believe that family charters are essential for Family Businesses? which informations
and rules are, following your opinion, essentials in the content of a family charter ?

Family charters are often seen as an anti-conflict document, to avoid conflits in

the future. Not every FB needs a charter. Charter are written by the family
shareholders , do they have to write themselves all thoses conflits that would
probably not happy ? Family business are sometimes composed of several
branches, which is a reason why we should start thinking about making a charter.
The process in developping the charter is more important than the end
document. You have to start talking about issues, who could be the owners, can
we call a manager, minimum age, certain degree, ?
Si on est 4 enfants et aucun nest encore dans la socit, on fait une chartre sur
qui va pouvoir entrer dans la socit et comment.

SI on est 4 enfants et quune est dj rentre dans la socit, la chartre est faite
plus tard, les parents vont rflchir en se disant quune est dj rentre, mais
que 3 en plus seraient trop, donc seulement un autre rentrera. Mais chacun des 4
enfants va regarder a de faon personnelle et va se dire que celle dj rentre,
sans des conditions prcises (puisque la chartre na pas t crite), a t
prfre.
On ne peut pas faire rentrer tout le monde dans la famille, cest pourquoi on met
des conditions au sein de cette chartre. Dans la premire gnration, ils ne sont
peut-tre que 4-5, mais la gnration suivante, sils sont 20, cest rapidement
ingrable.
Ce quil voit gnralement dans des compagnies familiales qui ont dj des
complications avec pas mal downers, car pas de chartre, de governance
structure.
Certains ne savent pas ce quest une chartre, dautres nen ont pas besoin parce
que leur structure familiale au sein dune entreprise (petite) est suffisamment
simple.
Il y a parfois des tensions entre frres et surs, tu sais que si tu donnes 25% aux
4 enfants, tu sais quil y aura des problmes. Et donc, on fixe des rgles
pralablement au transfert de proprit, des conditions de comment on peut
entrer.
Costs involved to make a chartrer. The big companies are often the more
complicated in the family structure. Bu not only big companies have family
chartrer.
Ex. : Boss paints.
9) The same question applies for family forums : which topics should be, following your opinion,
discussed in family forums?
Family forum is good in terms of psychological dividend.
You need a family forum when you have aleady a lot of owners.
A chartrer can be usefull quand il y a dj pas mal denfants, qui ne sont pas encore
propritaires. Cest une forme dminage pralable, pour viter les soucis qui arriveraient
lavenir si on laissait aller.
[] Question :
The more you have corporate governance, le plus chacun sait ce quil a comme rle bien dlimit,
on essaie de handle la diversit des gens au sein dune famille.
xLe must est une bonne information. A un meeting familial, personne ne sait ce que lautre veut, il
faut que chacun sache ce que lautre veut (et de prfrence, pas que a passe par des canaux
qui risquent de dformer linformation (bouche oreille sur bouche oreille).
Frres et surs doivent parler de leurs problmes les plus sensibles ds le dpart, pas ne faire
que du blabla.Si on avoid it, a reviendra.

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