Adelaide Thinkers in Residence public lecture

The Future of Family Business in South Australia

With Dr Dennis Jaffe

Monday 20 August 2007: Adelaide Town Hall

Co-presented by Adelaide Thinkers in Residence and The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at UniSA

Unedited audio transcript (16Mb mp3 format)

There are more than 50,000 family businesses in South Australia, yet only 30% of these will survive into a second generation.  Dr Dennis Jaffe is a world-recognised leader in the field of family business. 

Dennis has helped families all over the world manage the personal and organisational issues that lead to the successful and fulfilling transfer of business, wealth, values, commitments and legacies between organisations.

He believes that these are largely human, not financial or legal, challenges.  They are best addressed by creating clear agreements, effective structures and clear communication within a family, and with its employees and other stakeholders.  He strives to work with a family to find their own individual solution to their unique challenges.

While in Adelaide, Dr Jaffe will work with business, government, education and the community, focusing on the following objectives:

• Increase the recognition, understanding and engagement of government, non-government, business, education and community stakeholders, about the economic and cultural importance of family business
• Identify South Australia’s current and potential strengths in family business and strategies and processes for effective business transfer, succession planning and the preparation of the next generation for leadership
• Provide advice on family business in South Australia which:
  • considers work-life balance
  • informs and defines directions for education, research and training
  • sustains family businesses in the state’s vulnerable regions
  • strengthens data collection systems
  • takes account international leading practice
• Provide guidance on future planning and research directions for the State in the context of South Australia’s Strategic Plan 2007
• Promote South Australia as an hospitable location for family business

Additional information on the Adelaide Thinkers in Residence program with Dennis Jaffe may be found on the Thinkers web site.

While the views presented by speakers within the Hawke Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia or The Hawke Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: strengthening our democracy – valuing our cultural diversity – and building our future