The names in the following are fictitious.
Cha has been a well-established Japanese family. They own and operate a group of academic institutions, high-school, cram school, and college, all of them are under their business arm. Victor (89) is the founder, and the chairman of the group. Abe, Victor’s first son (62) committed suicide due to the power harassment made by Victor over the group’s compliance issues. Max, Abe’s son, Victor’s grand-son, sued Victor over the harassment and asked the damage of 1 mil USD.
The case involves the following issues which have often been found in family business in Japan.
1 The founder emperor exiled the successor
2 The business chased only the growth
3 The philosophy was missing
4 The business collapses internally
1 The founder emperor exiled the successor
It is not fair to assess which side is the victim and which is the offender, I assume maybe both are victims as well as the offenders at the same time. However, looking at the fact, the emperor physically kicked out the successor anyway. In other words, the successor disappeared in the least desired way. This is the terrible situation that most of family businesses must avoid.
2 The business chased only the growth
The school send students to so-called prestigious universities in Japan through tough entrance examinations. Cha school had been very much proud of themselves over their excellent programs. They also have recorded outstanding track records in terms of sports activities. Victor got obsessed with commanding their soldiers and keeping the invincible legend in academic field. This eventually lead to create an empire where the charismatic leader always executes his full power.
3 The philosophy was missing
Even though they raised noble and supreme missions, they have lost the business philosophy in their actual operation. The uncovered conflicts had easily been assumed in the school administrative office. If they ever thought about the actual implementation of their academic visions and plans, they would not have created such a tragedy. It looks really hard for them to recover their fame as I won’t send my children to that school.
4 The business collapses internally
Most of the cases, business grows through M&A however, due to the excess size, the fundamental structure would not sustain the whole body. Cha family and academic institution had chased their business growth so rapidly and failed to manage in building up their administrative structure.
Mr. Inamori, Kyocera’s chairman, said the business body would never grow larger than top’s personality. The top’s competence as a leader caps the entity’s growth.
As the charismatic leader in educational industry, Victor had to suffer the most painful final stage not only as the teaching authority but also as a human.
Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com
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- Tags
- collapse, dictator, empire, exile, family business Japan, growth, M&A, phylosophy
