HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeFamily Businessback to Research & KnowledgeCarvajal: Building a holistic family enterpriseback to Family Business

Case Study

Carvajal: Building a holistic family enterprise

By Peter Vogel and Anouk Lavoie Orlick

7 pages

May 2024

Order this case study

Reference: IMD-7-2438

The Carvajal case is based on interviews with four family members and executives of Carvajal S.A., one of Latin America’s leading family businesses. The case focuses on how, over the span of 120 years, the Carvajal family built a holistic family enterprise to govern both its business and its family ownership structure. The system includes the typical governance attributes of a large family enterprise – including a family council, shareholders’ assembly and family constitution – and in addition, it puts special emphasis on entrepreneurship and social and economic welfare. Yet, with the family expanding in size and scattering geographically, the Carvajal family must continue to innovate and adapt their family enterprise model. The case explores the particular challenges related to family governance, ownership and CEO succession. It details how Carvajal established NextGen programs and fostered entrepreneurship as a “glue” to bind the family together. It also shows how Carvajal achieved collective impact by aligning the purpose of the business with the purpose of the family foundation, the family council and the wider family enterprise. From a broader perspective, the case illustrates how to manage family governance issues in a multi-generational family enterprise by understanding and applying the mechanisms that are available, and by maintaining a healthy balance between family leadership and independent governance.

Learning Objective

To explore how to solve complex family governance issues in multi-generational family businesses and master the structural tools that are available to help maintain coherence and unity.
To find a “glue” that will bind family members together and keep them interested in the family enterprise.
To discern how to achieve a healthy balance between family leadership and independent governance.
To observe how a purpose-led family enterprise focused on social and economic development can be built.
To analyze how mature family enterprises continue to grow and evolve.

Keywords

Family Business, Governance, Ownership, Family Office, Family Council, Family Constitution, Succession, Chief Executive Officer Selection, Board, Development, Education, Philanthropy, Entrepreneurship, Next Generation, Conflict Resolution, Decision Making, Environmental Social and Governance, Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility, Responsible Production

Settings

South America, Colombia
Carvajal, Manufacturing, Paper and Pulp Products, Manufacturing, Packaging and Containers, Consumer Goods, Furniture, Information Technology
120 years

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Keep reading

Article

Managing Multiple Role Identities - Family Enterprise

Family directors often struggle with concurrent and competing role identities that jeopardize objective decision-making, effective governance, and performance in family enterprises.

Family Business

By Alfredo De Massis, Cristina Bettinelli, Manisha Singal and John Davis

in I by IMD

19 February 2025

Article

Tolaram Family Enterprise - Building a Legacy

Tolaram's Mohan Vaswani and Sajen Aswani discuss the company's values-based system of meritocracy, the family's move to institutionalize the business, and their culture of giving.

Family Business

By Marleen Dieleman

in I by IMD

12 February 2025

Article

Tradition and innovation: the paradox powering family business

Tradition is defined as the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. Innovation is the process of changing something established by introducing new methods

Family Business

By Alfredo De Massis, Emanuela Rondi, Vittoria Magrelli and Francesco Debellis

in I by IMD

31 January 2025

Case Study

Sea2see: Seastainable vision

Entrepreneurship Family Business General Management Global Business Marketing Sustainability

By Benoit F. Leleux and Thomas Brochier

Case Study

Sheng Siong Supermarket in Singapore: A unique values-based advantage?

Founded by Lim Hock Chee in 1985, Sheng Siong has evolved from a humble grocery store into a leading supermarket chain in Singapore, renowned for its cost-effective pricing and commitment to customer satisfaction. Mr Lim’s unique philosophy, which...

Family Business Customer Centricity Leadership

By Marleen Dieleman, Yunfei Feng and Yu Jing Gan

Article

Lessons from a legacy: Keeping business and family in balance to create a multigenerational enterprise

Fourth-generation family member Bruce Grossman tells IMD’s Peter Vogel about his successes and failures in establishing structures to unify the family enterprise and the lessons he hopes the next generations will take from the experience.

Family Business Business Transformation

By Peter Vogel

in I by IMD

14 January 2025

Article

How to get your kids engaged in the entrepreneurial family galaxy

Family businesses hold a unique place in the economic and social landscape. They represent not just entrepreneurship but also heritage, values and a legacy passed down through generations.

Family Business Organizational Behavior Entrepreneurship

By Alfredo De Massis and Emanuela Rondi

in Belfast Telegraph

8 January 2025

Article

Osservatorio Family Office – Le competenze chiave per il futuro

Family Business Organizational Design

By Alfredo De Massis, Josip Kotlar, Luca Manelli and Emanuela Rondi

in Family Office Magazine

January 2025, no. 2, pp. 20-21

Article

The future of family businesses: Trends to watch in 2025 and beyond

Family businesses have long been the backbone of the global economy, contributing significantly to employment, innovation, and economic resilience. As we approach 2025 and beyond, family businesses must adapt to a range of emerging trends to stay ...

Family Business Entrepreneurship Leadership

By Alfredo De Massis and Emanuela Rondi

in Maddyness

30 December 2024

Article

Is Cain more able? A behavioral perspective on the relationship between family CEO birth order and family firms' CSR

We investigate family CEO birth order as an antecedent of family firms' CSR behavior. Despite psychology literature recognizing it as a key predictor of individual behavior, birth order has been largely neglected in management research. Drawing on...

Family Business Social Innovation Leadership

By Paola Rovelli, Michael Razen, Carlotta Benedetti, Nina Schweiger, Alfredo De Massis and Kurt Matzler

in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal

25 December 2024, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1530

Sea2see: Seastainable vision

By Benoit F. Leleux and Thomas Brochier
Case reference: IMD-7-2564 ©2024

Summary

BARCELONA, JANUARY 2023. What started in 2016 as a humble entrepreneurial attempt to contribute to a more sustainable future had turned into a solid eyewear brand present in major Western markets. François van den Abeele was even more excited by the rapid development of the Sea2see Foundation, which he set up in Ghana. But success brought its own new questions and issues. From the start, he had relied on the superb craftmanship and dedication of an Italian frame manufacturer. Over time that relationship had turned into a mutual dependency: He was now one of its major clients but, reciprocally, had developed a key supplier risk. What if something happened to that relationship? Should he develop a broader set of suppliers and, if so, how could that be done without antagonizing a great working relationship? Recycling very much set the stage for the brand’s sustainability claims, but it also took massive amounts of time to manage. As other companies started to develop their own fishing net recycling supply chains, did it still make sense to invest so much time in the upstream phase or should he pour his energy into his beloved brand? Finally, maybe it was also time to revisit the growth/profitability dilemma and open up the capital to increase the speed of growth, all for the benefit of the environment as impact fed on scale.

Reference IMD-7-2564

Organization Sea2see

Industry Consumer Goods, Optical Products

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Entrepreneurship

Family Business

General Management

Global Business

Marketing

Sustainability

Browse all topics

Sheng Siong Supermarket in Singapore: A unique values-based advantage?

By Marleen Dieleman Yunfei Feng and Yu Jing Gan
Case reference: IMD-7-2589 ©2025

Summary

Reference IMD-7-2589

Organization Sheng Siong Group

Industry Consumer Services, Retail

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Customer Centricity

Leadership

Browse all topics

Lessons from a legacy: Keeping business and family in balance to create a multigenerational enterprise

By Peter Vogel
in I by IMD 14 January 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Business Transformation

Browse all topics

How to get your kids engaged in the entrepreneurial family galaxy

By Alfredo De Massis and Emanuela Rondi
in Belfast Telegraph 8 January 2025

Summary

Family businesses hold a unique place in the economic and social landscape. They represent not just entrepreneurship but also heritage, values and a legacy passed down through generations.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Organizational Behavior

Entrepreneurship

Browse all topics

The future of family businesses: Trends to watch in 2025 and beyond

By Alfredo De Massis and Emanuela Rondi
in Maddyness 30 December 2024

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Entrepreneurship

Leadership

Browse all topics

Is Cain more able? A behavioral perspective on the relationship between family CEO birth order and family firms' CSR

By Paola Rovelli Michael Razen Carlotta Benedetti Nina Schweiger Alfredo De Massis and Kurt Matzler
in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 25 December 2024, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1530

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Social Innovation

Leadership

Browse all topics