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Case Study

Ningbo Fotile Kitchenware

By Denise H. Kenyon-Rouvinez and Nan Li

4 pages

November 2015

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Reference: IMD-7-1667

In 2014, Ningbo Fotile Kitchenware (Fotile) Co., Ltd, a leader in China’s high-end built-in kitchen appliance market was ranked Number 1 by sales in the high-end kitchen appliance market for the tenth consecutive year. Company ownership was entirely in the hands of four Mao family members, founder Mao Lixiang, his wife Zhang Zhaodi, their son Zhongqun, and their daughter Xuefei. During the company’s crisis in 1995, Lixiang persuaded his son Zhongqun to abandon PhD study plans in the US and join the company to help save it. They accepted Zhongqun’s conditions that the company must reinvent itself, relocate from the contryside to a new district, and that, other than the three of them, no relatives would be allowed to hold management positions in the company. Zhongqun’s strategy was successful and resulted in the company’s rapid growth. Upon his father’s retirment in 2006, Zhongqun took over as chairman. By 2014, the company was still growing rapidly and ownership remained unchanged. The family was bent on keeping the business 100% family-owned. In fact, Zhongqun aimed to build Fotile into a 500-year old company rather than a Fortune 500 company.

Learning Objective

This case sets the scene for a discussion on combining succession with reinventing the business. It also serves for a debate on whether siblings should work in the same family business or not.

Keywords

Kitchen Manufacturer, Family Business, Family Ownership, Family Continuity, Family Values, Family Succession

Settings

Asia, China
Ningbo Fotile Kitchen Ware, Consumer Goods, Home Appliances
1995-2014

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

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The Handtmann case examines the co-CEO leadership model in the context of family business. Based on interviews with three key executives – the co-CEOs and the President of the Advisory Board – the case focuses on how Handtmann handled the leadership transition to the next generation. In Case B of "Co-CEOs at Handtmann: Can the Family Business be led in Tandem?" the focus shifts to the next generation. Markus Handtmann and Valentin Ulrich, cousins from the fifth generation of the founding family, have been appointed as co-CEOs. They must now learn to work together in tandem. The president of the advisory board, who is the father and uncle of the new CEOs, respectively, has stepped down from leading the company and now embraces a supporting role. Case B explores strategies for designing effective co-leadership partnerships. It also highlights the importance of complementarity in successful tandems. Lastly, the case presents the foundational elements that enable co-CEOs to succeed in family firms.

Reference IMD-2656

Organization Handtmann Group

Industry Construction and Engineering, Industrial Engineering;Manufacturing, Machinery

Available Languages English

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