家族企業(yè)中性別歧視減弱

Under Japanese civil code, business families with no son to carry on the family name can turn to an unusual solution: adopt one. Around 10 per cent of business-owning families with no male heir adopt a son, says Kazunori Kaneko of the consultancy Business Succession Center.

按照日本民法，沒有男性繼承人來傳承家族姓氏的經(jīng)商家族可以另辟蹊徑：收養(yǎng)一子。在咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)“企業(yè)繼承中心”(Business Succession Center)任職的Kazunori Kaneko稱，在沒有男性繼承人的經(jīng)商家族中，約有10%選擇收養(yǎng)一子。

Japan is not the only country where family businesses will go to some lengths to hand over control of the company to a man. Nor is it the only country where family business leaders can be determined to hand over to someone who will continue the family name, although this practice is not often seen today.

并非只有日本的家族企業(yè)會(huì)盡可能地確保將企業(yè)掌門人之位傳給男性。另外，也并非只有日本的家族企業(yè)掌門人會(huì)一門心思要傳位給一個(gè)能夠延續(xù)家族姓氏的繼承人——雖然這種情況如今并不常見。

“No Chinese man would want to change his name,” says Annie Koh, professor of finance at Singapore Management University. “But in the past few years because of the one-child policy in China, if the family firm is fixated with their own surname, in rare cases you have found a man who will change his name.”

“沒有哪個(gè)中國男人愿意改姓，”新加坡管理大學(xué)(Singapore Management University)的教授許茵妮(Annie Koh)說。“但在過去幾年，由于中國的獨(dú)生子女政策，倘若家族企業(yè)執(zhí)著于延續(xù)其姓氏，在個(gè)別情況下，你可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)某位男士改姓。”

That desire to preserve the family name might have been one factor that has prevented women from rising to the top of family businesses in some countries, but experts say other explanations for historical discrimination have been even harder to overcome.

延續(xù)家族姓氏的愿望，可能阻礙了一些國家的女性成為家族企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，但專家們表示，導(dǎo)致這種歷史性歧視的另外一些因素更加難以克服。

Sometimes the barriers have been legal. In what was then West Germany, for example, married women only gained the right to work without their husband’s permission in 1977, says Dominique Otten-Pappas, senior research fellow and assistant professor of German family businesses at the University of Witten/Herdecke.

這些阻礙有時(shí)是合法的。比如以前的西德，只有到了1977年，已婚婦女才無須丈夫允許就能出去工作，維藤/黑爾德克大學(xué)(University of Witten/Herdecke)研究德國家族企業(yè)的高級(jí)研究員兼助理教授多米尼克•奧滕-帕帕斯(Dominique Otten-Pappas)說。

“Before that, a husband could forbid his wife from working and this had repercussions for family businesses,” she says.

“在那之前，丈夫可以禁止妻子工作，這對(duì)家族企業(yè)造成了不良影響，”她說。

Even today, resistance to women inheriting the family business persists. “Probably some of the males in my generation see it as a given that it is their right to succeed,” a third-generation female respondent from New Zealand told researchers for PwC’s 2016 Next Generation survey, which examined the views of the next generation of family business leaders and included a special section entitled: The Female Perspective.

即使在今天，女性繼承家族企業(yè)依然面臨阻力。在普華永道(PwC) 2016年題為《下一代》(Next Generation)的調(diào)查中，一位受訪的新西蘭女性第三代繼承人對(duì)研究者表示：“我這代人中的一些男士很可能認(rèn)為，繼承權(quán)必然是屬于他們的。”這項(xiàng)調(diào)查考察了家族企業(yè)下一代領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的觀點(diǎn)，并包含一個(gè)特別章節(jié)，標(biāo)題為：女性視角(The Female Perspective)。

Nevertheless, such attitudes appear to the shifting. In the same PwC survey, 30 per cent of the women interviewed had a seat on the board (in the US only about 21 per cent of board seats at S&P 500 are held by women, according to Catalyst, a pressure group that works to improve representation of women in the workplace). And more than 50 per cent of the women interviewed did not think their gender would be a barrier to them running the family business, according to the 2016 survey.

然而，這種態(tài)度似乎正在轉(zhuǎn)變。在普華永道的這份調(diào)查中，30%的女性受訪者是董事會(huì)成員(致力于推進(jìn)職場(chǎng)性別平等的組織Catalyst稱，在美國標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾500(S&P 500)成分股企業(yè)中，只有21%的董事會(huì)職位由女性占據(jù))。普華永道2016年的那項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，超過50%的女性受訪者不認(rèn)為自己的性別會(huì)妨礙她們經(jīng)營家族企業(yè)。

In addition to the shifting attitudes towards women in the workforce, demographics are playing a role, with the global trend towards having fewer children pushing up the number of women leading family businesses.

除了職場(chǎng)中人們對(duì)女性的態(tài)度有所轉(zhuǎn)變外，人口統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)也在發(fā)生作用，全球少子化趨勢(shì)推動(dòng)了家族企業(yè)女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者數(shù)量的提升。

China is an extreme example of this. The decades in which limits were placed on childbirth have left families with little choice. “Because of the one-child policy, you’re seeing more China family firms willing to have the daughter take over,” says Prof Koh.

中國是這方面的一個(gè)極端例子。幾十年的計(jì)劃生育令許多家族別無選擇。“由于獨(dú)生子女政策，人們看到更多的中國家族企業(yè)同意讓女兒接班，”許教授說。

Sian Steele, head of PwC’s family business group in the UK, sees the growing desire to become more strategic as a powerful driver of increased gender diversity in the leadership of family businesses. “There’s a strong emphasis on professionalising their governance, making sure they have a clear strategy and that the succession plan is based on skills and not gender,” she says.

普華永道英國家族企業(yè)團(tuán)隊(duì)的負(fù)責(zé)人沙恩•斯蒂爾(Sian Steele)認(rèn)為，人們希望企業(yè)更具戰(zhàn)略性，這有力地推動(dòng)了家族企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的性別均衡。“治理的專業(yè)性很受重視，要確保領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者有清晰的戰(zhàn)略，且繼承人的選拔取決于能力而不是性別，”她說。

Whether or not it involves relatives, this approach appears to be favouring senior level gender diversity in family businesses. In EY’s 2017 Women in leadership report, 70 per cent of family businesses were considering a woman for their next chief executive and 30 per cent were “strongly considering” this.

不管沒有親緣關(guān)系，這種做法似乎都有利于實(shí)現(xiàn)家族企業(yè)高層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人性別的均衡。2017年安永(EY)關(guān)于女性領(lǐng)袖的報(bào)告顯示，70%的家族企業(yè)正在考慮讓一位女性擔(dān)任下一任首席執(zhí)行官，且30%的企業(yè)表示它們?cè)?ldquo;認(rèn)真考慮”這樣做。

In many parts of the world, growing access to education for women and girls has made a difference, says Fiona Moore, a professor at the school of management at Royal Holloway, University of London. “It means you have women who are better educated, better able to take over the business and possibly more assertive.”

在世界許多地方，婦女和女童有更多機(jī)會(huì)接受教育，這已帶來改變，倫敦大學(xué)(University of London)皇家霍洛威管理學(xué)院(school of management at Royal Holloway)教授菲奧娜•摩爾(Fiona Moore)說。“這意味著現(xiàn)在的女性受過更好的教育，能夠更好地接班，可能還更有決斷力。”

Some see increased female leadership as a positive development for family businesses. “It dramatically increases family talent pools, helps with succession planning and can make firms more sustainable,” says Adam Rowse, head of business banking at Barclays. “It also helps avoid situations where a son feels a particular obligation to work in the family firm when they would prefer another career.”

一些人認(rèn)為女性領(lǐng)袖的增加對(duì)家族企業(yè)有積極影響。“這極大地?cái)U(kuò)充了家族的人才儲(chǔ)備，有助于繼承人的安排，也能令公司更久地傳承下去，”巴克萊(Barclays)商業(yè)銀行業(yè)主管亞當(dāng)•羅斯(Adam Rowse)說。“這也避免了那種情況——兒子感到有義務(wù)效力于家族企業(yè)，但他真正感興趣的其實(shí)是其他的事情。”

Ms Steele believes the benefits could extend beyond the sector itself. “In 10 to 15 years, you could see some significant family businesses being led by women,” she says. “That’s a great opportunity to create role models.”

斯蒂爾認(rèn)為由此帶來的好處也許不僅僅限于家族企業(yè)。“在今后的10年到15年，你將看到一些由女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的重要家族企業(yè)，”她說。“這是創(chuàng)建女性楷模的大好時(shí)機(jī)。”