Tag Archives: Family Business

The Family Business Case Competition, Burlington Vermont

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It snowed and snowed!

Assembling our team in Vermont had been a challenge (Getting to Vermont).  The weather and flight delays meant our team weren’t able to get together to do their final preparations until less than 24 hours before their first presentation.

When I landed in LA, I found our WhatsApp phone group for our team had been in overdrive. One of our team members hadn’t even left Adelaide and found his flight was cancelled. He discovered it by accident and had to hurriedly rebook.

Church Street Burlington

Then, around lunchtime on my first full day in Burlington, WhatsApp lit up again as another team member got caught in the bedlam that is the San Francisco customs hall and missed her connection. The impact was a delay of more than 24 hours and a very rattled team member. Not an ideal start.

Fortunately, being in the US meant I could chat with her as she worked through options to get to Burlington.

Eventually, and much later than planned, she, our last team member, arrived. I met her at the hotel reception, or the card table, as we affectionately referred to it (The hotel was being renovated, and reception was crammed in next to a lift, pretty much on a card table) and helped her settle. By that time, it was less than 24 hours until the delivery of our first case presentation in the competition. It was far from ideal preparation; however, with the team all in the same room, they could at least put the finishing touches on their first presentation. Unlike subsequent cases, they”d had a week to prepare so. Subsequent presentations were given to the team just 4 hours before they were to present. Continue reading →

Getting to Burlington, Vermont

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As summer finally came to Adelaide, I was setting myself for a predawn flight to Sydney before flying to Los Angeles and then onto Charlotte and finally Burlington, Vermont, my destination for the Schlessinger Grossman Family Business Competition, where I was coaching a team of MBA students from Adelaide University.

This trip was going to confound my basic mantra of Slow Travel. I was flying out early  on a Sunday and returning 9 days later with a collective 3 plus days of travel.

Step one was preparing to travel to the other side of the world where the weather is completely different. It’s a challenge to get your head in the mind set  of a freezing cold winter when it’s quite the opposite where you are.

How to pack, what to pack? Nothing too hot for my travel as planes are notoriously warm, but with the knowledge that when I arrive in Burlington, it will likely be freezing. Marino wool socks, my Scarpa Boots, jeans and trusty Ralph Lauren jacket. In my carry-on were my Adel Uni polar fleece, my gloves and beanie. My beanie was fleece-lined.

I booked Premium Economy for the Sydney – LA and return leg and was lucky to get an upgrade to Business for the Adel – Syd leg. It meant an extra carry-on allowance but I always take the minimum on to the plane. I have luggage in the hold so an extra piece of carry on is just a hassle.  I say this because I am paranoid about having my carry-on near. Using my backpack means that I can either store it directly overhead or under the seat in front. I know I could get more in a roll-on bag, but as I was to see more than once on my flights, roll-ons were required to be stowed and not accessible during the flight. That would have done my head in!

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Shut Up and Write

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My university along with many others has adopted the concept of “Shut up and Write” where there are designated times that students commit to just writing. It’s a great way to simply get on with it. 

This is something I’ve needed to do in recent weeks. It’s all been a little disjointed lately with too many other things getting in the way of my thesis. In particular my time has been spent dealing with one last work assignment that has involved a considerable amount of time and travel, starting to plan our trip, and marking. However, over the last week I’ve made real progress on my thesis.  Even while traveling it’s been possible to get stuff done. That along with time at Uni, discussions with my supervisor and time at my desk , my thesis is really progressing.

I’ve largely completed my interviews of participants and had most of the interviews transcribed. I have a couple more interviews over the next week or so and then that task will be completed. It’s been a really interesting process made so much better by the locations, topic and the occasional opportunity to sample the product. This was a good topic to pick!

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I’ve revisited my Literature Review. I wrote it last year as part of my course work and as a result it has needed to be refined to take account of my topic. I revisited my definitions again yesterday after a mild panic about whether they were still appropriate having regard to my data. The good news is that they seem OK and it should not need a major rewrite to integrate the subject matter of family wine businesses into it.

I’ve also delved into the history of wine. Its roots in The Middle East, the importance of religion and trade to its progress, and in an Australian context its rocky beginnings as early as “The First Fleet”. The decision to focus on family wine businesses has been fascinating.  Such a rich history in far away places as well as in my backyard, with the region I am focussing upon a region located literally 20 minutes from my home. South Australia has a rich wine heritage, however my focus is on a newer region which will hopefully make my research contemporary and relevant. 

With the majority of the interviews completed its been possible to start the data analysis process. This has involved checking and and rereading transcripts, identifying “rich description” and an early focus on potential themes. It’s both daunting and exciting. My research is really starting to take shape.

As well as being enthusiastic about the topic some early and serious discussion about starting my PhD has provided focus and purpose. My Honours Research is like an apprenticeship or a very long job interview. The good news is that my enthusiasm doesn’t seem to be waning. It’s all reinforced the need for me to do well in my Honours so the best opportunities are fully available to me next year.