Sub navigation
13.02.2012
UW/H Congress for Family Businesses
This year's Congress for Family Businesses, the largest and most renowned annual event of its kind in Europe, took place at Witten/Herdecke University from February 10 to 11, 2012. This time the focus was on the fascination of growth.
Matthias Baumhauer, Jasper Holler, Caroline Schürenkrämer, Konstantin Gerlach and Jan Beckmann as the orga team plus about one hundred student volunteers did their best to make this 2-day event a success. It was the 14th in a series of student-organized congresses for family businesses. Speakers from the business community and academia discussed issues and problems related specifically to family firms and possible solution scenarios.
The event was designed for the entire business family, spouses, potential successors and also external executives. Workshops with renowned business representatives addressed the specific needs and objectives of family firms and also included current economic developments.
Key topics
Growth is something we experience throughout our lives. As children we perceive growing as something to be desired. Nature demonstrates healthy growth as a biological force year after year. In the field of economics, the pursuit of growth also appears to be the ideal, or even only, method to ensure our future existence.
As the same time growth raises critical questions. Where does the pursuit of unlimited growth lead us? How does Europe plan to cope with the explosive growth in world population and the new economic powers? Must the entire concept of growth be reconsidered?
The 14th Congress for Family Businesses explored growth from the perspective of family firms. Apart from economic growth of a business, other topics were ways to handle increasing numbers of partners, and also personal growth - in the sense of individual development - of family members.