Monthly Archives: March 2021

Get to know Christiane Schloderer, IDN UAE Ambassador

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Get to know Christiane Schloderer, IDN UAE Ambassador

Christiane Schloderer is our newly appointed IDN Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates.

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Christiane Schloderer. I am IDP-C 16 and very happy and honoured to join the IDN Ambassador group.

Originally from Germany, I have been based in the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh) since 2008. I am a non-executive director to Rolaco Group in Saudi Arabia, a mid-cap family business. In December 2020, I was “promoted” to being the chairwomen of GISAD, the German International School Abu Dhabi. The transition from board member to chair is challenging but comes with great learning opportunities.

Since 2016 I run Growth Partners, consulting mid-sized & family businesses and larger startups in building scalable businesses, particularly financially – often in interim CFO roles. Governance is a large topic for most of them. Prior to that, I was CFO for Nokia’s Joint Venture in Saudi Arabia and have worked in various corporate finance roles in Nokia Networks. I hold a doctoral degree from the German Armed Forces University in innovation and change management.

Pre-kids, I enjoyed hiking, horse riding, scuba diving and travelling. These days, I spend my leisure time with my two daughters (3 and 5) on playgrounds, the pool and the beach, enjoying the wonderful winter climate in Abu Dhabi.

What are you planning to do to engage with members in your location?

I had the pleasure to connect already with a few UAE IDN members and look forward to (re-) connecting the IDN members with each other and identifying subjects of interest. I hope we can build a small group of active members to jointly organize activities.

Leveraging on the INSEAD Abu Dhabi campus would be a great opportunity to organize faculty engagements and get-togethers (Covid permitting, of course).

Family governance, startup-governance and financial service governance are certainly high up on the list of topics.

Where will you fly to when you get on a plane next (and why)?

With currently 10 days quarantine requirements when re-entering Abu Dhabi, spontaneous trips have not been possible for the last year. All business trips have been replaced largely by online meetings. So, the first trip will be to see my parents in Germany and next, a proper vacation to a sunny island with my husband and our daughters.

 

If you are an IDN member in the UAE, please do reach out to Christiane.

Get to know Domingo Armengol, IDN Spain Ambassador

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Get to know Domingo Armengol, IDN Spain Ambassador

Domingo Armengol is our newly appointed IDN Ambassador in Spain.

Tell us about yourself.

I am 55 years old, married, have two children aged 22 and 19, and am working and living in Madrid, Spain.

As a corporate lawyer, I’ve developed the last 20 years of my professional career as secretary of the board and corporate secretary of different companies, always trying to create and promote good corporate governance of the companies and the market.

In my professional career and personal life, I’ve always wanted to be linked to the international environment, which has allowed me to meet new people and cultures and expand my experiences and skills (IDP was a great example).

I’m passionate about mountain sports, travelling and culture.

What are you planning to do to engage with members in your location?

First of all, I plan to get to know them and try to get to know each other, find out what their main interest and goals are, and try to form a community of IDPs.

For that purpose, and considering our current situation, I think we should set a virtual meeting to give the chance to talk and set our common goals and subsequent actions.

As a next step think it will be very positive to bring together the members with people of interest to open the possibility to share and learn about matters of interest for directors or new tendencies in governance (academics, directors, headhunters, etc.).

This interaction could also help that the IDP-C will be known in the market, put it in value in Spain, and open opportunities to the members for future positions in boards.

Where will you fly to when you get on a plane next (and why)?

I hope I’ll be able to fly to Glasgow, Scotland, where my daughter is studying for her university degree, to visit her and to travel together around Scotland (a plan that has I’ve delayed from early 2020).

 

If you are an IDN member in Spain, please do reach out to Domingo.

 

As told to Karen Loon IDP-C, IDN Board Member

Fit for Generations: How to Create & Lead a Family Business Board

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Fit for Generations: How to Create & Lead a Family Business Board

Serving on a family business board is a curated balance between the past, present, and future.  It involves dedicated involvement from the board, the family and multiple stakeholders. 

By Karen Loon, IDP-C and IDN Board Member

Family firms, which are the majority of global companies and account for 70% of the global GDP and 60% of global employment, are a crucial driver of international business and growth.  Their sustained long-term value creation is essential for the global economy as a whole.

However, family firms’ long-term success is not given, and it is not an easy task to succeed across multiple generations. There are many complexities involved when ownership, management, and family roles overlap with less clear distinctions between them and multiple, conflicting agendas.

Family business boards can play an instrumental role in aligning family businesses successfully for the future.  However, it can be a balancing act for non-family board members/ chairs, particularly navigating the complex landscape of legacy, interests, power, and the constant need for change and renewal.

INSEAD Directors Network (“IDN”) members recently had the opportunity to learn how to successfully develop and manage family business boards as vehicles for successful governance and leadership with impact across generations in a webinar held on 8 March 2021.  The speakers included:

  • Martin Roll – Distinguished Fellow (family business) and Entrepreneur in Residence, INSEAD
  • Christian Sievert, Non-Executive Director (“NED”) and Advisor
  • Marina Niforos IDP-C, IDN France Ambassador, NED and Advisor

The webinar was facilitated by Liselotte Engstam IDP-C, with support from Hagen Schweinitz IDP-C, both IDN board members.

How to create and lead a family business board

Download Martin Roll’s presentation (PDF)

Martin Roll shared his perspectives on how to create and lead a family business board.  He highlighted that the overlap between family, ownership, and business interests increases the complexity and emotions between different parties.

“As a board member of the family firm, you will find yourself navigating between family issues, owner issues and business issues, where maybe in non-family firms, it’s a little clearer” said Martin who highlighted that this complexity increases emotions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Martin Roll

Having a successful family business strategy is dependent on clear roles, responsibilities and “guardrails” between family, ownership, and business to drive sustained success.  Key challenges which the strategy needs to address to align family businesses and inter-generational interests include family, ownership, business portfolio, family office, and impact.

Martin shared that the dilemmas in balancing business and family are paradoxical.

“What are family firms generally are interested in, first of all, they want to grow in the long-term perspective, but at the same time you also want that kind of family harmony and welfare” – Martin Roll.

Having an appropriate family business governance structure is essential.  Traits of effective family business board members include:

  • Balance past, present and future – understanding the legacy of the family.
  • Proximity to family owners but keep integrity.
  • Succession and ownership are constant concerns.
  • Beware of cultural differences.

Experiences and perspectives on family business boards

Christian Sievert and Marina Niforos shared their personal experiences and perspectives on family business boards from an ownership, advisor, and NED perspective.

They noted that the benefits of family businesses include having long term perspectives and commitment; having strong family/company values as a core asset; and strong financial performance.

“Most families have some core values that you know have been the foundation for starting the company, and that are really a strength that can be used when recruiting, retaining and developing, especially good employees” said Christian.

Challenges for independent directors are:

  • Managing complexity – Navigating higher levels of complexity, emotions, and boundaries, especially if there are contentious areas and different loyalties. Also, maintaining independence can be difficult for independent directors.

“It’s also difficult to manage your own emotional charge, because in the beginning when you come in as an outsider, you have a lot of interest to develop relationships so that you can actually have this sort of capital of trust with the family.  But the closer you get, the more difficult it is to exercise your fundamental role on the board, which is a challenge as an independent. So, in a sense, yes, that is a paradox, and you have to manage that – it’s not an easy job” – Marina Niforos.

  • The informality of family businesses – Having clarity of the board’s decision-making processes and independence. Examples of areas where family businesses can be better are having a clear business plan.
  • Difficulties of dealing with “elephants in the room” where issues cross the boundaries between family, business, and ownership.  More sensitive matters include succession, remuneration, legacy business models/having a sense of urgency, and innovation and renewal.

Conclusion

Serving on a family business board is a curated balance between the past, present, and future.  It involves dedicated involvement from the board, the family and multiple stakeholders.  Martin Roll concluded the webinar with the following observations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Family business NEDs can be critical for long-term success by balancing complex business, family and governance issues.
  2. Navigate carefully and with integrity between emotions, internal conflicts, power dynamics, inter-generational views, and cultural differences.
  3. Be a catalyst for change and bring outside inspiration from other ownership models (private equity, venture capital, institutional, foundation) and governance structures.

 

INSEAD Directors Network (“IDN”) – An INSEAD Global Club of International Board Directors

Our Mission is to foster excellent Corporate Governance through networking, communication and self-improvement. IDN has 1,500 members from 80 countries, all Alumni from different INSEAD graduations as MBA, EMBA, GEMBA, and IDP-C. We meet in live IDN webinars and meet-ups arranged by our IDN Ambassadors based in 25 countries. Our IDN website holds valuable corporate governance knowledge in our IDN blog, and we share insights also to our LinkedIn and Twitter  followers. We highlight our member through quarterly sharing of their new board appointments, and once a year we give out IDN Awards to prominent board accomplishments. We provide a peer-to-peer mentoring and board vacancy service and we come together two times per year at the INSEAD Directors Forum arranged by ICGC. We also engage with ICGC on joint research.

 

INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre (“ICGC”)

Established in 2010, the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre (ICGC) has been actively engaged in making a distinctive contribution to the knowledge and practice of corporate governance. The ICGC harnesses faculty expertise across multiple disciplines to teach and research on the challenges of boards of directors in an international context and to foster a global dialogue on governance issues with the ultimate goal to develop boards for high-performance governance. Visit ICGC website: https://www.insead.edu/centres/corporate-governance

Get to know Johan de Wit, IDN China Ambassador

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Get to know Johan de Wit, IDN China Ambassador

Johan de Wit is our newly appointed IDN Ambassador in China.  

Tell us about yourself?

In 1986, I started my career at Buck Consultants International, and from 1987-1989, I served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Dutch Navy. In 1989, I joined Nationale-Nederlanden, which became part of ING Group in 1991, where I started my career in life insurance and asset management (corporate & retail). In 2007, I moved to the banking side of ING Group.

In the Netherlands, I held various commercial and management roles in Corporate Pensions at Nationale-Nederlanden. In 1997, I left the Netherlands and worked in Mexico (CFO AFORE Bital at Banco Bital), Chile (Commercial Director ING Life), back to the Netherlands (Project Manager restructuring Head Office), Japan (President/CEO ING Life, Chairman ING Mutual Funds), UK (CEO ING Direct UK), and Turkey (Head of Retail ING Bank Turkey). Since 2013, I have been based in China, where I am seconded by ING Group to Bank of Beijing as Executive Director & Vice President.

I have a Doctoral Degree in Geography from the University of Utrecht and two Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees (Erasmus University, Rotterdam and Rochester University/ Simon Graduate School, USA). I also completed the Harvard Business School General Manager Program and the INSEAD International Director Programme (“IDP”). I am a Member of The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.

My wife and my three teenage daughters live with me in Beijing.

What are you planning to do to engage with members in your location?

Regarding my new role as IDP Ambassador for China, the IDP network in China is very small. I hope to be able to establish cooperation with the INSEAD China National Alumni Association and explore how we can promote the IDP programme in the large market.

Where will you fly to when you get on a plane next (and why)?

Regarding my next travel, as COVID has been well under control in China for almost one year, travelling within China is easy and common but going abroad is still (practically) not possible.

On my next trip abroad, I will certainly first fly to California to see my family whom I have not seen for a long time!

 

If you are an IDN member in China, please do reach out to Johan.

 

 

How having a board mentor supports lifelong learning

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How having a board mentor supports lifelong learning

As told to Karen Loon, IDP-C and IDN Board Member.

“Never hesitate to ask for guidance, empathy, advice and support” – Virginia Brumby Ferreira

Virginia Brumby Ferreira MBA’09J, a recent mentee in the 2020 INSEAD Directors Network (“IDN”) INsights Director Mentoring Programme is a typical INSEAD MBA.  After completing her MBA, she became an entrepreneur, leader, and board director.

“In true INSEAD spirit, I changed absolutely everything post-INSEAD: I moved to a new country, switched sector, and became an entrepreneur for the first time – in fact, the business I set up was my INSEAD MBA project!  A decade later, after the most challenging, fulfilling (and fun!) decade of my life, I am still running that same company. None of it would have been possible without my incredibly supportive INSEAD friends and network”.

As a result of her enthusiasm to give back, she has been an active member and has taken on board and leadership roles with the Singapore NAA, as well as the INSEAD Alumni Fund.

On how she developed her board portfolio, “’Pursue’ is not the right word; my board roles are more a consequence of my chronic inability to say no. Friends call me a ‘serial volunteer’ since I tend to constantly raise my hand and get involved in all kinds of projects, from fundraising to event organisation to helping out aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses with their strategy and communications. After years of involvement, there was a natural evolution into more board and leadership roles”, Virginia shared.

Lifelong learning from director mentors

In 2020, Virginia felt it was time to invest in her board career, and joined the INsights Director Mentor Programme.  She was matched with an experienced female board chair.

“Having been my own boss for many years, as well as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD, I was thrilled at the prospect of getting advice and guidance, instead of giving it!”

Virginia met her mentor, who was based in a different country, monthly, via Zoom.  They adopted a relatively informal approach that fit their personalities and goals for the programme, but with action points to follow up on after each discussion.

The range of topics discussed was also broad.  “Some of the subjects I most enjoyed discussing were the most unexpected – such as appreciating the role of serendipity in our personal and professional lives, knowing when it’s time to close a door, and making the ‘highest and best use’ of our most precious resource – time!”

Virginia enjoyed sharing experiences with her mentor.

“Being able to share openly with both my mentor about our respective journeys — including the disastrous moments! — helped me put my own challenges in perspective and find a way forward” – Virginia Brumby Ferreira.

Learning from director peers

Another benefit was having an opportunity to learn from and be supported by other mentees through the monthly mentee sessions.

“I found the group discussions with my fellow mentees both practical and inspiring. They shared a wealth of experience, and the overall atmosphere in the group of acceptance, inclusivity and encouragement was especially important during this roller coaster year”, she remarked.

Leveraging the power of the INSEAD network

Virginia suggests that new directors should seek advice early in their careers.  “Even the leaders we most admire and idolise (the mentors in this programme are excellent examples) didn’t get there on their own. Never hesitate to ask for guidance, empathy, advice and support”.

She highly recommends that a good place to start is to leverage the INSEAD community and in particular, in relation to board experience, other IDN members.

 

To find out more about IDN’s INsights Director Mentoring Programme, visit here.

 

INSEAD Directors Network (“IDN”) – An INSEAD Global Club of International Board Directors

Our Mission is to foster excellent Corporate Governance through networking, communication and self-improvement. IDN has 1,500 members from 80 countries, all Alumni from different INSEAD graduations as MBA, EMBA, GEMBA, and IDP-C. We meet in live IDN webinars and meet-ups arranged by our IDN Ambassadors based in 25 countries. Our IDN website holds valuable corporate governance knowledge in our IDN blog, and we share insights also to our LinkedIn and Twitter  followers. We highlight our member through quarterly sharing of their new board appointments and once a year we give out IDN Awards to prominent board accomplishments. We provide a peer-to-per mentoring and board vacancy service and we come together two times per year at the INSEAD Directors Forum arranged by ICGC. We also engage with ICGC on joint research.

INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre (“ICGC”)

Established in 2010, the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre (ICGC) has been actively engaged in making a distinctive contribution to the knowledge and practice of corporate governance. The ICGC harnesses faculty expertise across multiple disciplines to teach and research on the challenges of boards of directors in an international context and to foster a global dialogue on governance issues with the ultimate goal to develop boards for high-performance governance. Visit ICGC website: https://www.insead.edu/centres/corporate-governance