PROF. ENRIQUE SORIANO III
Chairman, Marketing Cluster
Program Director for Real Estate
Family Business Advisor
ATENEO GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Prof Enrique Soriano was recently conferred a National Agora Award for
Excellence in Marketing Education by the Philippine Marketing Association. He is
a Family Business Coach, Book Author, Professor of Global Marketing, Program
Director for Real Estate and Chairman of the Marketing Cluster of the ATENEO
Graduate School of Business. (AGSB). He is also the Immediate Past President
of the Association of Marketing Educators (AME) and Director of the Philippine
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) QC.
Prof Soriano is currently a Senior Advisor of the Wong + Bernstein (W+B)
Advisory Group, a Strategic Consulting Group advocating Corporate Best
Practices, Strategic Leadership and Growth in Asian Family Businesses. W+B
services family organizations in the ASEAN Region.
His advocacy and academic work related to Strategic Management and Family
Business Governance has made him a sought after Advisor and resource
speaker in International Conferences in the US, Europe and the ASEAN Region.
As an educator and business mentor, he has helped and re-engineered and
transitioned dozens of Family owned businesses to the next generation
combined with governance, growth and profitability. He contributes columns in
National newspapers and Business Magazines in the Philippines and in a leading
Filipino-American Newspaper in the US. His columns are widely circulated in
popular Online Magazines in Europe as well.
This year alone, Prof Soriano has already delivered more than 200 talks in the
Philippines and the ASEAN region espousing Strategic Innovation and Growth
Strategies for Family Businesses.
He just recently launched his Family Business Book entitled Kite Runner and is
about to release his second Asian Edition book related to Business
Governance: Powerful Insights on Leadership and Succession.
He holds a B.A. in History from the UP, an MBA from De La Salle University,
Doctorate Units at the UP National College of Public Administration and pursued
Executive Education specializing on Asian Family Business at the National
University of Singapore (NUS) Business School.
Summary of the Book
Debunking a Visionaries Nightmare: “Wealth Shall Not Pass Three
Generations”
The book is actually a response to the numerous clamor for written copies
for review and reference by those who have attended my lectures and
seminars on Family Business in Asia.
This selected compilation of speeches and lectures form part of my
continuing advocacy for family business and succession planning. This is, in
essence, a tribute to all visionaries and founders who have made a
difference in establishing their own successful family businesses all over the
world.
Many problems and issues are faced only once during the lifetime of a
business. Going public, for instance, is an event likely to occur only once.
The financial impact of the family’s goals should be assessed. The
consequences of the dispersal of ownership should be fairly addressed and
growth aspirations must be consistent with ownership objectives.
Advice should be taken on the delicate issues of passing ownership
between generations. In conclusion, there should be a mechanism in place
to address all these aspects. A specialist like myself draws from his
expertise and experience.
This is where the reader will most benefit from
a. Awareness that there are mechanisms to manage a growing family
business and continue the legacy
b. Relief that the process of transitioning from the founding generation to
the next generation can be seamless and improve effectiveness and survival
in a competitive and ever changing local and global market place and finally
c. Visionaries can take comfort in the fact that when values, beliefs,
governance and succession metrics are properly done, the dreaded
statement, “Wealth Shall Not Passed Three Generations” can be overcome
d. I added the 10 Commandments of Mr. John as a wonderful fitting to the
book as it espouses in simple terms practical, well-defined Family Business
Protocols that owners can reflect and replicate in their respective family
businesses.
Why Kite Runner as Title of my Book?
The title of this book was inspired by a novel of the same title by Khaled
Hosseini, an Afghan-born American novelist and physician. “The Kite
Runner”, his debut novel in 2003, was an international bestseller, with the
paperback spending 101 weeks on the bestseller list (#1 for 4 of those
weeks). The two main characters of the story are Amir, a well-to-do
Afghan boy from the dominant Pushtun ethnic group, and Hassan, the son
of Amir's father's servant Ali, who belongs to the historically downtrodden
Hazara minority in Afghanistan.
The boys spend their days in peaceful Kabul, kite fighting, roaming the
streets and being boys. Hassan is a successful "kite runner" for Amir,
knowing where the kite will land without even watching it. One triumphant
day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally Baba's praise. Hassan goes
to run the last cut kite, a great trophy, for Amir saying "For you, a thousand
times over” – such a beautiful expression of friendship and loyalty.
There are many notable and quotable quotes in the story worth retelling
and reflecting on. For instance, Amir's father, Baba, loves both the boys,
but seems often to favor Hassan for being more manly. He is critical of
Amir. Amir's mother died in childbirth, and Amir fears his father blames him
for his mother's death.
A Metaphor for Sibling Rivalry
Out of jealousy and guilt, Amir frames Hassan as a thief, and Hassan falsely
confesses. Baba forgives him, despite the fact that, as he explained earlier,
he believes that "there is no act more wretched than stealing". Baba said:
“There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a
variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's
right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal
someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to
fairness.”
Major themes explored in the novel are strength of character, sin and
redemption, relationship between father and son, sibling rivalry,
discrimination and intrigues as well as loyalty and friendship between two
people -- themes and situations which are basically present in almost any
family business.
I am optimistic that with the publication of this book, family businesses will
remain responsive to change and able to generate lasting and game
changing performance. I also hope that this book serves as my legacy to
future generations of would be entrepreneurs, their families, their
employees and the country as well.
PROF. ENRIQUE M. SORIANO III