When it comes to American beer, most people probably think of Budweiser. Although this century-old store is not as famous as Coca-Cola, as long as there are Americans in the world, especially where there are American sports bars, you can probably see Budweiser with the red and blue trademark. However, Budweiser is well-known in the world, but on the east coast of the United States, I really want to say that the big brother and old brand of American beer is probably Yuengling beer. In fact, when Yunling Beer was founded in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in the eastern United States in 1829, Adolphus Busch, the founder of Budweiser, was not even born. Although the members of the Yunling family were not very prosperous, two other generations of leaders passed away in their prime of life. They even encountered prohibition in the early 20th century, forcing them to switch to non-alcoholic beverages and ice cream. Nevertheless, the family business survived. In 1986, Yunling Beer was officially recognized by the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest brewery in the United States. The current head of this family business is the fifth generation Richard Yuengling Jr. (Richard Yuengling Jr.), and his four daughters are also involved in the family business. According to his plan, after his retirement in the future, this family business will be passed on to his daughter. At that time, this time-honored brand that has gone through two centuries will be headed by a woman for the first time.
Why are senior women scarce?
Although the United States does not have the strict eldest son inheritance tradition of Japanese family businesses, this does not mean that the heads of American family businesses in the 19th and early 20th centuries were willing to pass on the family business to their daughters. In an era when educational resources are scarce, except for a few families, families often educate their daughters much less than their sons. Because the role of traditional women is to be a wife or mother, many financially capable families send their daughters to higher education, but once their daughters find their in-laws or decide on a marriage, they usually drop out of school and join the family. Of course, in addition to education, American society’s stereotypes of women have also led many family businesses to exclude their daughters from consideration for succession from the beginning. Although educational resources in American society increased substantially after World War II, feminism and the civil rights movement also allowed society to treat men’s and women’s school and job opportunities more equally, but even after years of hard work, in most industries, female senior executives are still A relatively small number. According to the Global Family Business Survey published by Ernst & Young in 2014, in family businesses, the average number of women in the family holding senior executive positions is only 1.14. Ernst & Young’s recent report even pointed out that the average number of non-family women (that is, outsiders) holding senior executive positions in family businesses is 3.5. In other words, the average number of family women (including mothers, daughters, and daughters-in-law) as senior executives in family businesses is lower than that of non-family women.
The problem of the low proportion of female executives in family businesses actually has two levels: society and family. First of all, from the perspective of American society where both sexes have relatively equal access to school and work opportunities, through the efforts of several generations of feminists and the protection of laws and public policies, today American women’s participation in school and workplace labor is basically comparable to that of men. Even often surpass men. Nearly 60% of American students graduating from college each year are women. According to the 2018 labor participation statistics, 47% of the labor force in the United States with a college degree or above is also female. One-fifth of the 21st century has passed. Basically, we can say that men and women are fairly equal in foothold. However, if we look at the numbers on the other end of the job market, it will be a different look. According to a report in Fortune magazine in May 2019, there are only 33 female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies. Although this number seems to be very small, this is the year with the highest proportion and the largest number of female CEOs in the history of this top 500 ranking. This gap in gender participation is even more obvious from a single industry. In the financial services industry, 61% of American accountants and auditors are women, about 53% of mid-level financial managers are women, and 37% of financial analysts are women. In theory, since women have accounted for more than half of the positions of mid-level supervisors, there should also be many women serving as senior financial supervisors. However, only 12.5% of female financial executives in the Fortune 500 companies, or only the CFOs of more than 60 companies are women. Judging from these figures, although the participation of American women in the job market is comparable to that of men, the fact that women are leaders is not rare in American society, but it is not the norm. Although women have rushed to catch up in the workplace, and the general environment is more secure for women’s career development, it may take some time for American women to reach the top of the corporate pyramid to achieve the achievements of men.
Of course, in addition to the social environment of women’s participation in family businesses, the characteristics of the family or family businesses also have a great impact on this. For example, the Zildjian family, known for their percussion cymbals, has a special formula for making cymbal alloys. Their tradition is that this formula is passed on from children to daughters, so for hundreds of years, only sons can inherit the family business. . Another music family, the Steinway & Sons family in New York City is famous for making top-notch pianos. This family business was founded in 1853. Although it still exists today, it was founded in 1972 by the Steinway & Sons family. The fourth generation sold the company to CBS. Like Zhiyin and Yunling Beer, the Steinway family is inherited by their sons. This can be seen from the name of the company. Henry Steinway, who founded Steinway, had ten children. He grew up with five sons and three daughters. However, the name of the Steinway piano only mentions the son, not the daughter at all. Of course, the fact that early family inheritance did not pass to daughters was not necessarily due to patriarchy. Sometimes the working environment of a family business may be severely prosperous, or require high physical strength, so the parents of the family business do not allow their daughters to join the family business out of the psychological protection of their daughters. However, with the changes in society and technology, many American families have broken the rules and began to let their daughters enter the operation of the family business. This is true of Yunling Beer, and so is the conservative family. In the 1980s, the family business of Zhiyin once caused a son to leave and become a rival of the family because of inheritance problems. This new brand, Sabian, started in 1981, is made up of the three children of the founder Robert Zildjian (Sally, Bill, Andy). Today this enterprise has also been completely succeeded by the second-generation son and daughter.
Advantages of daughters in family business
Although gender equality of education and job opportunities has increased women’s participation in employment, and has allowed the daughters of family businesses to gradually emerge as business leaders, there is a very special consideration in family businesses that are female members, especially daughters in the family character of. Daughters are often skipped in family businesses in patrilineal society. Basically, it is basically because traditionally a daughter always has to marry. After marrying, she has a new family and is not entirely a native family. The relationship between the married daughter and her natal family is difficult to estimate, but because in many patrilineal societies, married couples will live with members of the husband’s family, so the married daughter will naturally have no way of interacting with her natal family. There is also frequent and intimate contact and interaction. However, recent studies have also found that because of the close but somewhat alienated relationship between their daughters and their native family, they can instead play a neutral role in the family. In addition to sending children to families cultivated in different countries since childhood, daughters and sons in family businesses grew up together, and the emotions between siblings and the memories of growing together will not disappear because of the marriage relationship after adulthood. However, if there is more than one son in the family business, competition between brothers is sometimes inevitable. If it is not handled properly, equity disputes will occur like the Zildjian family, and even split families will compete with each other. At this time, since the daughter is usually not a candidate for the family business inheritance, her child will not be the heir in the future, so there is more room for mediation between the brothers. If the daughter is not married, she can play the role of a fair third party between brothers.
Of course, what role the daughter of a family business can play is closely related to the status of the family and the family business. However, as the population of young and middle-aged people decreases, men and women have gradually equalized their career choices. More actively encouraging and supporting their daughters to participate in business operations may be a lesson that today’s family business owners must study hard.
The daughter of a family business
