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Lebanese League for Women in Business Holds Strategic Program in Beirut on Family-owned Businesses, Highlights Strategies for Management and Succession

BEIRUT, LEBANON) 7 July 2011 - Family-owned businesses face unique challenges, including complex family and business relationships and business succession considerations. The Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB) convened its third Corporate Ambassadors Program (CAP) at the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut to address the national and global trends of family-owned businesses and to discuss strategies for management and succession. The program hosted over 200 professionals and prominent speakers.

The meeting commenced with Tony Feghali, Director of the Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Olayan School, who spoke on the need to address the gender imbalance in business and management. Hanan Saab, President of LLWB and MENA BWN Board Member, emphasized LLWB's goal to empower women to take the lead and succeed through educational and vocational programs, advocacy, and incubators.

According to Saab, 80% of businesses in the Middle East are family-owned, but most fail to survive because of a lack of succession planning. Saab underscored the importance of the role of women in business and elaborated that women-led businesses in Europe performed better through the recent financial crisis.

Gillian Robinson, Program Coordinator at Vital Voices, outlined Vital Voices' partnership with LLWB and accentuated their goals to amplify the exposure of and to accelerate the prosperity of women in business through supporting and providing training for women's organizations worldwide.

Tarek Kettaneh, Senior Lecturer at OSB, presented an insightful overview on the complexities of family-owned businesses, including the family business structure, major contributors to failure, the challenges of succession, and family conflict management.

Andrea Gabriela Grobocopatel, Finance Director of Grupo Los Grobo in Argentina, shared how she came to be the Vice President of Grupo Los Grobo. Grobocopatel's strategic involvement in the family business ensured the role of women in the company. She remarked, "The mentality that 'doing it this way has always been successful' doesn't work anymore. You have to provide higher standards of quality, so as to do things better every time."

Aisha Al Maneh, CEO of Al Maneh General Hospitals in Saudi Arabia, shared about her involvement in her family's business and described how she lives a "dual life" in KSA as a businesswoman and activist. It was Al Maneh's father who urged her to change the status of women in KSA.

Hanan Saab moderated a session on family business transitions that included panelists Andrea Gabriela Grobocopatel; Joe Achkar, Board Member of Sabis Educational Services; and Josiane Fahed-Sreih, Associate Professor of Management at LAU and Director of the Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business. The panelists debated whether younger generations should be directed into joining a family business and tabled strategies for achieving continuity and sustainability across generations.

In a session moderated by Judith Barton, the Director of Coaching at the British School of Coaching, the panel discussed leadership styles employed by CEOs in family businesses. The panelists, Aisha Al Maneh; Mona Bawarshi of Jezairi Transport; and Abdo Sweidan of RYMCO discussed their approaches to managing relationships extending from family business, including participative leadership and hiring external CEOs to resolve internal family conflicts.

Roula Ajouz, Managing Director for World Advertising & Public Relations (WAPP) moderated a panel discussion that included participants Marie Joe Raidy, Creative Director of Raidy Printing Group; Yasmine Barry, Pachino Brand Manager for Patchi; and Rania Halabi, Managing Director for Hotel Mediterranee. The young businesswomen explored ways to involve more young women in family business. The businesswomen cited the generation gap and separating work and personal life as the two biggest challenges they face.

The second day of the conference featured an exclusive "think tank" session on the future of family business in Lebanon and the MENA region. During the session, the participants devised strategies to better equip, empower, and promote the involvement of businesswomen. Tony Feghali and Tarek Kettaneh emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship education. Hanan Saab underscored the significance of networking and communication. Yasser Akkaoui, OSB Strategic Management professor, proposed the inclusion of women as board members, and to extend board membership into a mentorship program.

-Ends-

ABOUT
The Middle East and North Africa Businesswomen's Network (MENA BWN) is a regional NGO which aims to increase opportunities for women to advance in their economies and have a greater impact on the larger community. The MENA BWN accomplishes this by building the next generation of women business leaders and entrepreneurs; creating a marketplace for ideas and exchange; and enabling businesswomen members to become advocates in their communities. The MENA BWN has been supported since 2006 by the US Department of State and Vital Voices Global Partnership. Currently, Vital Voices work with the MENA Businesswomen's Network is supported with a grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation. Today, the MENA BWN encompasses nearly 2,500 business and professional in 10 countries across the Middle East and North Africa. www.menabwn.org

The Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB) was established in 2000 at the American University of Beirut (AUB) as the university's sixth Faculty. To date, AUB has graduated over 6,500 students from its undergraduate business programs and over 1,200 from its graduate MBA and Executive MBA business programs. Since its formal establishment as a distinct school, OSB has grown its full-time faculty complement from 13 in the 2000-2001 academic years to over 50 today. The School celebrated its new, 12,000 square meter facility on the lower campus in 2009. The American University of Beirut is a private, independent, non-sectarian institution of higher learning, founded in 1866. At present, AUB offers programs leading to bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees. www.aub.edu.lb

Vital Voices Global Partnership is the preeminent non-governmental organization (NGO) that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to create a better world for us all. Its international staff and team of over 1,000 partners, pro bono experts and leaders, including senior government, corporate and NGO executives, have trained and mentored more than 8,000 emerging women leaders from over 127 countries in Asia, Africa, Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East since 1997. These women have returned home to train and mentor more than 500,000 additional women and girls in their communities. Vital Voices' mission is to identify, invest in and bring visibility to extraordinary women around the world by unleashing their leadership potential to transform lives and accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities. www.vitalvoices.org

Contact Information
Dr. Tony Feghali
Entrepreneurship Initiative
Olayan School of Business
American University of Beirut
P.O. Box 11-0236 Riad El Solh
Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
Phone: +961-1-350000 ext: 3785
Email: entinit@aub.edu.lb

© Press Release 2011