Enriching Visit from Overseas Family Business Owners

From October 30 to November 1, Tokyo hosted the 33th Global Summit of the Family Business Network (FBN), the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to family-owned businesses. This international gathering brought together family business owners, leaders, and family members who are committed to advancing and sustaining family enterprises, and I’m honored to be one of its members.

In Japan, family businesses, or family-run businesses, are often stereotyped as being inefficient, and having a closed culture and weak governance. However, I joined FBN when I became president, inspired by the unique strengths of family businesses, such as their ability to take a long-term view, maintain a focused vision, and foster close relationships with employees and stakeholders.

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, FBN currently includes approximately 4,500 family-owned businesses and 20,000 individual members worldwide. Europe accounts for 60% of the membership, and FBN is now present on all continents, including Africa. The Global Summit is an annual event held in various international locations to promote effective family leadership and business continuity for generations. This year’s Summit in Tokyo proved exceptionally popular: 500 tickets sold out within six hours, prompting the addition of 250 more seats. With demand so high, seven venues were arranged across Tokyo to accommodate attendees.

This year, our company, Orbray, was honored to be selected as one of the Family Visit destinations, allowing Summit participants to tour and learn about our family-run business firsthand. We hosted about 30 guests from seven countries. Initially, we debated whether to present our company’s headquarters or one of our factories. In the end, we chose to showcase our head office to highlight our unique characteristics as a family business. To make the occasion even more special, we included team members from our overseas offices, who had not visited Japan recently due to the pandemic.

The visit was scheduled to last around two hours, so we carefully crafted a program to give participants a meaningful introduction. We began with an overview of the company, including a discussion on business succession, followed by an interactive Q&A session. The presentation of our company’s history was made by three generations of our family. My eldest daughter, who has lived abroad and speaks fluent English, introduced the founder, the second generation, and the third generation, while sharing our core values, including “One company, one family.” This multi-generational introduction highlighted the essence of a family business and was well received by the guests, sparking many insightful questions.

One popular question was about our plans for an IPO and its potential impact on family business values. Going public can risk compromising the long-term perspective family businesses are known for, as shareholder demands for short-term returns can be at odds with patient investment. I explained that we aim to balance public ownership with the values that define our family business and that we hope to serve as a model for other Japanese family businesses as they consider going public.

After the Q&A, participants split into four groups to learn about our history and products. Each group was treated to traditional Japanese matcha tea and sweets, a gesture that was warmly received by our international guests. My role was to share our company’s history, while overseas team members introduced the products they oversee, effortlessly bridging language barriers with English.

The event was enlivened by our Thai colleagues, who wore traditional Thai attire, and the excitement peaked when a robot powered by our motors joined the stage, charming everyone with its captivating appearance.

Although we couldn’t cover everything in such a limited time, our guests were highly engaged and expressed keen interest in all aspects of our business. Their attentiveness and the curiosity conveyed in their many questions left us wishing for more time to share our story.

In the end, the Family Visit was an enriching experience for all. We feel grateful for the opportunity to share our legacy, culture, and innovations with such an appreciative international audience.