Roy King, was a famous British Jeweller in the 1950s. His son, Roger King, inherited his father’s entrepreneurial spirit and set up the International Group of Companies in 1964. The group is involved in hospital construction and management, property development, sports marketing, packaging and leisure operations. Roger King has three sons: Hertford, Witney, and Chester (all named after towns in England!).

An interesting chapter of the King’s family business story began in 1987, when they decided to rent the top two floors of the Stoke Park clubhouse, a Palladian mansion designed by James Wyatt, architect to George III, in 1789.

How can the Mambo, the Salsa, and the Tango explain the influence of context on strategic decision-making in family businesses? Exaudi Research together with distinguished academic institutions, business associations and consulting firms from different Latin American countries, headed a study of 750 family businesses in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Guillermo Salazar, Owner and Managing Director of Exaudi Family Business Consulting, Venezuela, makes feet tap and heads nod to the rhythm of Latin American family businesses and the way they prioritise internal and external strategic challenges.

This family business story started with a man, who had a passion: Ahmed Qasim Seddiqi, founder of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons started collecting Swiss watches from a young age. His collection soon became so well-known that it attracted attention from other watch enthusiasts, who began to buy selected pieces. What started out so simply turned out to be the cornerstone of what was to become a very successful family business: 60 years later the Seddiqui family can look back at their great business history and look forward into a promising future.

For family businesses one of the most important factors for survival is the embededness in their community and environment.  The community’s well-being and the environment’s sustainability, therefore, constitute priorities even after business families internationalise and diversify widely. In the Emirate of Dubai, in Deira to be exact, there thrives a family business that has always taken this responsibility seriously: Throughout three generations the Al Serkal family members have brought innovation to their community and have pioneered in new areas of business.