Foundation for Family Businesses

The Foundation for Family Businesses (Die Stiftung für Familienunternehmen in Deutschland und Europa) is a non-profit foundation headquartered in Munich, Germany. It has a representative office in Berlin near the Reichstag building.[1] Ever since the foundation was established in 2002, it has been committed to representing the interest of large family businesses (meaning companies that are primarily impacted by one family or a family collective.) Thus, it promotes academic research focusing on family businesses, in addition to holding events.

Foundation for Family Businesses
Stiftung Familienunternehmen
(Die Stiftung für Familienunternehmen in Deutschland und Europa)
Established2002 (2002)
FounderBrun-Hagen Hennerkes
Typenon-profit
Legal statusprivate foundation
Purposeresearch promotion and representation of interests
Location
Region served
Germany
Key people
  • Rainer Kirchdörfer
  • Ulrich Stoll
  • Stefan Heidbreder
AffiliationsAssociation of German Foundations
Websitefamilienunternehmen.de

History

Brun-Hagen Hennerkes founded the Foundation for Family Businesses in 2002.[2][3] The goal was to provide the interests of such companies with an institutional framework.[4] According to Hennerkes, these had not been adequately addressed thus far.[5]

The foundation's first projects included a series of events that identified the handing over the reins to a new generation as a structural problem for family-managed companies.[6][7] The foundation commissioned the Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung Mannheim and Institut für Mittelstandsforschung Bonn with the first study to assess Germany's overall competitiveness as a business location.[8]

Throughout the years, the foundation's activities have focused on proposals for taxing family businesses.[9][10] Against the backdrop of the debate surrounding the reform of corporate taxation, the Foundation advocated the relief of business assets in the context of inheritance tax,[11][12][13] and rejected the possible reintroduction of a wealth tax.[14][15] It addressed other issues such as return on investment and equity ratio of listed family companies and the influence of founder companies.[16][17][18] In 2012, the foundation opened the "House of Family Businesses," (Haus des Familienunternehmens)[19][20] at Pariser Platz in Berlin-Mitte to encourage the dialogue between political representatives and the public.[21]

Activities

The foundation maintains contact with business, science, politics, and media representatives, for example, at events and congresses.[22] In the wake of the global economic and financial crisis, the foundation positioned family-managed companies as an alternative to capital market-oriented organizational forms.[23][24][25]

The foundation is a sponsor of scientific work in family entrepreneurship, commissioning individual scientists or research institutes with studies. It supports the Witten Institute for Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University, the Friedrichshafen Institute for Family Businesses at Zeppelin University, Research Centre for Family Enterprises at the University of Bayreuth, the Institute for Family Businesses – Eastern Westphalia-Lippe at Bielefeld University as well as the Corvinus Center of Family Business at the Corvinus University of Budapest. It also promotes dissertations and post-doctoral theses.[26]

Publications
  • Deutschlands nächste Unternehmergeneration [Germany's Next Generation of Business Owners] (in German), Munich: Stiftung Familienunternehmen
  • "Länderindex Familienunternehmen" [Country Index for Family Businesses], Länderindex Familienunternehmen (in German), Munich: Stiftung Familienunternehmen, ISSN 2566-8544
  • Jahresmonitor der Stiftung Familienunternehmen [Annual Monitor of the Foundation for Family Businesses] (in German), Munich: Stiftung Familienunternehmen

Controversies

The foundation has been criticized for focusing on pursuing lobbying.[27][28] It is registered with Bundestag as an interest group.[29]

Notes and references
  1. Impressum, Stiftung Familienunternehmen, retrieved 10 February 2020
  2. Müller, Anja (22 June 2017), "Brun-Hagen Hennerkes: Der Lautsprecher der Familienunternehmen", Handelsblatt (in German), retrieved 10 April 2019
  3. Eigendorf, Jörg (2 October 2009), "Der Netzwerker – Brun-Hagen Hennerkes hat den Familienunternehmen in Deutschland ein Gesicht gegeben", Die Welt (in German), p. 12
  4. Hennerkes, Brun-Hagen; Kirchdörfer, Rainer (2015), Die Familie und ihr Unternehmen: Strategie, Liquidität, Kontrolle (in German), Frankfurt a Main: Campus Verlag, p. 539, ISBN 978-3-593-50266-3
  5. Hennerkes, Brun-Hagen (16 June 1996), "Ein Erfolgsmodell droht zu verkümmern – Die Probleme von Familienbetrieben werden allenfalls punktuell wahrgenommen", Der Tagesspiegel (in German)
  6. Gehrmann, Birgit (12 September 2005), "Wenn es im Familienbetrieb heiß hergeht", Handelsblatt (in German), p. 4
  7. Mohr, Daniel (2 October 2005), "Angst vor dem Generationswechsel", Der Tagesspiegel (in German), p. 26
  8. Weber, Joachim (4 April 2006), "Im Ausland geht es vielen Familienunternehmen besser", Handelsblatt (in German), p. 21
  9. Frühauf, Andrea (3 March 2016), "Ungleiche Steuerlast", Neue Westfälische (in German)
  10. Knop, Carsten (2 March 2016), "Familienunternehmen zahlen mehr", Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German)
  11. Hops, Bernd (1 March 2005), "Familienfirmen fühlen sich benachteiligt – Aktuelle Steuerdebatte geht an den Problemen vorbei", Der Tagesspiegel (in German), p. 15, retrieved 22 June 2020
  12. "Wirtschaft rügt Erbschaftsteuerreform", Financial Times Deutschland (in German), 20 April 2006, retrieved 22 June 2020
  13. Afhüppe, Sven; Fröndhoff, Bert (1 February 2007), "Schwieriges Erbe", Handelsblatt (in German), p. 2, retrieved 22 June 2020
  14. Dierig, Carsten; Gersemann, Olaf (19 April 2009), "Wirtschaft wettert gegen Reichensteuer", Welt am Sonntag (in German), p. 1
  15. Beise, Marc (29 May 2017), "Vermögensteuer als Gift", Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German), retrieved 21 April 2020
  16. Dostert, Elisabeth (26 August 2019), "Studie: Familienunternehmen wirtschaften erfolgreicher", Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German), retrieved 15 April 2020
  17. Castner, Jens (23 October 2009), "Marktbericht: Die Börse ignoriert Unternehmertugenden", finanzen.net (in German), retrieved 15 April 2020
  18. Gillmann, Wolfgang (20 October 2009), "Studie: Familienunternehmen zeigen sich stark", Handelsblatt (in German), retrieved 15 April 2020
  19. Haus des Familienunternehmens (in German), Stiftung Familienunternehmen, retrieved 18 June 2020
  20. Stiftung Familienunternehmen positioniert sich in Regierungsnähe (in German), Stiftung Aktive Bürgerschaft, March 2012, retrieved 10 April 2019
  21. "Ein neuer Ort des Dialogs mit der Politik – Das Haus des Familienunternehmens soll ein Zentrum der Begegnung werden.", Der Hauptstadtbrief (in German), 23 April 2012, retrieved 10 April 2019
  22. Müller, Anja (25 June 2017), "Familienunternehmer-Tag: Banger Blick in die Welt", Handelsblatt (in German), retrieved 10 April 2019
  23. Michler, Inga (8 May 2007), "Wachstum ohne Druck der Börse –", Die Welt (in German), p. 12, retrieved 18 May 2020
  24. Hennerkes, Brun-Hagen (16 March 2009), "Schulterschluss in Krisenzeiten – Liquiditätsprobleme treffen auch in Familienbetrieben auf schrumpfende Umsätze und rückläufige Erträge", Handelsblatt (in German), p. 8
  25. Buchenau, Martin (24 November 2009), "In der Krise übertrumpfen Familienunternehmen die Schwergewichte im DAX", Handelsblatt (in German), p. 30
  26. Wissenschaftliche Arbeit und Förderung (in German), Stiftung Familienunternehmen, retrieved 5 March 2020
  27. Deckwirth, Christina (21 September 2016), Erbschaftssteuer: Wer sind die Lobbyisten der Reichen? (in German), Lobbycontrol, retrieved 28 August 2019
  28. "Lobbyorganisation: Gemeiner Nutzen", Stuttgarter Nachrichten (in German), 31 August 2015, retrieved 2 November 2019
  29. Lobbyliste (in German), Deutscher Bundestag, retrieved 17 June 2020
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