Harvard Business Publishing | August 2019
From its inception, Hilti set the highest standards of peoples’ practices, innovation, quality and governance. The values of the company; Team, Commitment, Integrity and Courage, defined by Martin, remained unchanged over the years, even though the company leadership transitioned from Martin to his son Michael to the non-family Chairman Baschera and later Fisher. Continuity was given a lot of importance at Hilti.
In 2017, the family trust and the board of directors of the Hilti corporation, both had non-family leaders. Michael Hilti, the Lifetime Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors, was happy that the transition of leadership had happened smoothly and as planned. He was keen to identify and correct possible areas of weaknesses existing or that might emerge in future. He knew that he didn’t have a long time to further institutionalize the family and business. He also wanted to create another trust in a different location to protect the trust and wealth from geo-political crisis like a war or changes in taxation rules.
Kavil Ramachandran is a Professor of Entrepreneurship (Practice) at the Indian School of Business (ISB). A founding faculty member, Professor Ramachandran established the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the Indian School of Business in 2001. He later served as the Associate Dean (Academic Programmes), before becoming the Thomas Schmidheiny Chair Professor of Family Business and Wealth Management, and subsequently the Executive Director of the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at ISB.
He specialises in family business, entrepreneurship, and strategy, with 36 years of combined academic experience at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and the Indian School of Business.
Professor Ramachandran holds a PhD from Cranfield University, UK. His research focuses on family business, entrepreneurship, and strategy. He has authored and edited seven books and published extensively in reputed Indian and international journals.
His consulting experience includes areas such as family business governance, professionalisation, succession planning, strategic planning, identification of new opportunities for growth, corporate entrepreneurship and turnaround strategies in family and non-family business environments. His special expertise lies in managing the challenges at the interface of governance, professionalisation, and strategy, particularly in rapidly growing mid-size, multi-generational family businesses.
Professor Ramachandran has demonstrated special interest in mentoring young members of business families. He spearheaded the initiative in ISB offering a new MBA-level programme for the next generation of family business leaders (PGP MFAB), and was adjudged the “Faculty of the Year” by students in both 2018 and 2019. He has consistently been listed among the top 100 global influencers (academics) in the field of Family Business by the Family Capital magazine.
He has authored several case studies, worked with several well-known family business leaders and global experts, and consulted on transformation of family businesses. A frequent speaker at family business forums in India and abroad, he also contributes regularly to popular media. He has conducted numerous training programmes for family businesses on governance, professionalisation, strategic management, and entrepreneurship.
Professor Ramachandran has served on various advisory committees for the Government of India, the World Bank, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). His book, The 10 Commandments for Family Business, is widely regarded as a leading publication in the field.
He is recognised as a pioneer academic entrepreneur, dedicated to advancing the cause of strengthening family businesses in India and internationally. In 2022, he was conferred with the Bharat Asmita Acharya Shreshta Award for Best Teacher in Management by MIT World Peace University, Pune (MIT-WPU)
