the tastes of consumers in emerging markets (fellow Australian winemaker Penfolds released a Baijiu-infused Shiraz to entice the Chinese in July), Waterman says his relative ease coping with rapid change has been an asset. “I’ve spent 20 years in technology
where change is just constant,” Waterman says. “The wine industry did not have
an appetite for that. When I started here people in the industry would say, ‘Oh, we’re going through tough times, but things will get back to the good old days’. They have not. I have seen things change so dramatically all the way through the supply chain. It has been good to have had experience dealing with change and adaptation and not being daunted by it.” While managing next-generation
family members is something many non-family executives dread, Waterman says he is longing to see the Hill-Smith brothers’ children come on board—and has told them so. “I view my role as a custodian. I’m
a link man babysitting the business… making sure that when they come in, the business is in good shape. And then I’ll step out.”
The family factor For every story of conflict and chaos when an outsider joins a family business, there is an executive who has found their career more fruitful and fulfilling for it. Baskin goes back to the example
of Ford Motor Company in the noughties. “When you think back to 2008,
General Motors was having to hold a monthly or sometimes weekly conference call with Wall Street. “Meanwhile, [Ford’s] Mulally told
the investment community that he and the family had a long-term plan. It was going to take at least a year, and maybe more to work through it, and he was not going to give guidance until they came out of it.” Baskin worked with another
Guatemalan company where all 243 family shareholders agreed to suspend their dividends during the recession. “That is a huge decision, but I
have seen a large number of families make those kind of decisions when they get good information from trusted executives. “I think you can have a much longer and more productive career within a
I VIEW MY ROLE AS A CUSTODIAN. I’M A LINK MAN BABYSITTING THE BUSINESS...
family business. It really is very hard to remain at the top of a purely public company because shareholders really do not know what they want. “It is hard to call them an investor
when their primary motive is to sell. Let us look at them as a trader, not an investor and realise that you have a lot of shareholders out there holding onto stock and we need to think about what is in their best interest for the long-term value of this company. I think families do that well.” Having come from a background in
public companies, Waterman echoes this sentiment. “We’re 169 years old this year and
we talk about what the company might be in 50 years or 100 years— there is that longevity. Without wanting to paint the wrong picture, there are other things that are important beyond pure profitability. “Especially in agriculture which
is subject to cycles, you get to ride out a tough time and not have to react accordingly.” Waterman said last year was
“softer” for Yalumba, largely off the back of Brexit. “If we were a public company, first,
we would have been belted by market analysts and secondly, I would be sitting here going: ‘Right I’ve got to strip costs out of the business’. Family companies do not have to do that. “We still have a very structured way
of running the business and we have strategic score cards that run down through the business.” Then, there’s a more intangible
aspect, he says. “You have history that is based
around continuity of ownership and family. [Our business] has got warmth about it. It has got a sense of collegiality and community. You do not see that in public companies.”
ISSUE 74 | 2018
CAMPDENFB.COM 57
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112