The Revelation of Family Business Inheritance in Nezha

Qin Shuo's Moments ©

Qin Shuo's Moments ©

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This article is from the WeChat official account: Qin Shuo's Friends Circle (ID: qspyq2015), the author: Jiang Feng (Senior Partner of Hejun Consulting, Director of Family Heritage Research Center), and the title is from AI Generation

Article Summary

The article uses the movie "Ne Zha" as a reference to explore intergenerational conflicts and reconciliation paths in the inheritance of family businesses. By analyzing the influence of parental role models, sibling collaboration, external partners, and other roles on the second generation, combined with cases and data such as Fang Tai and New Hope, it is revealed that successful inheritance requires balancing the continuation of values and independent innovation of the second generation, emphasizing the importance of institutional resolution of infighting, psychological support, and differentiation breakthrough.

##Highlights

•      The exemplary power of fathers: Li Jing's sense of responsibility shapes the values of the second generation, and the co creation case of Fang Tai and his son confirms the alignment of values and enhances the success rate of inheritance.

•      Mother's lubricant role: New Hope Li Wei resolves intergenerational conflicts through informal communication, and the survival rate of enterprises where mothers participate in inheritance is significantly improved.

•      The value of friends and external partners: Xtep and Holiland's second-generation cross-border cooperation demonstrates the strategic complementarity of the "Lingzhu Magic Pill Symbiosis" and stimulates innovation vitality.

•    Master's guidance strategy: Quoting the concept of "teaching through changing children", emphasizing external advisors or elders to avoid direct conflicts between father and son, and providing objective growth support.

•   ⚖️   The mechanism of intra family conflict and reconciliation: The constitutional case of the Lee Kum Kee family reveals the process of institutionalized conflict transformation, transforming grievances into a common mission and social capital.

•      The second generation independent breakthrough path: Zong Fuli's digital reform case confirms that by combining its own advantages to "make a breakthrough", 5 million private enterprises will face a major test of inheritance in the next decade.

If you could turn back time, what kind of children would you like to cultivate?

Like Nezha's parents who reshaped his physical body at the beginning, they hoped that their child would be tall, powerful, handsome, and tough, yet lively and lovely. However, Nezha's identity as a "demon child" made this expectation complex - he was naturally rebellious and unruly, far from the "ideal child" in his parents' hearts.

This kind of contradiction is also common in reality. Many first generation founders of family businesses hope that their second generation will possess both character and talent, able to inherit the family business while surpassing the achievements of their predecessors.

However, reality often conflicts with children's nature, interests, and choices.

Just like Nezha, who was despised by the world as a 'demon child', gradually grew into a hero who dared to take on responsibilities. This process is full of pain and struggle, and only after going through hardships can one find their position in the family business.

Nezha's mother tightly hugged the child who wore the Heart Mantra and said, "Whether immortal or demon, they are all mother's children." This sentence expresses the ultimate expectation of parents for their children: whether the child meets their own standards or not, parents ultimately hope that the child can "be themselves.

When the piercing needle penetrated into the flesh and bones, when it was engulfed by the true fire of the Tianyuan Cauldron, and when its mother really left, Nezha truly completed his physical and mental reconstruction, stimulated his inner strength, and gave birth to motivation. He joined hands with Ao Bing to complete the victorious battle.

At this moment, they truly found themselves, their family mission, and the value of their successors.

Nezha "is not only a mythological animated film, but also a profound fable about family inheritance, intergenerational conflict, and reconciliation.

What kind of person do parents hope their children will become? How can children find their own path in the collision with the previous generation?

Starting from the story of Nezha, we will explore the power of role models in family inheritance, internal conflicts and reconciliation within the family, and the independent growth of the second generation, providing inspiration for the inheritance of family businesses in reality.

1、 Role model power: subtly influencing

1. Father's Role Model: Responsibility and Responsibility

Li Jing is a typical strict father figure. He is silent and reserved, but his love for Nezha is deep and firm. In order to save Nezha, he was willing to sacrifice his own life and was a typical father of "sacrificial guardianship".

This kind of fatherly love, like a mountain of responsibility and commitment, has subtly influenced Nezha. Although Nezha was once full of misunderstandings about his father, he eventually understood his father's good intentions and inherited his father's sense of responsibility.

In family businesses, the role model of a generation of founders is equally important. Their values and behavior patterns will have a profound impact on the second generation.

Founder of Fotile Group, Mao Lixiang, injected the values of "enterprise, family, and society" into his succession plan. After his son Mao Zhongqun took over, he not only made the enterprise a leader in the kitchen appliance industry, but also continued the core concept of "culture based enterprise" of his predecessors, established the Fangtai Cultural Research Institute, and promoted the combination of Chinese and Western enterprise management to the outside world, achieving perfect father son co creation and inheritance.

According to the 2022 China Family Business Inheritance Report, the success rate of inheritance cases with high values alignment is 67%, far exceeding the 23% of simple wealth transfer cases.

The power of a generation's role model lies not in preaching, but in leading by example. Thirty years ago, we looked at our fathers and respected our sons, and thirty years later, we looked at our sons and respected our fathers. The second-generation successors need to find their own position under the halo of their predecessors, and also create their own future on the basis of inheriting the family business.

2. Mother's role model: gentleness and companionship

Nezha's mother had both the courage to make decisive decisions on the battlefield and the tenderness to play shuttlecock with Nezha. This kind of companionship that combines strength and softness is like the unique value of the mother's role in family businesses - they often compensate for the rigid deficiencies of their father's authoritative management through emotional connections.

During the succession process of Liu Chang, the second generation of New Hope Group, his mother Li Wei resolved the ideological conflict between father and daughter through "informal communication". When Liu Yonghao formulated the "dual chairman system", Li Wei facilitated a consensus between Liu Chang and his father on a "five-year transition period" through a family gathering.

According to Forbes' "Report on the Influence of Women in Chinese Family Businesses," companies where mothers participate in inheritance planning have a second-generation survival rate (5 years) of 82%, which is 19 percentage points higher than companies where male dominated inheritance occurs.

It is evident that mothers play a crucial role as the "lubricant of inheritance" in family businesses.

3. Brother's Role Model: Imitation and Follow of Lighthouse Effect

The character Shen Gongbao in the film has sparked empathy among many people. Like every young person who walks from a small town to a big city to strive for success, he appears to be the pride of his family, but in reality, he is a marginal figure in society, without any backing or background, crushed by the powerful and the real world.

Shen Xiaobao followed in the footsteps of Shen Gongbao and wanted to venture into the big city. His admiration for his brother was evident in his eyes, and his role model was never far away. The people around him were the concrete and tangible existence. In order to set an example for his younger brother, Shen Gongbao also fulfilled his promise to Nezha's father.

In family businesses, the role of brother will play a "beacon effect", allowing brothers and sisters to follow suit. In real family businesses, brother succession is also facing a typical dilemma: both eager to support each other and need to compete for limited resources.

In the early years, the inheritance path of the Liu brothers in Sichuan Hope Group provided an excellent practical example of the successful separation of brothers. However, the separation was not distracted, but was shaped by differentiated examples, allowing each member to find a balance point between being needed by the family and not being bound by it.

4. Role model for friends: Harmony in diversity, mutual achievement

The symbiotic relationship between Nezha and Ao Bing's "Lingzhu Mowan" embodies the value of external partners in the inheritance of the family business.

Nezha and Ao Bing are typical second-generation inheritors, both from noble families but with vastly different personalities. Nezha is simple and straightforward, eager to be recognized, strong and fragile;

Ao Bing is introverted and restrained, knowledgeable and rational, shouldering family responsibilities and missions, and persevering to accomplish things he doesn't want to do but must do.

They can become friends because of their similar backgrounds and exceptional talents, making it difficult for ordinary people to play with them.

Good friends can promote and inspire each other. In real life, many second-generation enterprises are good strategic partners, such as Ding Jiamin from Xtep, Luo Cheng from cake brand Holiland, and Shi Zhancheng from towel brand Jieliya. They recently launched a joint attack in a short video, showcasing the new ideas of contemporary second-generation cooperation in marketing.

5. Master's Role Model: Guidance and Support

As Nezha's master, Taiyi Zhenren not only taught him spells, but also provided him with support and encouragement at critical moments. The humor and tolerance of Taiyi Zhenren, along with a sense of relaxation, provided important emotional support for Nezha's growth.

Mencius' "Li Lou Shang" proposed the idea of "changing sons and educating them", which means exchanging sons for education, so that fathers and sons will not seek complete blame. Many generations of entrepreneurs will bring the authority of the enterprise into their homes, and monarchic fathers will inevitably hate iron for not being strong, adopt a commanding attitude, and treat their children with a commanding tone. The second generation is also in their youth, and the two generations will inevitably confront each other. Many families find it difficult to sit together for meals due to the estrangement of father son relationships, and even basic communication is problematic. It is even more difficult to make a breakthrough in succession and inheritance issues.

Therefore, Mencius proposed that if respected friends are found and children are exchanged for education among friends, a more objective and rational education will be carried out for the "children of friends", which can avoid these potential contradictions.

In the inheritance of family businesses, the second generation also needs such a "master". The new era of "changing children and teaching" may be the elders in the family, friends of the elders, or targeted training from external consultants, with the aim of avoiding positive conflicts between father and son, father and daughter, resolving extreme problems in family relationships, and providing guidance and support for the second generation.

2、 Family infighting and reconciliation: Demons and immortals are just a matter of one thought

1. Conflict of family interests

The Dragon King clan is willing to confront the Heavenly Court for the benefit of their family. However, this confrontation ultimately led to internal division within the family.

This makes us start to ponder: how to choose when family interests conflict with personal values?

PwC's Global Family Business Survey shows that 58% of family businesses in the Asia Pacific region have experienced a decline in market value due to succession disputes. During the infighting among the three brothers of Sun Hung Kai Properties in Hong Kong, the group's market value evaporated by a total of HKD 43 billion, which confirms the destructive power of the "power vacuum period".

In reality, internal conflicts within family businesses often stem from issues such as profit distribution and power transfer. These conflicts not only damage brand reputation and weaken family cohesion, but may also lead to the decline of the enterprise. Therefore, family inheritance requires the establishment of clear family constitutions, rules of procedure, and communication mechanisms to avoid internal conflicts.

2. The Power of Reconciliation

The ending of the film is full of Eastern wisdom. The Dragon King and his son reconcile, and the two families, Nezha and Ao Bing, who have been fighting for a long time, finally reconcile.

The grudges of the previous generation have been proven through one's own actions that family inheritance is not only the transmission of benefits, but also the continuation of values. This kind of reconciliation is not a simple compromise, but the ultimate balance between "emotion" and "reason" in family inheritance. Just like the reconciliation mechanism of excellent family businesses - it requires setting up a "buffer barrier" for conflicts and building a "gravitational field" with a common mission.

Li Jinji was on the brink of collapse due to internal conflicts within the family. When the fourth generation took over, Li Wenda took the initiative to promote the "Family Constitution", which led to the transformation of the Li Jinji family from conflict to coexistence.

As concluded in the 2023 Asia Pacific Family Business Report, 89% of successfully inherited businesses have established institutionalized reconciliation procedures, with the core being to transform "emotions" into family social capital and "reason" into a conflict transformation process.

3、 From attachment to independence: The second generation's destiny ultimately requires one to forge ahead on their own

At the last moment, the Dragon King finally lowered his head and admitted that his experience could not guide Ao Bing. This scene reveals an important issue in family inheritance:

The experience of the first generation is valuable, but the path of the second generation ultimately needs to be explored by themselves.

As Li Jing said, "I'm getting old and don't have the strength to collide with the world anymore." The retirement of the previous generation marked the beginning of the independent growth of the second generation.

The first batch of entrepreneurs born from reform and opening up rose with the dividends of the times, undoubtedly conforming to the "mandate of heaven". And the successors face the challenges of industrial transformation and upgrading, as well as the challenge of their own weak abilities not being able to sustain the cause of the next generation. Without the willingness and courage to take over, they cannot stand firm in the actual process of taking over. This statement is not only the awakening of Nezha, but also an exploration of the innovative path of second-generation breakthrough succession.

So how can the second-generation successors turn the slogan 'My fate is up to me, not heaven' into a practical and feasible action plan?

1. Stimulating and guiding the willingness of the second generation to take over

The biggest obstacle in intergenerational inheritance largely stems from the different positions of two generations. One generation stands on a high hill, while the second generation looks up and climbs. The more oppressed the second generation is, the more they want to "prove" themselves. Without an equal dialogue scene and opportunity, it is difficult to stimulate and guide the second generation's willingness to take over.

This is a key step in the preparation for inheritance. Two generations must form a consensus on family culture and values, as well as actively shape their future roles, so that the second generation members have a deep sense of belonging and responsibility towards the family business.

2. Assessment and cultivation of successor abilities

Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the abilities of the second generation of the docking class, clarify their strengths and weaknesses, and systematically enhance their core competencies in management, decision-making, and leadership through customized training programs and practical opportunities. Through the tempering of small battles, gradually accumulating experience, one can have the ability to win even greater battles in the future.

3. Psychological adjustment and support

Due to the upbringing environment of the second generation, the first generation is too busy with work during the entrepreneurial period, with less companionship. Some children lack a sense of security and confidence, and are sensitive and lonely.

The process of succession is full of challenges, as they may face pressure from their parents, social questioning, and confusion about self-identity. It is particularly important to provide necessary psychological counseling and support to help second-generation members build confidence, learn stress management, and ensure that they can maintain clear judgment and firm execution when facing challenges.

4. Combine your own strengths to find a breakthrough point

After taking the helm, Wahaha Zongfuli gradually introduced digital management systems into traditional enterprises and made adjustments around the company's management system, salary system, and other aspects.

In the end, Zong Fuli handed over the report card of Wahaha's revenue returning to the range of 70 billion yuan in 2024. This is similar to Nezha's use of the combination of "Mixed Sky Silk+Fire Spear" to develop a new combat strategy. Whether it is using digital tools to deconstruct the business logic of the previous generation, implanting new technologies in the advantageous fields of the family, or finding experimental fields that combine with the first generation industry based on the natural characteristics of the second generation, some cross-border symbiotic innovation and integration will stimulate "genetic mutations" and realize the possibility of the second generation taking over and breaking through.

Data shows that as of the end of September 2024, the number of registered private enterprises in China exceeded 55 million, and the proportion of private enterprises in the total number of enterprises remained stable at 92.3%. Among them, family businesses accounted for more than 90% of the total number of private enterprises, becoming the main force of the private economy.

If we follow the traditional average retirement age of 60 as the threshold, in the next decade, nearly 5 million family businesses in China will enter a critical period of intergenerational succession. Whether in terms of the urgency of time or the number of this group, this large-scale centralized intergenerational inheritance is rare in the history of global enterprise development.

In the window period of China's economic growth rate shifting and industrial transformation and upgrading, this is a dual challenge of "handing over the baton" and "changing the track". Exploring better solutions for the inheritance of Chinese style family businesses is also the mission of our generation.

Inheritance is not simply the transfer of wealth, but rather the stimulation of more resilient organizational forms and infinite possibilities for the future growth of private enterprises through intergenerational collisions.

Require us to construct a Chinese style inheritance paradigm in a more systematic way, allowing the entrepreneurial spirit to evolve rather than decay through intergenerational transmission.

Whether immortal or demon, they are all children of the family; Both inheritance and innovation are part of inheritance.

The true inheritance is never copying the ancestors, but forging a more resilient form in the furnace of the new era with the spiritual spark of the family.

The true significance of family inheritance lies in enabling each generation to find their own path and realize their self-worth, family business value, and social value along the way.

Nezha ultimately chose: "If there is no way out, then find a way out." Daring to think, daring to explore, and daring to do, this is the exploration journey of the new generation of successors using their intelligence and courage to promote the continuous evolution and innovation of the family business.

The ultimate goal of inheritance is to enable each generation to control their own destiny and write their own legends.

This article is from the WeChat official account: Qin Shuo's Friends Circle (ID: qspyq2015), written by Jiang Feng (Senior Partner of Hejun Consulting, Director of Family Heritage Research Center)

This content is the author's independent viewpoint and does not represent the stance of Tiger Sniff. Reproduction without permission is not allowed. Please contact for authorization matters hezuo@huxiu.com

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