The story below is a true account of a failed business venture which happened within a family. The rivalry involved is definitely not one of the proudest moments in the entire human civilization.
John and Adrian were brothers who grew up together in a typical rich family. During a family gathering, John and Adrian conceived a business idea and invested $300k each. The business started off splendidly.
Times were good until Adrian’s wife, Alice, joined the business. Account irregularities were discovered and business soon took a dip. Strong physical evidence suggested that account irregularities may be the result of dishonesty from Alice - siphoning of money away from the business’s account. With evidence in hand, John confronted Adrian. The relationship between John and Adrian became strained and a business split soon ensued. The business was sold eventually due to operational losses.
John felt betrayed by Adrian and Alice. He deeply believed that Alice had siphoned a significant share of money, hence resulting in operation losses of the business. Even in the light of strong physical evidence, John was disappointed that Adrian still chose to side with his wife Alice. In retaliation, John decided not to return Adrian‘s shares after business’s liquidation. He justified that the remaining money should be rightfully his.
Adrian could not believe that his own brother, John, refused to return his remainder shares after the business’s liquidation. He insisted that Alice was wrongfully accused. There was no basis for the evidence. Adrian was shocked and disgusted by his own brother, John’s behaviour.
Both John and Adrian avoided filing for lawsuits out of respect for their aging father.
Do you think it was justified for John to swallow Adrian’s share after the business is liquidated? On the other hand, how should Adrian react when confronted by John? If you were either John or Adrian, what will you do to resolve this conflict?
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3 comments:
Hi Victor,
In my opinion, I feel this is what the brothers should do. When John decided to confront Adrian, he should take into account that he is speaking to his brother, someone closely related to him, and the subject is about Adrian's wife. Talking to someone with such close relationship requires the speaker to be more sensitive to the listener's feeling. Any bad feelings harboured would strain the relationship between the brothers.
Therefore, John should not confront Adrian with a harsh tone. He should not sound like he is blaming Adrian for everything. Speaking in a nicer manner would encourage Adrian to listen to him more. Siphoning money away is a grave matter, but John should try to contain his anxiety. In addition, I feel that instead of confronting Adrian, John should hold a discussion with Adrian and his wife. With Adrian's wife around, any misunderstandings can be cleared more easily.
Adrian, on the other hand, should make an effort to check the matter with his wife, no matter how much he trust his wife. This is to show that he is not biased towards his wife and that he is not involved in siphoning the money away.
If those evidence are true, Adrian should not side with his wife. Since the brothers do not want to file a lawsuit, Adrian need not worry that his wife would be sent to jail. Therefore, he just need to bring his wife forward to apologise to John and return the money. Then John will not swallow Adrian's shares.
I think that doing business with family is always difficult, especially when things go wrong. It is difficult to compartmentalize family and business partners.
First off, John should not have been so confrontational. He should have chosen a neutral setting, and then not to do any finger-pointing.
From there, they could together come up with different solutions to try and resolve the problem. From that list, they could consider all the pros and cons and then decide on the final outcome instead of doing something as hasty as disolving the business.
If they could not come up with a solution, they could perhaps have engaged a neutral party to try and evaluate the situation in an objective manner. Then maybe Adrian might not have felt that he was being attacked.
Do you think it was justified for John to take Adrian’s share after the business was liquidated?
I do not think that it was justified for John to take Adrian’s share. Like John, Adrian did invest $300k. So, it is only rightful for Adrian to get half of the money, especially since he is not involved in the embezzling. John’s choice to take Adrian’s share would have created more tension between them, instead of providing a platform on which they could work things out.
On the other hand, how should Adrian react when confronted by John?
I think Adrian should have been more objective. His reaction was too defensive and it does not promote conflict resolution. If he stopped and reflected on what John was saying instead of reacting, they could have had a more useful discussion to understand what truly went wrong in the business.
Since Adrian is sure that Alice was wronged, he could have employed a neutral party to help them check their accounts and find out where the money was going. In that way, truth will come to light. It will be hard to refute the evidence. They will also be able to catch the culprit and maybe prevented their business from dissolving.
If you were either John or Adrian, what will you do to resolve this conflict?
The main action to resolve this conflict would be to get all the facts about the accounts right. That will help the brothers to work through their relationship.
If I were John, I would return the rightful sum to Adrian. After which, I will tell him how unwilling I am to accuse my sister-in-law of such a serious crime but the evidence I have seems to point to her. Then, I will ask him to look through the evidence and help me prove that Alice was innocent.
If I were Adrian, I would ask for the evidence that John has and look through them. Then I will prove to him that he has wrongly accused my wife and choose to forgive him for his behaviour. I think forgiveness removes hatred and unhappiness but builds relationships.
In the event that Alice was proven guilty, I think that they should keep the matter within the family. Adrian should ask his wife to give John back what is rightfully his.
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