“Eldorado” family: the survival and succession plan

Subject area: Entrepreneurship and family business. Study level/applicability: The case is suitable for BA and MBA levels and for courses focusing on family businesses, entrepreneurship, or small and medium-sized enterprises. Case overview: The Gomez family is the owner of Colchones Eldorado, a Colombian mattress company, in business for more than 50 years. Its founder and CEO Gumercindo Gomez, 75 years old, had no succession plan but he wanted to ensure the future of his business. Given the urgency of this situation and the complexity of the family structure, Martha Gomez, General Manager, hired a consultant to design the succession plan. To prepare this plan, the consultant must take into account: the preservation of stock ownership within the family, the company's sustainability under the new CEO family member, and the assurance of the family harmony. Expected learning outcomes: These include: understanding the characteristics of a family business in the Latin American context; recognizing the stages of the family ownership; and identifying personal characteristics and roles of family members in order to design the basis of the succession plan. Supplementary materials: Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.