Managing relatives: Is blood thicker than water?
Relying on relatives is a double-edged sword for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but they rarely have an option considering the fact that the consistency of an SME hinges on individuals who are loyal and performing. And what better employee to have than one’s own kith & kin? However, relatives come with their own share of problems and worries. Read on to find out whether blood is indeed thicker than water or not…

About the Author:
M Hariharan has been in consultancy and training since 1991. He practices consultancy in the field of cost management, lean thinking, constraint management, management control system and business excellence as founder director, Savoir Faire Management Services. Savoir Faire develops cost information systems to support pricing, outsourcing and control decisions using the cost excellence (CE©) model. Applying cost management methodologies and lean thinking to align process to customer value, Savoir Faire helps firms across sectors to improve their bottom line. He has provided consultancy to different sectors like steel, power, cement, automotive, auto ancilliary, bank, etc, both within India and abroad. He is also a renowned trainer sensitising the participants on the impact of customer focus, competitor actions and goal conflicts on the bottom-line of the business. He is a core member of the Total Cost Management initiative of CII-TCM Cell, and a visiting faculty at S P Jain Institute, Mumbai. Email: sfgroup@vsnl.com