Abstract

The case discusses recent and current challenges faced by Emily Jacobs, the CEO of a medium$-$sized family firm in the Netherlands. Four years ago, Emily succeeded her parents and became CEO of Jacobs Catering Company and had to develop her leadership style in turbulent times. It is always a challenge for a new leader to develop a leadership style that fits their personality and aligns with the needs of the company and its employees. Finding a balance was made even more difficult when the family firm was severely affected by the COVID$-19$ lockdowns between $2019$ and $2021.$ How can Emily further develop her leadership style and how could a new member of the family firm$$s advisory board support Emily in her effort to successfully lead the family firm? Students will be asked to evaluate leadership styles, reflect on how a leadership style develops, and suggest what kind of person could give valuable advice to the family firm.

Introduction

Arriving early to the restaurant, Emily found herself thinking about the past four years, which in many ways had been like a roller$-$coaster ride. Emily succeeded her parents in the family business, Jacobs Catering Company, just one year before the business was severely hit by the COVID$-19$ crisis. Emily already had more than $15$ years of experience in the family firm when she became the CEO in $2019.$ In the past three years, Emily has been forced to learn much more about leadership in a family firm and leadership in times of crisis. Now, Emily is about to have dinner with the remaining members of the advisory board to discuss the vacant position on the board. Hopefully they can create a profile that will assist with the search for a valuable new member of the advisory board.

Jacobs Catering Company

Emily is the youngest of three children. She has an older brother and sister. Jacobs Catering Company was founded by Emily$$s parents, Paul and Marian Jacobs, in $1980.$ Over the years, Jacobs Catering Company grew from a small firm without employees into a major player in school catering in the Netherlands. It now has $200$ employees, most of whom work on$-$site at the more than $150$ high school cafeterias serviced by Jacobs Catering Company. A timeline of significant events in the history of Jacobs Catering Company is shown in

Currently, the management team of Jacobs Catering Company consists of Emily, her sister, and a non$-$family member who is the team leader of all middle managers. Whereas Emily is responsible for finance and strategy of the family firm, her sister is responsible for activities related to human resource management, ranging from payroll to recruitment. Since Jacobs Catering Company is a service$-$oriented company, human capital is the most important resource for the company and therefore the biggest expense. Emily and her sister complement each other very well. Emily$$s brother works part time for the family firm and focuses on IT management of Jacobs Catering Company.

Dutch High School Cafeterias

The Dutch school catering industry is different from school catering industries in many other countries. Dutch students are accustomed to bringing sandwiches from home for lunch. Only a minority of students buy lunch at school. Students pay for the food they buy in the school cafeterias in the same way that they would pay for food in a supermarket. There is no subscription model or any other form of pre$-$payment in the Dutch school catering industry. Bringing lunch from home or buying lunch at a local supermarket are two substitutes for school cafeterias. These alternatives put pressure on the profit margins of school catering firms. The profit margins in the school catering industry are therefore relatively low compared to other restaurant businesses.

For each school district, only one catering company runs the catering activities for all schools that belong to the school district. The activities that occupy catering companies are preparing and selling food in the school cafeteria and serving coffee and meals to teachers during lunch and meetings. A catering company acquires customers $($that is$,$ school districts$)$ through a bidding process. Dutch school districts are obligated to select catering companies via an open bidding process. Based on predetermined criteria, school districts select the catering company offering the best value for money. The company that is chosen by the school district has the right to provide their catering services for an average of five years.

The majority of employees of Jacobs Catering Company work on$-$site in school cafeterias where they provide catering services. In many ways, the employees are ambassadors of Jacobs Catering Company. Their main job is to operate the school kitchen and sales area and prepare food. Because their direct manager does not work on location, the employees have a significant level of ownership and responsibility. Most of the employees are mothers with small children who enjoy working part time during school ho