Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • January 2021
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Saham Group: It's In the Genes

By: Christina R. Wing and Gamze Yucaoglu
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:20
ShareBar

Abstract

The case opens in August 2020 as Moulay Mhamed Elalamy (Mhamed), CEO of the Saham Group (the Group), a pan-African investment company that operates a variety of businesses out of Morocco, contemplates the Group’s identity, its investment strategy, and how to navigate the existing businesses through volatility.

Since Mhamed’s father Moulay Hafid Elalamy (Moulay Hafid) had laid the foundations of the Group in 1995, its insurance arm became the largest insurance company in Morocco and expanded into the rest of Africa, and the Group diversified to include call centers, real estate, and agriculture. In 2013, Moulay Hafid left his executive duties to take on the role of Minister of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies. The case talks about Mhamed’s entering the family business at the age of 23 and his rise through the ranks to eventually assume the CEO position. In 2018, Mhamed decided to sell the insurance businesses, the Group’s crown jewel, and the Group became a private equity house. Since then, Mhamed and his sister Anissa Elalamy were focused on making sure that business continued to prosper.

While the Group was settling into its new identity as a family office focused on private equity, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the difference between the father and son’s risk appetite and management styles: Mhamed was focused on value preservation and risk-reward analysis, while Moulay Hafid saw opportunities everywhere. This raised questions for the future and the family contemplated its risk tolerance and allocation, governance, and succession. The case introduces the different family members and executives and their points of view and asks: What difficult conversations did the Elalamys need to have to ensure shareholder value and continued success in the upcoming generations?

Keywords

Family and Family Relationships; Family Business; For-Profit Firms; Transformation; Transition; Emerging Markets; Change Management; Private Equity; Investment; Strategy; Insurance Industry; Real Estate Industry; Education Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Morocco; Africa

Citation

Wing, Christina R., and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Saham Group: It's In the Genes." Harvard Business School Case 621-069, January 2021.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Christina R. Wing

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • September 2021
    • Faculty Research

    The Boston Beer Company (B): Growth and Uncertainty

    By: Christina R. Wing and John Masko
    • August 2021
    • Faculty Research

    From Beirut with Love (A) and (B)

    By: Christina R. Wing and Esel Çekin
    • August 2021 (Revised March 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Family Matters: Governance at the Zamil Group

    By: Christina R. Wing, Suraj Srinivasan and Esel Çekin
More from the Authors
  • The Boston Beer Company (B): Growth and Uncertainty By: Christina R. Wing and John Masko
  • From Beirut with Love (A) and (B) By: Christina R. Wing and Esel Çekin
  • Family Matters: Governance at the Zamil Group By: Christina R. Wing, Suraj Srinivasan and Esel Çekin
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College