Pouring Oil on Troubled Waters: Vickers Oils and Resolving Family Conflict over Generations

Will Vickers, a seventh-generation (G7) member of the Vickers Family, grappled with a pressing challenge: how to re-integrate family members into the firm to recover lost talent. His father, Peter Vickers, was the lone leader of the Vickers Oils – despite having stepped down from his role as Managing Director. While there were active shareholders, none felt inclined to involve themselves in the operational front of the company. Further, family conflict in G5 had resulted in a family branch that was thereby excluded from participating in the firm, creating lasting divisions amongst the Vickers. Could family members who had drifted away find a way back into the company? How much effort would it entail to make them feel welcome and interested again? Or, as families grew in size, was some degree of “floating away” necessary? Was there an optimal number of involved and uninvolved members, and how might this interplay with shareholding dynamics?