For family business Hop Lion Feather Works, the path to succession was a marathon
Leadership of the century-old company was handed from father to son after years of preparation, and bonding through ultra-marathon runs
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Hop Lion Feather Works’ fourth- and fifth-generation owners share their succession stories
Can you imagine the pressure of inheriting the helm of a family business that is over 100 years old? That was the challenge that Olle Chen, president of Hop Lion Feather Works, faced back in 2015.
Hop Lion was originally established in Taipei in 1908 as an exporter of used cans, bottles and other materials. In 1975, it began producing down jackets. Today, it is known as one of the world’s oldest and most respected manufacturers of down and feather materials, with production bases in various countries including Canada, Japan and South Korea.
As if taking over a century-old family business was not tough enough, Olle only learned of his new role through a public announcement emailed out by his father, Chen Koon-yaw, the fourth-generation leader of Hop Lion.
“There wasn’t any prior communication,” Olle recalls. “I received an email saying the chairman handover ceremony would be held on October 9, 2015.”
Dramatic as that move may seem, it can be regarded as a way for Koon-yaw to express the confidence he had in his son, who started running marathons in 2008 and quickly moved up to ultra-marathons.
The father and son took on those gruelling ultra-marathon runs together. “It created a stronger bond between my father and me,” Olle says. “You’re left alone in the desert. Seven days, six nights. You have to handle everything yourself.
“It really taught me how to endure – just like running a company.”
Koon-yaw adds: “After seeing him run the ultra-marathon not just once, but three times, I knew he could bear the responsibility.”
But the succession plan had been on his mind long before that. When Olle was only a child of six or seven, Koon-yaw would take him along to client dinners in Japan, in order to give him exposure to the family business. He also arranged for Olle to move to New Zealand with his mother for his early education, while Koon-yaw stayed in Taiwan to keep Hop Lion running.
“Because the business I was doing was global, I wanted him to study in an environment where he could learn English,” Koon-yaw explains. “I [then] arranged for him to study at the executive MBA programme at National Chengchi University. After he finished, I believed it was time to hand over the baton.”
A decade on from that handover, Olle is taking his leadership role in stride. “We need to absorb a lot of information, understand the trends in the world and make adjustments to respond to upcoming times and trends. This is clear and constant,” he says.
Even while guiding Hop Lion’s next evolution, he holds true to the core values that his family built the business around. “The spirit of it should remain the same: operate with integrity and ensure quality,” he says.
Olle also reveres the company’s tradition of treating everyone from scrap collectors to grain merchants with respect. During Hop Lion’s early days operating as a shop, people were welcomed in to be offered tea and food, as well as a place to wash up and rest.
“All our employees, like management, are concerned about the company round the clock. But they also enjoy the returns. They are family, and that’s what it means to be a family business,” he says.
“The success of the business doesn’t lie with me alone, but with the strength of the team. My role is to provide the right direction and support so that everyone can thrive together.”
Check out the video to hear these two generations of Hop Lion leaders each share their personal experiences of becoming successors in the family business. This story is the first of a three-part series, “Carrying on a legacy”, produced by Morning Studio in partnership with UOB Private Bank.
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