The Inheritance shows a lot of troubling family dynamics that can occur as a result of a family business. The family business, a steel manufacturer, is in deep crisis. It is a large company with a lot of debt and a recently deceased president. Christoffer has re-entered the family business in a state of upheaval and the decisions he makes have a great impact on many other people, especially the family. We have learned in class about the Parallel Planning Process, which synchronizes the needs and wants of the family and the business. In my opinion, the problem in The Inheritance was that there was no time for PPP. The business was in a state of crisis and Christoffer had to detach himself from a lot emotions in order to save the business. For example, Christoffer fires his sister’s husband because he had shown disloyalty. Even though his sister told Christoffer that she never wanted to see him again, he does not rehire him, at least not at first.
Christoffer is put in a position where he has to choose between family and business several times. Besides the example with his sister, his relationship with his wife is also put to the test. This relationship is particularly interesting because we can see it gradually deteriorate as the plot unfolds. The main issue here is that Christoffer had just started his life with his wife and then he was thrown back into the family business unexpectedly. There was no apparent succession planning so Christoffer had to devote too much time to the business or not enough time to his wife. Who do you think was more responsible for the break-up-Christoffer or his wife?
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This is a great analysis of the plot. I believe that a succession planning process was much needed and because it was not discussed earlier, the family went through much chaos in deciding on what to do with the family business.
In regards to who was in fault for the relationship to crumble, I obviously think it was Christoper’s fault. However, what was he to do? He was the only one in the family is was trustworthy for the whole family’s sake and was the one with the best skill for the business. How could he not help out his family in hard times and just explain to them that he wants to live his own life? Likewise, I think his wife was no accepting enough and should have realized that her life was changing in a new location.
I agree with you that Christoffer was put in a position he did not wanted to be in the first place. He was happily married and was the owner of a successful restaurant. However, as you point out the absence of a PPP in the family business when his father died was what make him to become the new CEO of the company hypothetically speaking because I think the mother was the one who wanted him to be in the first place the successor of the company and not her son in law because somehow she knew that she could manage him at will the way she had manage her husband. According to what we have learned in class the mother was supposed to be the glue of the family, however; she was doing the opposite in the movie and as a result a rift between Chris, his sister and her husband took place. Also, I think the values of the family were very different to the ones of the company because I cannot understand what was the reason the company contracted a big debt with the bank. Was it because the mother wanted to keep a family status in society and the money that the business was generating was not enough? Probably, but if this was the reason I don’t see her doing the same thing now that the merge took place, and if she planned to do it is a fact that the French company would buy them out. In regards to who was responsible for their marriage to break up I think it was Christoffer fault but what he was supposed to do? As a mentioned above he was manipulated by his mother to take decisions he did not wanted to do.
I believe Christoffer should have worked harder to preserve his marriage. He knew getting into the business what health and mental problems he would face. He also knew that his wife didn’t want to see him endure such pain and agony. Yet, against Maria’s wishes, he joined the business’s management team once again. Later on, he broke her promise of being in the business for only two years right in front of their dinner guests without even taking the consideration to discuss it with her prior to making the decision. She felt hurt and betrayed and I don’t blame her for taking their son and fleeing. Finally, when she gave him the chance to join her and their son’s life once more he skipped out on the opportunity. That amazed me because he was the one who sought her out. Yet, when she tried to have him come to the play then enjoy dinner later, he dropped the ball. For some reason, I believe his heart was no longer in the relationship by the end of the movie because. Either that is the case or he wanted to prevent the cycle from continuing on by protecting his son from the family business while simultaneously breaking Maria’s heart. After all, he did show up surprisingly out of the blue just as his father had in the beginning of the movie.
I really believe that Christoffer had more shortcomings that results on his break-up with his wife. We saw on the movie how Maria tried everything to support her husband as he took over the company although it is against her will from the start. She gave up her biggest career break as a theater actress in Stockholm to stay with her husband in Denmark, she advise Christoffer to talk to Benedikte and resolve their issues, she even go to Christoffer’s business dinner(s) as the supportive CEO wife. Yet, Christoffer seems to take her and their child for granted until the end and he didn’t even fight for them when they permanently went back to Stockholm. Maria did try to hold on till the end as we see on her theater performance but sometimes, no matter how hard to hold on things but if the other person is not exerting effort as he used to, then there’s no chance to make the relationship work.