Accounting and joint ventures
My parents recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They have been together for more than fifty years and most likely have never been in other long-term relationships. They met when they were still in the countryside in Haiti, teenagers, and students trying to figure out an uncertain future in an uncertain country. They supported each other from adolescence through adulthood, from grad schools in different countries to professional careers in an uncertain country, started a family, built many houses, and supported all of their siblings - they are the oldest in their families and implicitly were responsible for their siblings. They welcomed four children, one daughter first (me) and three sons. After building a successful life in Haiti, they immigrated to Canada, went back to school, and switched careers while supporting our education. My parents are partially retired now, enjoying a simple life and still working hard in the garden they started.
I use my parents’ marriage as a template for my relationship. They have had their ups and downs (most I have witnessed), but they always put them aside or resolve them promptly so they can focus on their objectives. Of course, my mom is annoyed with my dad’s stubbornness and my dad is annoyed with my mom’s indecisiveness (is she? she is the actual boss). In my next life, I do want to be a love coach or a relationship coach. In my current boring life, I mentally categorize all marriages as either joint ventures or business combinations.
A joint venture happens when two or more parties get together and pool their resources for a common goal or purpose. Joint ventures are the basis of all human endeavors, from the first known communities to our modern organized societies. Joint ventures bring the good and the bad and they are for the best and the worst. No wars, no revolutions, and no independence were won without the combination of resources, strength, and sacrifices of time and lives. Two friends sharing their wardrobe to go clubbing is a joint venture, they are pooling their clothing resources for a common goal which is to have a good time and maybe meet someone interesting. Joint ventures are celebrated in history, they are stories of victory and never of defeats (after all, history is written by the winners).
"Unity is Strength (L’union fait la force)" is the emblem of the Haitian flag. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”, this is per a famous African proverb. The world was built through joint ventures, and two parents raising a child together is the most basic joint venture. Parents fundraising for the annual school trip is a joint venture, the parents are pooling their monies and their time for the common goal of providing a good experience to their children. Family members and friends organizing a potluck is also a joint venture, as all the participants are combining their resources (yummy food) to satisfy their desire for community. Every company started as a joint venture when the founders got together to pursue their common ideas. Employees working, are providing their time and experience for a common goal, which is either to achieve profitability or gain market share and dominance. Also, companies and entities get together every day to pursue a common goal, gain access to a new market or develop a new product. Whether we know it or not, we are entering many joint ventures, partnerships, or agreements many times per day and over the course of our lives.
Most joint ventures usually have as elements, an agreement which can be written, oral, tacit, or implicit, mutual contributions from all the parties, an understanding of responsibilities and controls, a period, and an understanding of how the outputs or profits are going to be shared. Assets that can be contributed include money, time, professional expertise, food, department, furniture, plants, trees, etc...
However, accounting is biased and does not beat around the bush. For accounting, the most important determinant in the recording of joint ventures is the word "control". This word has a negative connotation and creates stigma in most human relationships and definitely in marriages. Nonetheless, there are no joint ventures without control, the feeling of "being in control" or the feeling of "being controlled".
Who has it? Who exercises it? Who makes the decision? Who can exercise the most influence? Who has significant influence over the directions of the community or the joint venture? My daughter knows where to go when it is time to ask for a present or a new doll. I usually have significant influence in my parenting joint venture but, unfortunately, I am the softie that can never say no to her big puppy eyes.
Joint ventures are about controls. And that control can be silent, invisible, implicit, formalized, and omnipresent. The accounting rules indicate that anybody with voting power of more than 20% is influential or has control. However, that measure is not the only condition and other qualitative factors such as board seats, executive positions, policy-making abilities, territorial occupation, and geopolitical characters should be considered.
I recently talked with my female late-twenties cousin and reminded her how important it is to make sure that you have the same goals, and that you are on the same page, as your potential partner. We are all reading the same book, after all, the book of life. Imagine, if you are reading the introduction of that book and your partner is at the end of this book... Imagine, him or her, having to wait, keeping their silence, not to spoil it for you... or if he/she does it, how annoying it is, how paternalistic, it feels. And what if you are just a couple of pages or chapters ahead, would you want to wait? Would you be patient? Would you be condescending? I have been in these relationships, where the balance of control always felt skewed, where I was being told what to do and felt like a child, or where I had to nurse an adult and felt so jaded. Just like in a marriage, choosing the right partner is the most important decision. Why doesn't accounting reflect on the quality of the partnership? Why is control, the key element? Is accounting right or wrong?
After I turned on the TV and learned that Kevin McCarthy had become the Speaker of the House of Representatives after making some major concessions to a tiny majority. Was this a joint venture, an acquisition, or a conquest? Were all of these venture politicians reading the same book, fighting for the same goals?
When I asked my mom why she fell for my dad, she answered that his persistence conquered her, even though he had no assets, and only possessed one shirt. My dad, tenderly reminded her that the shirt was not his, but belonged to his cousin, and the car that he used to pick her up at school was also a loan. He also added that he spent many months studying with her so she could pass all of the exams and that she was always on time, waiting for him with her smile, her best asset.
When I asked why their marriage is so strong, my mom answered that they just shared a common vision and always had common goals. Their common goals were to be successful, to keep their marriage strong, to raise good children, and to retire in peace. And last week, their common goals were to feed their children the best Haitian home-cooked meals, spoil their grandchildren with holiday gifts, and never miss a sunset at the beach where they are spending their winter.
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