IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/fambus/v12y2021i4s1877858520301182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Surviving disruptive change: The role of history in aligning strategy and identity in family businesses

Author

Listed:
  • Bövers, Jana
  • Hoon, Christina

Abstract

Surviving a constantly changing environment is one of the challenges for the longevity of family firms. We assume that navigating through disruptive environments is inextricably linked to strategy and/or identity adaptation, modification and change. From a strategy-identity nexus point of view, these changes bear the risk of discontinuous shifts in strategy and identity. In this paper, we offer three types of strategy-identity inconsistencies and assume an alignment in strategy and identity as key for business survival. To uncover how family businesses bring order into their strategy and identity orientations, we draw upon the literature on the use of organizational history. We conducted a qualitative in-depth and longitudinal case study of a 100-year old German family business, which managed to survive major changes in the clothing industry. By exploring distinctive strategy-identity inconsistencies, we found three modes of the use of history (‘adjusting history’, ‘inventing history and historical forgetting’ and ‘invoking history’) whereby the family business drew upon historical accounts to ensure that identity was continuously enacted and expressed via strategy, and inferred, modified and affirmed from strategy. Our insights have significant implications not only for understanding the strategy-identity nexus in family businesses but also for research on the use of history.

Suggested Citation

  • Bövers, Jana & Hoon, Christina, 2021. "Surviving disruptive change: The role of history in aligning strategy and identity in family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:12:y:2021:i:4:s1877858520301182
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2020.100391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877858520301182
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfbs.2020.100391?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burghausen, Mario & Balmer, John M.T., 2014. "Corporate heritage identity management and the multi-modal implementation of a corporate heritage identity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2311-2323.
    2. Alvesson, Mats & Empson, Laura, 2008. "The construction of organizational identity: Comparative case studies of consulting firms," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Violina Rindova & Elena Dalpiaz & Davide Ravasi, 2011. "A Cultural Quest: A Study of Organizational Use of New Cultural Resources in Strategy Formation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 413-431, April.
    4. Dennis A. Gioia & Kumar Chittipeddi, 1991. "Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(6), pages 433-448, September.
    5. Zellweger, Thomas M. & Eddleston, Kimberly A. & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2010. "Exploring the concept of familiness: Introducing family firm identity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 54-63, March.
    6. Ari Ginsberg, 1988. "Measuring and modelling changes in strategy: Theoretical foundations and empirical directions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(6), pages 559-575, November.
    7. Mats Alvesson & Dan Kärreman, 2007. "Unraveling HRM: Identity, Ceremony, and Control in a Management Consulting Firm," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 711-723, August.
    8. Trish Reay, 2009. "Family–Business Meta–Identity, Institutional Pressures, and Ability to Respond to Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(6), pages 1265-1270, November.
    9. Mary Ann Glynn, 2000. "When Cymbals Become Symbols: Conflict Over Organizational Identity Within a Symphony Orchestra," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 285-298, June.
    10. Burgelman, Robert A. & Grove, Andrew S., 2007. "Let Chaos Reign, Then Rein In Chaos--Repeatedly: Managing Strategic Dynamics For Corporate Longevity," Research Papers 1954, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    11. Annemette Kjærgaard & Mette Morsing & Davide Ravasi, 2011. "Mediating Identity: A Study of Media Influence on Organizational Identity Construction in a Celebrity Firm," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 514-543, May.
    12. Jane E. Dutton & Liam Fahey & V. K. Narayanan, 1983. "Toward understanding strategic issue diagnosis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(4), pages 307-323, October.
    13. Memili, Esra & Eddleston, Kimberly A. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Zellweger, Thomas M. & Barnett, Tim, 2010. "The critical path to family firm success through entrepreneurial risk taking and image," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 200-209, December.
    14. Ungureanu, Paula & Bertolotti, Fabiola & Pilati, Massimo, 2019. "What drives alignment between offered and perceived well-being initiatives in organizations? A cross-case analysis of employer–employee shared strategic intentionality," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 742-759.
    15. Ileana Stigliani & Kimberly D. Elsbach, 2018. "Identity Co‐Formation in an Emerging Industry: Forging Organizational Distinctiveness and Industry Coherence Through Sensemaking and Sensegiving," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(8), pages 1323-1355, December.
    16. Kontinen, Tanja & Ojala, Arto, 2010. "The internationalization of family businesses: A review of extant research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 97-107, June.
    17. Astrachan, Joseph H., 2010. "Strategy in family business: Toward a multidimensional research agenda," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 6-14, March.
    18. Dennis A. Gioia & James B. Thomas & Shawn M. Clark & Kumar Chittipeddi, 1994. "Symbolism and Strategic Change in Academia: The Dynamics of Sensemaking and Influence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(3), pages 363-383, August.
    19. Paresha N. Sinha & Peter Jaskiewicz & Jenny Gibb & James G. Combs, 2020. "Managing history: How New Zealand's Gallagher Group used rhetorical narratives to reprioritize and modify imprinted strategic guideposts," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 557-589, March.
    20. Jaskiewicz, Peter & Combs, James G. & Rau, Sabine B., 2015. "Entrepreneurial legacy: Toward a theory of how some family firms nurture transgenerational entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 29-49.
    21. Pieper, Torsten M., 2010. "Non solus: Toward a psychology of family business," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 26-39, March.
    22. James J. Chrisman & Lloyd P. Steier & Jess H. Chua, 2008. "Toward a Theoretical Basis for Understanding the Dynamics of Strategic Performance in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(6), pages 935-947, November.
    23. Henry Mintzberg, 1978. "Patterns in Strategy Formation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(9), pages 934-948, May.
    24. Robert A. Burgelman & Andrew S. Grove, 2007. "Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos—repeatedly: managing strategic dynamics for corporate longevity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(10), pages 965-979, October.
    25. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton‐Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2011. "Family and Lone Founder Ownership and Strategic Behaviour: Social Context, Identity, and Institutional Logics," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-25, January.
    26. Blake E. Ashforth & Kristie M. Rogers & Kevin G. Corley, 2011. "Identity in Organizations: Exploring Cross-Level Dynamics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1144-1156, October.
    27. Stafford, Kathryn & Danes, Sharon M. & Haynes, George W., 2013. "Long-term family firm survival and growth considering owning family adaptive capacity and federal disaster assistance receipt," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 188-200.
    28. Marc-Michael H. Bergfeld & Felix-Michael Weber, 2011. "Dynasties of innovation: highly performing German family firms and the owners' role for innovation," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 13(1), pages 80-94.
    29. Angelo Riviezzo & Mika Skippari & Antonella Garofano, 2015. "Who wants to live forever: exploring 30 years of research on business longevity," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(7), pages 970-987, October.
    30. Wielsma, Albertha J. & Brunninge, Olof, 2019. "“Who am I? Who are we?” Understanding the impact of family business identity on the development of individual and family identity in business families," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 38-48.
    31. Petra Moog & Desiree Mirabella & Susanne Schlepphorst, 2011. "Owner orientations and strategies and their impact on family business," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 13(1), pages 95-112.
    32. Elsbach, Kimberly D. & Pieper, Torsten M., 2019. "How psychological needs motivate family firm identifications and identifiers: A framework and future research agenda," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    33. Innan Sasaki & Josip Kotlar & Davide Ravasi & Eero Vaara, 2020. "Dealing with revered past: Historical identity statements and strategic change in Japanese family firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 590-623, March.
    34. Mary Tripsas, 2009. "Technology, Identity, and Inertia Through the Lens of “The Digital Photography Company”," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 441-460, April.
    35. De Massis, Alfredo & Kotlar, Josip, 2014. "The case study method in family business research: Guidelines for qualitative scholarship," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 15-29.
    36. Nicolas Antheaume & Paulette Robic & Dominique Barbelivien, 2013. "French family business and longevity: Have they been conducting sustainable development policies before it became a fashion?," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(6), pages 942-962, September.
    37. Lindow, Corinna M. & Stubner, Stephan & Wulf, Torsten, 2010. "Strategic fit within family firms: The role of family influence and the effect on performance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 167-178, September.
    38. Christopher Wickert & Antonino Vaccaro & Joep Cornelissen, 2017. "“Buying” Corporate Social Responsibility: Organisational Identity Orientation as a Determinant of Practice Adoption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 497-514, May.
    39. Julia VINCENT PONROY & Patrick LÊ & Camille PRADIES, 2019. "In a Family Way? A Model of Family Firm Identity Maintenance by Non-Family Members," Working Papers 2019-015, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    40. Nordqvist, Mattias & Melin, Leif, 2010. "The promise of the strategy as practice perspective for family business strategy research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 15-25, March.
    41. Majken Schultz & Tor Hernes, 2013. "A Temporal Perspective on Organizational Identity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 1-21, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Serhan, Carole & Nader, Rami & Gereige, William, 2023. "Modeling the effect of continuity and change as paradoxical forces in the inter-generational transition process of family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    2. Roy Suddaby & Trevor Israelsen & Francois Bastien & Rohny Saylors & Diego Coraiola, 2023. "Rhetorical History as Institutional Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 242-278, January.
    3. Czakon, Wojciech & Hajdas, Monika & Radomska, Joanna, 2023. "Playing the wild cards: Antecedents of family firm resilience," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Goel, Sanjay & Mazzola, Pietro & Phan, Phillip H. & Pieper, Torsten M. & Zachary, Ramona K., 2012. "Strategy, ownership, governance, and socio-psychological perspectives on family businesses from around the world," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 54-65.
    2. Brinkerink, Jasper & Rondi, Emanuela & Benedetti, Carlotta & Arzubiaga, Unai, 2020. "Family business or business family? Organizational identity elasticity and strategic responses to disruptive innovation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    3. Basco, Rodrigo, 2013. "The family's effect on family firm performance: A model testing the demographic and essence approaches," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 42-66.
    4. Francesca Ricciardi & Elisa Giacosa & Francesca Culasso, 2021. "Stepchildren or prodigal employees? Motives and consequences of employee entrepreneurship in family business," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 229-247, March.
    5. Barros, Ismael & Hernangómez, Juan & Martin-Cruz, Natalia, 2016. "A theoretical model of strategic management of family firms. A dynamic capabilities approach," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 149-159.
    6. Snihur, Yuliya & Clarysse, Bart, 2022. "Sowing the seeds of failure: Organizational identity dynamics in new venture pivoting," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(1).
    7. Sondos G. Abdelgawad & Shaker A. Zahra, 2020. "Family Firms’ Religious Identity and Strategic Renewal," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(4), pages 775-787, May.
    8. Bingbing Ge & Alfredo De Massis & Josip Kotlar, 2022. "Mining the Past: History Scripting Strategies and Competitive Advantage in a Family Business," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 223-251, January.
    9. Elsbach, Kimberly D. & Pieper, Torsten M., 2019. "How psychological needs motivate family firm identifications and identifiers: A framework and future research agenda," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    10. Dawson, Alexandra & Mussolino, Donata, 2014. "Exploring what makes family firms different: Discrete or overlapping constructs in the literature?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 169-183.
    11. Innan Sasaki & Josip Kotlar & Davide Ravasi & Eero Vaara, 2020. "Dealing with revered past: Historical identity statements and strategic change in Japanese family firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 590-623, March.
    12. Czakon, Wojciech & Mania, Karolina & Jedynak, Monika & Kuźniarska, Aneta & Choiński, Michał & Dabić, Marina, 2024. "Who are we? Analyzing the digital identities of organizations through the lens of micro-interactions on social media," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    13. Wielsma, Albertha J. & Brunninge, Olof, 2019. "“Who am I? Who are we?” Understanding the impact of family business identity on the development of individual and family identity in business families," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 38-48.
    14. Kreutzer, Karin & Rueede, Dominik, 2019. "Organizational identity consistency in a discontinuous corporate volunteering program," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 455-467.
    15. Reinhard Prügl & Dinah Isabel Spitzley, 2021. "Responding to Digital Transformation by External Corporate Venturing: An Enterprising Family Identity and Communication Patterns Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 135-164, January.
    16. Miruna Radu-Lefebvre & James Davis & William Gartner, 2024. "Legacy in Family Business: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-04515862, HAL.
    17. Lindow, Corinna M. & Stubner, Stephan & Wulf, Torsten, 2010. "Strategic fit within family firms: The role of family influence and the effect on performance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 167-178, September.
    18. Mazzi, Chiara, 2011. "Family business and financial performance: Current state of knowledge and future research challenges," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 166-181.
    19. Aldrich, Howard E. & Brumana, Mara & Campopiano, Giovanna & Minola, Tommaso, 2021. "Embedded but not asleep: Entrepreneurship and family business research in the 21st century," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1).
    20. Roy Suddaby & Trevor Israelsen & Francois Bastien & Rohny Saylors & Diego Coraiola, 2023. "Rhetorical History as Institutional Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 242-278, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:12:y:2021:i:4:s1877858520301182. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/719791/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.