Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how the family firm identity is affected when it is no longer publicly communicated.

Design/methodology/approach: A case study approach was used to follow a third-generation family business, a large Swedish home electronics firm that acquired a competitor and, initially, continued using its family firm identity after the acquisition. This study longitudinally tracks the company and its owning family using archival data combined with interviews.

Findings: The case company decided to stop communicating their identity as a family business. Such a move initially appears counterintuitive, since it potentially threatens the family firm identity and leads the firm to forgo other advantages, e.g. in branding. However, the decision was based on arguments that were rational from a business perspective, leading to a decoupling of family and firm identity.

Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by showing a decoupling of internally experienced and externally communicated identities. It further contributes to the understanding of the family firm identity concept.

Management innovations are an important source of competitive advantage, but we lack knowledge on the implementation process, not least in small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs). Recognising that psychological ownership (PO) represents a crucial aspect of the implementation process, we address micro-foundational characteristics of the implementation process. PO and critical incident theory (CIT) provide a lens enabling this micro analysis. The empirical setting is the implementation of Hoshin Kanri, a strategic management system in eight small companies. From the analysis of the eight cases, we operationalise four dimensions that characterise how PO evolves in the implementation process: types of PO incidents, frequency of PO incidents, incidents indicating an increase or decrease in PO, and incidents addressing individual or collective PO. Looking at how PO is developed both among CEOs and managers in SMEs, we use the four dimensions to characterise the evolvement of PO within the focal organisations. In doing so, our article elaborates on PO as a driver and, if insufficiently developed, an impediment to effectively implementing management innovations.

This article presents a systematic review of strategy research in Africa. The quantity of management research in general and strategy research in particular is growing on the continent, though from a low level. It is, however, characterized by a strong focus on South Africa and Ghana, hence not reflecting the cultural and economic diversity of the continent in detail. This review consists of 161 articles. The review found that research on strategy-performance relationship dominates the field. The cultural context and how it may influence strategy and strategy-making is still not well addressed. The article ends by suggesting future research directions based on the identified gaps.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to systematically review existing literature concerning the transmission of entrepreneurial values within the context of family entrepreneurship. Specifically, the study aims to address two primary inquiries: First, which entrepreneurial values transferred across generations have been discerned in family entrepreneurship literature? Second, what mechanisms for the transmission of these values have been identified within family entrepreneurship literature?

Design/methodology/approach: We utilized the Web of Science database to identify relevant articles. We employed a broad set of Boolean search terms related to family, entrepreneurship and values. Ultimately, 77 articles were selected for detailed analysis based on their relevance to the topic.

Findings: Our review identified a diverse array of entrepreneurial values that can be categorized into three themes: family values, family business values and societal entrepreneurial values. Furthermore, mechanisms facilitating the transmission of these values were classified into eight distinct types, i.e. relational embeddedness, vicarious learning, explicit communication, imprinting, educating, parenting styles, community-zeitgeist and genetics. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research on entrepreneurial value transmission in enterprising families.

Practical implications: Understanding how entrepreneurial values are transmitted within family firms can inform practices such as succession planning, leadership development and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship across generations.

Originality/value: This paper contributes to the theoretical development of family entrepreneurship by consolidating and synthesizing existing knowledge on entrepreneurial value transmission. It provides a comprehensive overview that can guide future empirical and conceptual investigations in this field.

This article examines the phenomenon of invented corporate heritage brands, i.e. heritage that is made up, exaggerated or far-fetched, to an extent that stakeholders may challenge its accuracy. Along six empirical cases, three dimensions characterizing invented heritage are identified, namely facticity, historical connectedness/disconnectedness, and temporal expansion/contraction. Companies draw on three different strategies to build invented corporate heritage brands: The appropriation strategy builds a heritage brand by leveraging the past of organizations that are forerunners of the present firm The forgetting strategy omits or tones down parts of the past that are deemed as not being useful for the brand. Eventually, the fantasizing strategy constructs a brand based on a purely invented past. Overall, the article provides evidence of the high degree of pragmatic flexibility (Burghausen and Balmer in Corporate Communications: an International Journal 19: 384–402, 2014a) inherent in corporate heritage. It also demonstrates how young brands can be infused with heritage, by appropriating the past of historical forerunners that are meaningfully connected to the brand.

Networking has been found to be an important source of SME’s growth and development, both in developed and developing countries. This study discusses the importance of networking in the context of Rwanda’s SMEs. Literature on firm growth and business networks discusses networks that the SMEs are involved in, and how these networks help them grow. This study which is set in the context of a developing country follows a case study approach in studying SMEs. Using a cross-case analysis, its findings show that networks remain important and contribute toward the growth of SMEs because they help them address most of their identified growth challenges. However, networks can address some but not all growth challenges and they can address these challenges differently for different SMEs. One case in this study brought together players that would not have been able to meet without the networks. Hence, the study suggests that complementary solutions need to be found for addressing all growth challenges faced by SMEs holistically.

Purpose – This chapter explores the m1eaning and significance of family business social responsibilities (FBSRs) using a metasystem approach, placing emphasis on the role of the family.

Design/Methodology/Approach – We employ a revelatory case study to investigate the complexity of family business (corporate) social responsibility. The main case, a German shoe retailer, is supplemented by other case illustrations that provide additional insights into FBSR.

Findings – To fully understand social responsibility in a family firm context, we need to include social initiatives that go beyond the actual family business as a unit. This FBSR connects family members outside and inside the business and across generations. As FBSR is formed through individual and familylevel values, its character is idiosyncratic and contrasts the often standardized approaches in widely held firms.

Practical Implication – Family businesses need to go beyond the business as such when considering their engagement in social responsibility. Family ownership implies that all social initiatives conducted by family members, regardless if they are involved in the firm or not, are connected. This includes a shared responsibility for what family members do at present and have done in the past.

In this commentary, we focus on invented corporate heritage, where organizations present falsified accounts of a corporate past. The extant corporate heritage literature has highlighted how the time frames of the past, present and future (omni temporality) are merged in those organizations where there is trait constancy. Focusing on invented corporate heritage, we argue that this represents an extreme case of these dialectics, where present and future precede “the past”, or more appropriately “invented past”. Although lacking in authenticity, an invented corporate heritage may still be attractive to consumers since it can construct an aura of authenticity by delivering an enchanting experience to consumers, irrespective of its substantive genuineness. However, such inventions carry considerable risk since they represent a fabrication of the past.

As an activity, entrepreneurship has been praised for its ability to create jobs in both developed and developing countries. Besides, nowadays the concern for environmental and others social issues are becoming equally competing with the employment creation issues. It has been argued that in a world of finite resources, the ‘business case’ for sustainability is not enough, businesses also need to consider the ‘social case’ which takes the social inequality and environmental degradation in to account. Parrish argues that this would help the sustainable entrepreneurship to slow down the rate of harm. This concern highlights on the importance of sustainable entrepreneurship. Sustainable entrepreneurship focuses on solving societal and environmental problems through realizing successful business. In such a process, a variety of stakeholder interests needs to be taken into account, without threatening the viability of the business. However sustainable entrepreneurship goes beyond sacrificing economic gain for being more sustainable. In fact, concern for sustainability helps creating entrepreneurial opportunities that businesses can use strategically to create competitive advantage over industry peers. As the realization of opportunities is at the heart of entrepreneurial activities (Shane & Venkataraman 2000), entrepreneurs can leverage sustainability in a way that addresses social and environmental needs while at the same time contributing to financial success. In the present paper we are going to investigate businesses in the Ethiopian tourism industry to find out how they integrate sustainability in the realization of entrepreneurial opportunities. Conducting qualitative case study on multiple ventures, we are going to answer the following research questions:

1) What attitude do entrepreneurs in the Ethiopian tourism industry have towards sustainability?

2) How do they engage in multi-stakeholder collaborations to make their ventures more sustainable?

3) How do they realize entrepreneurial opportunities connected to sustainability?

Today, there are so far very few empirical based studies on sustainable entrepreneurship, particularly in the case of developing countries. Ethiopia is an interesting context for our study for several reasons. It is ranked as a Least Developed Country by the UN, while at the same time being a popular tourism destination with attractions ranging from national parks to world famous cultural heritage sites. The growing tourism industry creates entrepreneurial opportunities and provides the country with a prospect of economic growth. At the same time, it is critical that tourism grows in a sustainable manner, avoiding social and environmental harm. In this context, collaborating with stakeholders such as employees, local communities and the government is critical for success.Empirically, this paper is based on a qualitative multiple case study of ventures in the Ethiopian tourism industry. We have conducted interviews with owners, manager and employees of the businesses as well as with stakeholders with whom they collaborate. In addition, we have analysed material from company websites and various types of written documentation. We find that the concern businesses show for sustainability varies a lot across cases. While some see sustainability mainly as a task for external stakeholders, others are very knowledgeable of the impact their own activities have on society and the environment. We show how this latter group of companies collaborates with different stakeholder groups to make their businesses more sustainable and to gain a competitive edge over other companies in their industry.