This dissertation comprises of a cover and four separate articles, which, together, aim to advance understanding of identity processes in family firms, specifically regarding the connection of family and firm identity. This connection can have advantages and disadvantages for both the family and the firm. However, identities, whether on individual, group or organizational level, are not static, so there is no reason to assume that the connection between the identities in family firms is static.

With the goal to explore how and why business families manage the identity connection between family and firm, a longitudinal case study was conducted in which 13 family firms in the hospitality sector in the Netherlands participated. The analysis is anchored in the related theoretical concepts of identity and reputation and literature from the field of psychology.

The review of the family firm literature in paper 1 shows that reputation can be seen as a key construct from various perspectives and that it is strongly connected to family firm literature about identity, goal setting, and the behavior of family firms. The empirical findings in paper 2, 3, and 4 show that a family firm identity, and the maintenance of the connection between family and firm, can have a profound effect on identity processes on individual, family and firm level. Perceived incongruences within and between these levels are incentives for owners to renegotiate how these levels are connected, although this does not have to be a conscious process. This renegotiation can include a change in identity to restore congruence. Perceptions about both external and internal stakeholders play a very important part in the degree to which and the way in which owners connect the family identity to the firm identity. Six interrelated dimensions of identity connection management were identified.

The dissertation contributes to the family firm literature by offering explanations for the management of the identity connection on the level of firm, family and individual family members and to the corporate communications literature by highlighting the influence of the family on communication decisions and vice versa.