How Family, Business, and Community Logics Shape Family Firm Behavior and “Rules of the Game” in an Organizational Field

Abstract

The relationships between family firms and their institutional contexts are critical to family firm legitimacy and sustainability. However, we still know little about how these relationships influence firm behavior. We draw on the institutional literature—institutional logics in particular—to investigate the behavior of different types of wineries within the Okanagan region in Western Canada. We analyze how family, business, and community logics guide firm behavior, and how different combinations of logics lead firms to take action that modifies the field to support their own legitimacy and sustainability.

Family business and regional science: “Bridging the gap”

“…This line of research is particularly important because family firms are characterized by their embeddedness in local or regional communities. To address this issue, institutional theory, specifically institutional logic, could be used to link existing research from regional economic development (e.g., Rodríguez-Pose, 2013) and family business studies (e.g., Reay et al, 2015). However, it is the space, particularly its characteristic as relational space (or, as Welter [2011] posits, as socio-spatial context), that may shape economic activities.…”

“…In this sense, the special issue responds to the call made by Markusen (2003) concerning the need for incorporating firm behavior into regional science. The effect of family firms for regional economic development is important because family firms typically exhibit strong (social) networks in their regions of operation, have long-term views when making decisions (Lumpkin, Brigham, & Moss, 2010), and are themselves influenced by their environment's community logic (Reay, Jaskiewicz, & Hinings, 2015). Therefore, this special issue provides a new set of factors that may facilitate or impede regional economic development.…”

Family values and inter-institutional governance of strategic decision making in Indian family firms

“…The first, and most immediate contribution, is to the emerging research stream on institutional logics, in particular literature that looks at the family's role as a nonmarket institution with its own institutional logic (i.e., firm is organized to serve family members) (Greenwood et al, 2010;Pache & Santos, 2013;Reay, Jaskiewicz, & Hinings, 2015;Thornton, Ocasio, & Lounsbury, 2012). The second, and more general contribution, is to the literature on entrepreneurship within family firms (Cruz, Howorth, & Hamilton, 2013;Schjoedt, Monsen, Pearson, Barnett, & Chrisman, 2013;Steier, Chua, & Chrisman, 2009).…”

Family Business’s Transitioning to Circular Economy Model: The Case of “Mercadona”

“…Since families also pursue nonfinancial goals in order to guarantee transgenerational sustainability, they will invest in proactive environmental practices [45]. Beyond these issues, a family firm could act heterogeneously, as Reay et al [50] argue. Family firms (lifestyle and traditional) can act to rearrange field-level logic and change the "rules of the game" to ensure their legitimacy and sustainability.…”