Dealing with revered past: Historical identity statements and strategic change in Japanese family firms

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dc.contributorAalto-yliopistofi
dc.contributorAalto Universityen
dc.contributor.authorSasaki, Innanen_US
dc.contributor.authorKotlar, Josipen_US
dc.contributor.authorRavasi, Davideen_US
dc.contributor.authorVaara, Eeroen_US
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Management Studiesen
dc.contributor.organizationLancaster Universityen_US
dc.contributor.organizationPolytechnic University of Milanen_US
dc.contributor.organizationUniversity College Londonen_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-02-03T08:59:30Z
dc.date.available2020-02-03T08:59:30Z
dc.date.embargoinfo:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2021-07-22en_US
dc.date.issued2020-03-01en_US
dc.description.abstractResearch Summary This paper examines how strategy‐makers attempt to reconcile change initiatives with organizational values and principles laid out long before, still encased in strategic identity statements such as corporate mottos and philosophies. It reveals three discursive strategies that strategy‐makers use to establish a sense of continuity in time of change: elaborating (transferring part of the content of the historical statement into a new one), recovering (forging a new statement based on the retrieval and re‐use of historical references), and decoupling (allowing the co‐existence of the historical statement and a contemporary one). By so doing, our study advances research on uses of the past, establishes important linkages between identity and strategy research, and enhances our understanding of the intergenerational transfer of values in family firms. Managerial Summary Crafting a new corporate philosophy or mission statement can help implement strategic change, but can also be experienced as a disruption in people's sense of “who we are” as an organization. This paper reveals a variety of strategies that managers can use to deal with the tension between promoting change and maintaining a sense of continuity with a distant, revered past. By doing so, it helps managers confronting these issues deal with the enabling and constraining effects of the past. While this is a more general challenge for organizations with historical legacies, it is a particularly delicate issue for family firms grappling with the need to transfer values from one generation to the next, while retaining flexibility to change and adapt over time.en
dc.description.versionPeer revieweden
dc.format.extent34
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationSasaki, I, Kotlar, J, Ravasi, D & Vaara, E 2020, ' Dealing with revered past : Historical identity statements and strategic change in Japanese family firms ', Strategic Management Journal, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 590-623 . https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3065en
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/smj.3065en_US
dc.identifier.issn0143-2095
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: 3cc9b163-f6ca-4f9f-aab2-c5c651d42236en_US
dc.identifier.otherPURE ITEMURL: https://research.aalto.fi/en/publications/3cc9b163-f6ca-4f9f-aab2-c5c651d42236en_US
dc.identifier.otherPURE LINK: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070671059&partnerID=8YFLogxKen_US
dc.identifier.otherPURE FILEURL: https://research.aalto.fi/files/34480353/Mottos_CA_final_for_publications_10299_.docxen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/42891
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:fi:aalto-202002031970
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherWILEY-BLACKWELL
dc.relation.ispartofseriesStrategic Management Journalen
dc.rightsopenAccessen
dc.subject.keywordhistorical embeddednessen_US
dc.subject.keywordorganizational identityen_US
dc.subject.keywordstrategic changeen_US
dc.subject.keywordstrategic identity statementsen_US
dc.subject.keywordstrategy practicesen_US
dc.titleDealing with revered past: Historical identity statements and strategic change in Japanese family firmsen
dc.typeA1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessäfi
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