Seminar – Family Firms as Institutions: A Study of Multi-Centenary Japanese Shinise

Professor Davide Ravasi, Cass Business School

with Professor Royston Greenwood, University of Alberta Business School, as discussant and commenting on “where institutional theory is going”.

In this study, we build on Selznick’s theoretical insights to investigate how a group of multi-centenary family firms that are regarded as “institutions” – Japanese shinise – maintain this status. Our findings reveal a system of mutually supporting relationships between family, business, and community that explain the distinctive social standing of these organisations, the preservation of their identity-defying elements despite environmental changes, and their striking continuity. This study contributes to family business research and institutional theory by beginning to unpack the interrelations between communities, as a distinctive sociocultural context, and family firms, and by extending Selznick’s ideas beyond organisational boundaries to appreciate the central role of communities in providing and preserving values.

Paper co-authored by Innan Sasaki and Evelyn R. Micelotta.