The way to organizational longevity - Balancing stability and change in Shinise firms

THE WAY TO ORGANIZATIONAL LONGEVITY – Balancing stability and change in Shinise firms The overall purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the secret of longevity in Shinise firms. On the basic assumption that organizational longevity is about balancing stability and change, the theoretical perspectives incorporate routine practice, organizational culture, and organizational identity. These theories explain stability and change in an organization separately and in combination. Qualitative inductive theory building was used in the study. Overall, the empirical data comprised 75 in-depth and semi-structured interviews, 137 archival materials, and observations made over 17 weeks. According to the empirical findings, longevity in Shinise firms is attributable to the internal mechanisms (Shinise tenacity, stability in motion, and emergent change) to secure a balance between stability and change, the continuing stability of the socio-cultural environment in the local community, and active interaction between organizational and local cultures. The contribution of the study to the literature on organizational longevity and the alternative theoretical approaches is first, in theorizing the mechanisms of Shinise tenacity and cross-level cultural dynamism, and second, in pointing out the critical role of: the way firms set their ultimate goal, the dynamism in culture, and the effect of history of the firm to the current business in securing longevity. KEY WORDS Change; Culture; Organizational identity; Organizational longevity; Routines; Shinise firms; Stability; Qualitative researchTIE ORGANISAATION PITKÄIKÄISYYTEEN – vakauden ja muutoksen tasapainottelu shinise-yrityksissä Tämän väitöskirjan tarkoituksena on tutkia shinise-yritysten pitkäikäisyyden salaisuutta. Väitöskirjan lähtökohtana on, että organisatorinen pitkäikäisyys perustuu vakauden ja muutoksen tasapainotteluun. Näin ollen väitöskirja pohjaa rutiinit käytäntöinä-, organisaatiokulttuurin ja organisaatioidentiteetin teorioihin, jotka selittävät niin yhdessä kuin erikseen vakautta ja muutosta organisaatioissa. Menetelmällisesti tutkimuksen lähtökohtana on laadullinen induktiivinen teorian rakentaminen. Empiirinen aineisto koostuu 75 puolistrukturoidusta tai syvähaas- tattelusta, 137 arkistodokumentista, sekä havainnoinnista 17 viikon ajanjaksolta. Empiiristen tulosten perusteella shinise-yritysten pitkäikäisyys pohjautuu kol- meen eri elementtiin: (1) yritysten sisäisiin mekanismeihin (shinise-sinnikkyys, vakaus liikkeessä ja muotoutuva muutos) vakauden ja muutoksen tasapainon turvaamiseksi; (2) paikallisen yhteisön sosio-kulttuurisen ympäristön jatkuvaan vakauteen; sekä (3) yrityskulttuurin ja paikallisen kulttuurin aktiiviseen vuoro- vaikutukseen. Väitöskirja kontribuoi organisaation pitkäikäisyyttä käsittelevään kirjallisuuteen sekä vaihtoehtoisiin teoreettisiin lähestymistapoihin kahdella tavalla: Yhtäältä, se teorisoi shinise-sinnikkyyden sekä kulttuuritasot ylittävän dynamiikan mekanismeja. Toisaalta, se osoittaa miten kriittinen rooli liiketoimin- nan pitkäikäisyyteen on (1) yritysten tavoitteiden asettamistavalla, (2) kulttuurin dynamiikalla ja (3) yrityksen historian vaikutuksella sen nykyiseen liiketoimin- taan. AVAINSANAT Muutos; Organisaatioidentiteetti; Organisaation pitkäikäisyys; Rutiinit; Shinise- yritykset; Vakaus; Laadullinen tutkimussiirretty Doriast

Secret for the longevity in Japanese Shinise companies : values and artifacts

Siirretty Doriast

Increasing dispositional legitimacy : progressive legitimation dynamics in a trajectory of settlements

By focusing on individual settlements rather than viewing them as part of a trajectory of change, prior research on institutional settlements has not fully captured the dynamics of longer-term institutional change. This is especially useful to better understand progressive legitimation dynamics; in other words, how successive settlements may increase legitimacy in a long-term trajectory of change. We argue this is a crucial issue for peripheral actors lacking the resources, status, or power of more central ones. Our historical analysis focuses on the long-term struggle of the Cree First Nation in Canada and explains how they succeeded in increasing their dispositional legitimacy in and through the settlements. This required work in three interrelated processes: expansive argumentation including problematizing of the state of affairs and creating discursive resonance with the prevailing discourses and values, building momentum by generating attention and exerting pressure in networks of actors, and seizing opportunities to negotiate with the other side. We challenge previous research on settlements by elucidating how they should not be merely seen as endpoints but rather as stepping-stones in a trajectory of institutional change. More specifically, we develop a process model explaining how progressive legitimation unfolds in a series of settlements

Syrian women refugees:coping with indeterminate liminality during forcible displacement

This paper examines how forcibly displaced people cope with prolonged liminality through identity work. Our paper is based on a longitudinal multiple case study of women refugees who fled Syria and experienced liminality in Amman-Jordan, The Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan and the United Kingdom. We contribute to the liminality literature by demonstrating how forcibly displaced people respond to extreme structural constraints and maintain cognitive control over their sense of selves during liminality with an end date that is unknown. We develop the concept of liminality by illustrating how the actors were pushed into a state of ‘indeterminate liminality’ and coped by co-constructing it through three forms of identity work – recomposing conflicting memories, reclaiming existence, and repositioning tradition. This enabled them to stretch the boundaries of indeterminate liminality and symbolically restore their familiar past and narratively construct a meaningful future

Family firms as institutions:Cultural reproduction and status maintenance among multi-centenary shinise in Kyoto

Our study investigated how multi-centenary family firms in the area of Kyoto – collectively known as shinise – maintain a high social status in the community. Our analysis unpacks the socio-cultural practices through which the ongoing interaction among these actors re-enacts and reproduces the social order that ascribes shinise a distinct social standing in exchange for their continued commitment to practices and structures that help the community preserve its cultural integrity and collective identity. By doing so, our findings trace a connection between status maintenance and the expressive function that a category of firms performs within a community. At the same time, our study reveals a dark side of high status, by showing how their commitments lock shinise in a position of ‘benign entrapment’ that may impose sacrifices on family members and severe limitations to their personal freedom

Managing cultural specificity and cultural embeddedness when internationalizing: Cultural strategies of Japanese craft firms

When entering international markets, manufacturers of consumer products are expected to adapt their products in order to meet local consumption practices. Doing so is particularly challenging for producers of culturally-specific products —that is, products that are little known, understood, or valued outside theiroriginal cultural milieu—whose operations are often deeply embedded in local conventions and traditions. To examine how SMEs navigate tensions between the cultural specificity of products and the cultural  embeddedness of operations when expanding internationally, we conducted a multiple case study ofJapanese producers of heritage craft located in Kyoto. Our findings reveal three strategies available to address these tensions—namely, selective targeting, cultural adaptation, and cultural transposition—and highlight the pivotal role played by local distributors and foreign designers, serving as culturalintermediaries, in bridging systems of domestic and foreign cultural practices and meanings. Our findings portray product adaptation as an ongoing process that unfolds along with a firm’s international expansion, as producers and intermediaries explore ways to bridge cultural differences. They illuminate thelengthy processes of learning and unlearning, adjusting, and rethinking that underlie managers’ efforts to strike a balance between standardization and adaptation as they internationalize.</p

Managing cultural specificity and cultural embeddedness when internationalizing : cultural strategies of Japanese craft firms

When entering international markets, manufacturers of consumer products are expected to adapt their products in order to meet local consumption practices. Doing so is particularly challenging for producers of culturally-specific products—that is, products that are little known, understood, or valued outside their original cultural milieu—whose operations are often deeply embedded in local conventions and traditions. To examine how SMEs navigate tensions between the cultural specificity of products and the cultural embeddedness of operations when expanding internationally, we conducted a multiple case study of Japanese producers of heritage craft located in Kyoto. Our findings reveal three strategies available to address these tensions—namely, selective targeting, cultural adaptation, and cultural transposition—and highlight the pivotal role played by local distributors and foreign designers, serving as cultural intermediaries, in bridging systems of domestic and foreign cultural practices and meanings. Our findings portray product adaptation as an ongoing process that unfolds along with a firm’s international expansion, as producers and intermediaries explore ways to bridge cultural differences. They illuminate the lengthy processes of learning and unlearning, adjusting, and rethinking that underlie managers’ efforts to strike a balance between standardization and adaptation as they internationalize

Understanding the impact of internal marketing practices on both employees ' and managers ' organizational commitment in elderly care homes

– The purpose of this paper is to unfold the relationship between the antecedents of employee and manager commitment, using internal marketing (IM) practices, in elderly care homes. Design/methodology/approach – Based on survey data drawn from elderly care homes in Finland, the authors tested several literature driven hypotheses of how IM practices (internal value exchange, internal communication and training) relate with employee and manager commitment. Hence, the authors compare the organizational commitment of two groups. Additionally, the authors tested the moderating role of public residence on these relationships. Findings – The study revealed that there are differences in the antecedents to employee and manager commitment in terms of internal value exchange. This is an important extension to the literature of employee and management commitment in which the antecedents to management commitment, especially, are under-investigated, and where the relationship between the antecedents of the two types of commitment are not studied. Practical implications – While different emphases on IM programs for employees and managers must be implemented in order to re-create work environments that could lead to improved service provision, the authors suggest that facilitating open and honest communication and exchanging values in care homes is a crucial step for improving service quality and employee and manager retention. Originality/value – This study has high value to both the literature and practice as high-service quality can be provided when both employee’s and manager’s commitments are in place, and without understanding the differing antecedents and their relationships, it is hard to establish both types of commitment in an organization. The authors believe that this new insight is useful in improving the service quality and employee and manager retention of organizations