“C’era una volta…”. Racconti d’imprese storiche della manifattura campana ("Once upon a time...". Tales about the historic manufacturing firms from Campania)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s98.2015.07Keywords:
stories of companies, longevity, statistical-lexical analysisAbstract
Purpose of the paper: The main aim of this paper is to analyze the content of the stories of some long-lived companies in order to identify recurring elements and examine the rhetoric used in the narrative.
Methodology: The empirical research is based on the statistical-lexical analysis of twelve stories of manufacturing firms belonging to an association of historical family firms called “I Centenari”. The text of the stories, told by the voice of the entrepreneurs, was analyzed by using a software.
Findings: Our analysis shows a significant similarity between the stories. All the stories are built on three key narrative themes: the story of the family; the story of the business in which it is involved; the elements capable of shaping the identity of the family.
Research limits: The main limitation of the study relates to the number and characteristics of the firms involved. They are all manufacturing firms and all from the same region. Furthermore, the study focused only on the content of the stories, ignoring other perspectives, such as that related to the marketing potential of the stories themselves or the involvement of other stakeholders.
Practical implications: From the experience narrated by long-lived family firms it is possible to draw valuable insights for the enhancement of longevity in a marketing-oriented perspective.
Originality of the paper: The literature that uses the story as a tool for researching on organizational dynamics has never focused on the analysis of the precise elements shared by the stories of long-lived firms. The present study is the first with such an objective.
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BOJE D.M. (1991), “The storytelling organization: A study of story performance in an office-supply firm”, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 36, n. 1, pp. 106-126.
BOJE D.M. (1995), “Stories of the storytelling organization: A postmodern analysis of Disney as “Tamara-Land””, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 38, n. 4, pp. 997-1035.
BURGELMAN R., GROVE A. (2007), “Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos-repeatedly: Managing strategic dynamics for corporate longevity”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 28, n. 10, pp. 965-979.
CABONI F., DESSÍ S., GIUDICI E. (2013), “Storytelling: a strategy for brand communication”, Atti del XXV Convegno annuale di Sinergie, 18-19 ottobre, Lecce.
CODELUPPI V. (1995), I consumatori. Storia, tendenze, modelli, Franco Angeli, Milano.
CORBETTA G., SALVATO C. (2012), Strategies for longevity in family firms, Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke.
CORTESE C.G. (1999), L’organizzazione si racconta. Perché occuparsi di cose che effettivamente sono tutte storie, Guerini e associati, Milano.
CZARNIAWSKA B. (1997), Narrating the organization: Dramas of institutional identity, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
CZARNIAWSKA B. (1998), A narrative approach to organization studies, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
CZARNIAWSKA B. (2000), The uses of narrative in organization research, Research Institute School of Economics and Commercial Law, Gothenburg.
DENNING S. (2004), “Telling tales”, Harvard Business Review, vol. 82, n. 5, pp. 122-129.
DOWLING G.R. (2006), “Communicating corporate reputation through stories”, California Management Review, vol. 49, n. 1, p. 81-100.
FOG K. (2010), Storytelling: Branding in practice, Samfundslitteratur Press, Frederiksberg.
FONTANA S. (2010), Marketing narrativo. Usare lo storytelling nel marketing contemporaneo, Franco Angeli, Milano.
FONTANA A. (2013), Manuale di Storytelling: Raccontare con efficacia prodotti, marchi e identità d’impresa, Etas, Milano.
GABRIEL Y. (2000), Storytelling in organizations. Facts, Fiction and Fantasies, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
GEUS D.A. (1997), The Living Company, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
GIARETTA E. (2004), Vitalità e longevità d’impresa. L’esperienza delle aziende ultracentenarie, Giappichelli Editore, Torino.
GOTO T. (2006), “Longevity of Japanese family firms” in Poutzioris P.Z., Smyrnios K.X., Klein S.B. (eds), Handbook of Research on Family Business, Elgar, London, pp. 517-534.
INVOLTI S., FONTANA A. (2007), “Storytelling. Qual è il contributo dello storytelling all’interno della vita delle organizzazioni e delle loro attività?”, Sviluppo and Organizzazione, n. 220, Marzo/Aprile, pp. 55-74.
JENKINS H. (2009), Confronting the challenges of participatory culture. Media Education for the 21st Century, MIT Press, USA documento disponibile al sito: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262513623_Confronting_the_Challenges.pdf
JENKINS H. (2006), Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide, NYU press, New York.
KRIPPENDORFF K. (1983), Analisi del contenuto. Introduzione metodologica Eri, Torino.
LENCI A., MONTEMAGNI S., PIRRELLI V. (2005), Testo e computer. Elementi di linguistica computazionale, Carocci Editore, Roma.
MISIURA S., (2006), Heritage marketing, Burterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
MITROFF I., KILMANN, R. H. (1975), “Stories Managers Tell: A New Tool for Organizational Problem Solving”, Management Review, vol. 67, n. 7, pp. 18-28.
MONTELLA M. (2008), “Conoscenza e informazione del cultural heritage come spazio d’impresa”, Sinergie, n. 76, pp. 91-111.
MONTEMAGGI M., SEVERINO F. (2007), Heritage marketing. La storia dell’impresa italiana come vantaggio competitivo, Franco Angeli, Milano.
MUSSO P. (2005), I nuovi territori della marca. Percorsi di senso, discorsi, azioni (vol. 7), Franco Angeli, Milano.
O’HARA W.T. (2004), Centuries of success. Lessons from the most enduring family businesses, Adams Media Corporation, Avon.
PARKHE A. (1991), “Interfirm diversity, organizational learning, and longevity in global strategic alliances”, Journal of International business Studies, vol. 22, n. 4, pp. 579-601
QUALIZZA G. (2009), “Lo storytelling nella comunicazione d’impresa”, Tigor: rivista di scienze della comunicazione - A.I, n. 2 (luglio-dicembre).
QUALIZZA G. (2012), “Connecting people”. Le nuove vie della comunicazione non convenzionale, download in data 14 maggio 2014 da: http://etabeta.univ.trieste.it/dspace/handle/10077/7338.
READY D.A. (2002), “How Storytelling Builds Next Generation Leaders”, Sloan Management Review, vol. 43, n. 4, pp. 63-69.
SALMON C. (2008), Storytelling: La fabbrica delle storie, Fazi Editore, Roma.
SCHULTZ M., HATCH M.J., LARSEN M.H. (Eds.). (2000), The Expressive Organization: Linking Identity, Reputation, and the Corporate Brand, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
SCOLARI C.A. (2009), “Transmedia storytelling: Implicit consumers, narrative worlds, and branding in contemporary media production”, International Journal of Communication, vol. 3, n. 4, pp. 586-606.
STADLER C. (2007). “The four principles of enduring success”, Harvard Business Review - Managing for the long term, July-August.
TÀPIES J., FERNÀNDEZ M. (2010), “Values and longevity in family business: evidence from a cross-cultural analysis”, IESE Business School, Working Paper, 866, July.
URDE M., GREYSER S.A., BALMER J.M.T. (2007), “Corporate Brands with a Heritage”, Journal of Brand Management, vol. 15, n. 1, pp. 4-19.
VAN RIEL (2000), “Corporate communication orchestrated by sustainable corporate story”, in Schultz M., Hatch M.J., Larsen M.H. (Eds.), (2000), The Expressive Organization, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
WEBER R.P. (1995), Fondamenti di analisi del contenuto, (trad. it.) (a cura di) Badami G., Costantino S., Sigma Edizioni, Palermo (ed. orig. 1990).
WOODSIDE A.G., SOOD S., MILLER K.E. (2008), “When consumers and brands talk: Storytelling theory and research in psychology and marketing”, Psychology and Marketing, vol. 25, n. 2, pp. 97-145.
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2015-12-30
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