NARRATIVES OF SURVIVAL: RESILIENCE STORIES IN FAMILY BUSINESSES AND BUSINESS FAMILIES

Research question

Can survival narratives help family businesses learn from the past and successfully recover from difficult events or crises?

Results of the project

From the survival narratives collected and analysed so far, a learning potential is derived that can be profitable for all actors of social crisis management. Learning in this case consists of being sensitised to the emergence, use and effect of survival narratives or even being able to participate in the generation and spread of such narratives.

In detail, family, socio-political, financial and technological challenges were examined, which were handled differently in the long-lived companies. On the one hand, there are recurring patterns of crisis management and similar narratives that have been passed down through generations. On the other hand, it looks for differences, especially with Japanese companies, and what lessons younger family businesses can learn from them.

Practice representatives

11 interviews in German and 6 Japanese family businesses from the 5th generation onwards with some kind of museum or historical documentation in the business.