Organizational Stories in a Family-Owned Business

Abstract

This article explores the relationship of the family and business systems in a family-owned retail business. A group of 565 organizational stories collected in in-depth fieldwork is analyzed to reveal how family and nonfamily employees experience membership in a family business system. The argument is made that the stories reflect, in the events they describe and in the interpretations they offer, the day-to-day processes by which relations between the family and business systems are created and sustained. At Esteys, organizational stories help to construct a system dynamic that reinforces the family's influence over the business.