In family business studies, sustainability is an upcoming subject. The wine sector is an industry in which family firms and sustainable practices are deeply intertwined and widely analysed. Prior research focused on long-lasting family businesses in old and mature wine districts. This study aims to identify and understand sustainability practices in first-generation family firms in the emerging Scanian wine sector, with a particular focus on copreneurial ventures. By embracing a micro-foundational lens, the research focuses on the individual level, i.e., the family members at the head of the business, and aims to answer the following research questions: (RQ1) How do first-generation family firm members in a nascent wine country make sense of sustainability practices? and (RQ2) How do they integrate sustainability into their family firms? We have adopted a qualitative approach based on multiple case studies and collected data from three copreneurial ventures. Using Gioia method to analyse data, we have identified two aggregate dimensions: foundations of sustainability and sustainability development. “Foundations of sustainability” refers to RQ1 and concerns how first-generation family firm members make sense of sustainability practices. This dimension includes three themes: values, well-being and living in nature, more than organic. The “sustainability development” dimension refers to RQ2 and concerns how first-generation family firm members integrate sustainability practices into their family 83 firms. This dimension includes two themes: experiencing sustainability and spreading sustainability. The paper contributes to deepening knowledge of how family members interpret sustainability and translate it into their business and aims to get to the root of sustainability by providing a theoretical explanation of how firm-level outcomes (sustainability practices, in our case) emerge from the values, beliefs and behaviours of individuals.
Sustainability practice in first-generation family firms. Some empirical evidence from the Scanian wine sector
Annalisa Sentuti;Francesca Maria Cesaroni
2023
Abstract
In family business studies, sustainability is an upcoming subject. The wine sector is an industry in which family firms and sustainable practices are deeply intertwined and widely analysed. Prior research focused on long-lasting family businesses in old and mature wine districts. This study aims to identify and understand sustainability practices in first-generation family firms in the emerging Scanian wine sector, with a particular focus on copreneurial ventures. By embracing a micro-foundational lens, the research focuses on the individual level, i.e., the family members at the head of the business, and aims to answer the following research questions: (RQ1) How do first-generation family firm members in a nascent wine country make sense of sustainability practices? and (RQ2) How do they integrate sustainability into their family firms? We have adopted a qualitative approach based on multiple case studies and collected data from three copreneurial ventures. Using Gioia method to analyse data, we have identified two aggregate dimensions: foundations of sustainability and sustainability development. “Foundations of sustainability” refers to RQ1 and concerns how first-generation family firm members make sense of sustainability practices. This dimension includes three themes: values, well-being and living in nature, more than organic. The “sustainability development” dimension refers to RQ2 and concerns how first-generation family firm members integrate sustainability practices into their family 83 firms. This dimension includes two themes: experiencing sustainability and spreading sustainability. The paper contributes to deepening knowledge of how family members interpret sustainability and translate it into their business and aims to get to the root of sustainability by providing a theoretical explanation of how firm-level outcomes (sustainability practices, in our case) emerge from the values, beliefs and behaviours of individuals.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
