Living legacy: Organisational history as integration tool

Introduction

One of the often-debated topics in today’s organisations is the time spent by different stakeholders in the firm integrating functions, professionalising operations and managing cultural change during the acquisition process. And to do so in a way that brings success, not failure, of the post-merger integration process. What is often overlooked, however, is a powerful tool every organisation has: the strategic use of organisational history.

Our research into the acquisitions and changes of a medium-sized family-owned business has shown that companies can use ’rhetorical history’, the deliberate (strategic) interpretation and communication of the past, as a mechanism for integration, stakeholder alignment and value creation.

Our work provides an alternative and integrative view on post-merger integration success and failure and adds to the debate by bringing in the role of rhetorical history. Below we use the case of the evolution of an Italian packaging company, referred to as ’Alpha’, from a local family firm into an international group to illustrate the integration potential of rhetorical history.

The challenge at stake: competing goals inside a growing organisation

As organisations expand, they often encounter competing priorities. These become even more muddled when different family members in the ownership group envision different goals and futures for the organisation. Founders may want to preserve the culture whilst investors demand growth. Some family owners may focus on growth whilst their relatives demand family preservation and control.

At Alpha, these dynamics came to a head in its development. Conflict emerged between family-centred goals (preservation of family’s role in the business and the local community) and business-centred goals (oriented towards innovation, growth, professionalisation and internationalisation). Part of the family wanted the company to expand, grow in the Italian (through an IPO and acquisitions of other local businesses) and international markets (through acquisitions and expansions of operations). Another part of the family wanted to maintain the family-centric and community-based character of the organisation, a characteristic that made Alpha successful for over 50 years and provided significant reputational guarantees. This led to a tension that went beyond family dynamics and kitchen table discussions. It affected how the organisation was managed, change defined and implemented. Ultimately, the family moved towards a deliberate, strategic use of their history and the founder’s legacy to implement change. In what follows we point to some of Alpha’s winning points for its growth and how other firms may benefit from thinking of the role of rhetorical history in their organisation.

Integration through narrative alignment

A key insight from our study is that successful integration requires more than structural change. It requires narrative alignment.

The family tensions and diverging priorities exacerbated into a major leadership conflict in Alpha. Alpha faced a paradox between two conflicting goal systems: ’happy family’ and ’successful company’, sustained by two different strands of the family. Different family members held divergent visions for the firm’s future. On one hand, harmony and continuity were at the forefront. On the other, innovation and aggressive growth were central to their strategy. The turning point did not happen through governance decisions; it happened through a shift in organisational storytelling.

The firm’s history was gradually reframed around innovation. What was stressed was the innovative character of the founder, her out-of-the-box thinking and willingness to work hard to achieve ambitious goals. Emphasis was also put on her commitment to the family and the local community. The reframing of this narrative happened through internal communications, anniversary celebrations, sustainability reports, newsletters and executive messaging all reinforcing a narrative that presented innovation as the company’s historical and defining characteristic.

By linking future growth initiatives to a story of past innovation, management created legitimacy for strategic change. The success of this narrative reframing evidences that people are more willing to support transformation when it is presented as a continuation of who the organisation has always been rather than a move away from its heritage. In essence, Alpha did not introduce innovation as a new strategic priority; it claimed – and put effort into sustaining this narrative - to have always been innovative.

The ’big family’: Creating value through professionalisation

Whilst this first conflict subsided and found an organic resolution, Alpha faced a second challenge when it pursued an IPO, expanded internationally, hired professional managers to cover key strategic positions and undertook acquisitions. These moves increased organisational capability and growth potential, but they also threatened the identity of the company. Whilst still playing within the innovation narrative, the issue shifted towards the need to professionalise (and let go of some family-centric dynamics). This led to a core dilemma for the family owners: to professionalise or not to professionalise?

External expertise and professionalisation were seen as needed to generate value and scalable systems. These initiatives were deemed key given the internationalisation and expansion strategy. Yet, they also posed a challenge: they could weaken the cultural bonds that made the company successful in the first place. The turning point came through a further reframing of the company narrative: instead of positioning professionalisation as change, Alpha rooted it in their family business narrative. Alpha moved from being a family business to a business with a ’bigger family’ that included employees, managers and the newly integrated stakeholders.

This renewed ’bigger family’ narrative served two objectives simultaneously: it preserved the original identity of the family business whilst enabling organisational growth (i.e., economic objective) through cultural integration (i.e., social objective). In short, Alpha proposed itself as a ’big family’ where everyone has an opportunity to co-create its future. From celebrating employees and their personal life achievements, to involving them in strategic thinking, Alpha managed to justify a professionalisation that was necessary for its future growth.

Why this matters for acquisitions and integration

Our findings speak to organisations managing post-merger integration. Traditional integration initiatives focus on systems, governance and processes. However, we argue that mergers might fail because of unresolved tensions across multiple and at times conflicting visions of the organisational identity.

The study demonstrates the importance of managing these different stakeholder understandings of organisational history for value creation. Value creation can be supported when organisations develop shared identity through creating historical narrative(s) that connect their legacy to future-oriented goals. Alpha was successful in its acquisitions and growth in part because it was able to use its history to construct two narratives that united different stakeholders and made these stakeholders co-authors of the organisation’s future story. This created a clear and common purpose around its innovation-oriented future.

The case prompts leaders in the organisation to ask:

• What aspects of the organisational history currently support our future strategy?

• What elements of the organisation and owner’s legacy can be mobilised to connect with employees and new stakeholders?

• How can change be framed as part of the ongoing journey rather than a disruption?

Our work highlights the importance of the co-created nature of organisational narratives. Successful organisational narratives are rarely imposed from the top. Rhetorical history, as the strategic use of history (in this case for growth), was not constructed solely by the owning family of the business. Non-family stakeholders, employees, acquired business owners and their employees contributed to shaping the future-oriented narrative and in doing so reinforced the company’s evolving history. This allowed the organisation to capitalise on internal commitment and credibility. The case shows that this framework (historical narratives and strategic orientation) could help management see where historical narratives could come into use to address conflicting expectations while maintaining strategic continuity and stakeholder trust.

For business leaders the message is clear: integration co-produced narratives are most effective when stakeholders become authors rather than audiences. History is not merely a record of the past; it is a strategic device that can bring growth and enhance commitment, preserve organisational identity for the future and enable sustainable value creation.