本地嵌入与家族企业的可持续成长--基于日本长寿家族企业的多案例研究

Local Embeddedness and Sustainable Growth of Family Business:An Multiple-case Study Based on Long-lived Japanese Family Businesses

家族企业成长与所在地域息息相关,但目前还没有一个清晰、严谨的理论框架,可以为分析地域与家族企业可持续成长提供理论基础。本文把地域具体化为三个维度:地域产业、文化及社群,并从嵌入性视角提出家族企业本地嵌入框架,通过案例研究归纳家族企业与所在地域形成的本地嵌入性及其与企业可持续成长的联系。案例分析揭示了长寿家族企业的本地嵌入具体表现为:(1)行业高度参与、员工本地化及与供应商跨代合作;(2)共享当地价值规范、成为当地的文化符号及家庭生活受到当地文化熏陶;(3)关注当地政治环境、保持紧密社会关联及与地域同业的合作互助。进一步分析发现,家族企业由于与所在地域形成强嵌入性关系,其获得产业知识、人才等产业资源具有不可模仿性,同时形成长期合作能力及拥有强大社会资本,进而能够帮助家族企业在经营过程中克服成长困境来维系长久经营。本文以本地嵌入视角拓宽了对家族式经营优势的理解,对中国家族企业如何维持基业长青具有重要实践启示。

The family business with over a hundred years is closely related to the territory in which it runs. However, the connection between the family business and the territory is surprisingly neglected. In this paper, the territory is divided into three dimensions: territorial industry, culture and community, From the perspective of embeddedness, this paper puts forward the framework of territorial embeddedness of long-lived family business in attempt to reveal the territorial embeddedness of long-lived family business and its relationship with business development. Based on the field research and case analysis, The local embeddedness of family businesses includes:(1) Highly involved in the local industry, develops a local management style for employees and maintains long-term cooperation with local raw material manufacturers and suppliers for generations;(2) Sharing local cultural values, becomes cultural symbols and identity-related symbols of the territory, and family members are influenced by social ethics and morality;(3) Highly sensitive and concerned about the local political environment, maintains close social connection with the local society, and forms a social community with the territory as the bond through cooperation and mutual assistance with territorial peers. Further analysis shows that local embeddedness plays an important role in the sustainable growth of family business. Due to the embeddedness relationship with the region, the long-lived family business cannot be imitated in acquiring industrial knowledge, talents and other industrial resources, while forming long-term cooperation ability and strong social capital mobilization ability. These unique resources and abilities can help the family business overcome all kinds of difficulties to maintain long-term survival in the process of business operation. This case study broadens the understanding of the advantages of family business from the perspective of local embeddedness, and has important practical enlightenment on how to maintain the foundation of family business in China.