Beer,brewing, and business history

Abstract

This editorial introduces the eight articles in the special issue on ‘Beer, brewing and business history’. Following the BEERONOMICS conference held at the University of York, 2013, and the subsequent approval of the editorial board of Business History, we received many submissions discussing beer, brewing, and their importance to business history (broadly defined). In this editorial we provide a brief overview of the historical development of beer and brewing; explain the appeal to business historians of the principal themes which have emerged in the historiography of this industry, and provide a short introduction to the articles accepted for publication in this special issue.     

Interfield Dynamics: Law and the creation of new organisational fields in the nineteenth-century United States

Abstract

This article draws on the concept of ‘strategic action fields’ to examine the interaction of law and organisations in the nineteenth-century United States. Focusing on the emergence of savings banking, it analyses how new legal rules were created to define the actors, actions and relationships that constituted the organisational field. The article develops three conceptual claims about the dynamics of institutional contexts: (a) the configuration of state fields shaped the nature and timing of legal rule making vis-à-vis organisational fields; (b) state actors engaged in ‘inter-field framing’ by applying analogies from the legal field to define social order in the organisational one; and (c) the legal and organisational fields were mutually constituted through these interactions. The article concludes by elaborating on the broader value of the theory of fields in business history.     

Marketing management and marketing research

Abstract

A sample of marketing graduates was surveyed to identify the factors that caused some of them to feel that they had become ‘professional marketers’ consequent to their early experiences of work in graduate marketing positions. A model of the possible determinants of the form of ‘workplace identity’ that a marketing graduate would assume was developed and tested. The model hypothesised that: (i) a firm's approaches to training and management development, mentoring, appraisal and reward; (ii) the natures of the tasks allocated to graduate marketing recruits and the task culture prevailing within an enterprise; and (iii) specific characteristics of the individual employee affected the emergence of particular types of workplace identity. Levels of each category of professional identity observed among the sample members were then correlated with job and organisational satisfaction and commitment, self-assessed operational performance, and intention to remain with an enterprise.     

Ad hoc Japonisme: how national identity rhetorics work in Japanese advertising

This study examines how a variety of national identity rhetorics are formed with the nuanced aestheticization. We focus on visual rhetorics. We use advertisements for traditional, seasonal gifts in post-postwar Japan as the context of inquiry. Two research questions addressed are: (1) how different rhetorics of national identity are formed between the gifts advertised and the audience, focusing more on visual than merely verbal elements, and (2) how visual genealogy – specific cultural and historical references in contemporary images – is used in rhetorical figures. Underpinned by a critical visual analysis, we apply Western and Japanese art canons to a visual social semiotic approach in order to interpret variations in the semantics of national identity. We discuss three types of rhetorics of national identity: rhe-transfiguration, rhe-truculence, and rhe-trepidation. The study suggests that national identity rhetorics activate a “deep subjectivity” resulting from the aestheticized experience reinforced by the nation’s consumption ritual.     

The battle for commercial hearts and minds and the internal brand within a charity shop network in Ireland

ABSTRACT

Charities are increasingly adopting commercial branding strategies to capture consumer hearts and minds for competitive gain, with little attention on the internal organisational battle for hearts and minds within a not-for-profit context. This paper explores the internal brand of a charity that currently operates 227 charity shops on the island of Ireland, using Hankinson’s 2004 framework that focuses on functional, symbolic, behavioural and experiential components. An exploratory case study was developed based on a survey of organisational members (n = 138), interviews with six regional shop managers, observation in retail stores and supplemented by organisation documentation. Findings indicate a clarity of perception on mission, purpose and core values for the charity, but more ambiguity around perception of the charity shop brand and identified issues relating to communication of policies and procedures, managerial practice and the workplace environment. The study also reveals a gap between the charity’s organisational identity and the brand identity for the charity store network, a clarity in the perception of core values that does not underwrite the store brand and resistance to the implementation of commercial practice within a volunteer-led charity. Trust may be the key in the internal battle for hearts and minds within the charity and may be crucial for the charity to realise its’ potential and successfully meet its’ mission for maximum societal gain.     

Masculinising domesticity: an investigation of men’s domestic foodwork

Abstract

This study examines how men configure their gendered identity in relation to a traditionally feminised domain. Hegemonic masculinity is said to structure men’s dominance over women. We use the lens of hegemonic masculinity along with social fields of cultural production to understand new allocations of status capital in relation to gendered identity work. Sweden, a country permeated by an ideology of egalitarianism and having a history of high economic and symbolic incentives for the domestic field, has seemingly legitimised the domestic consumption field in the search for higher status. By exploring the transforming meanings of masculinity when men enter a traditionally feminine consumption domain in this particular cultural context, we identify how feminised masculinities are shaped into hegemonic masculinity. This in turn suggests that the currently most honoured way of being a man includes forms of masculinities that incorporate egalitarian relationships between men and women.     

How brand communities emerge: The Beamish conversion experience

Abstract

This paper explores the processes contributing to the genesis of a brand community. This ethnographic study focuses on the Beamish brand community. The Beamish beer product is a niche brand only available consistently in the locality of Cork city, Ireland. Evidence from this study shows that a collective conversion experience is foundational to the emergence of this brand community. Following this initial conversion experience, the brand community attempts to maintain the transcendent experience through practices of sacralisation maintenance. Sacralisation is maintained through the playful rituals and virtual play the community members enact. The mutual willingness of the converted to participate in these various forms of playful rituals has been a key role in the reification of the Beamish brand community. Finally, suggestions are made as to how brand management should best approach the initial attempts at brand-community formation.     

The making of Labatt ‘Blue’: The quest for a national lager brand, 1959–1971

Abstract

This article examines the creation of a national beer brand in Canada. It analyses the challenges faced by the marketing managers at John Labatt Limited ? one of Canada’s oldest and most successful brewers ? in solving the ‘national lager problem’ (i.e. the inability of Labatt’s ‘Pilsener’ to capture a significant share of the Canadian market). It examines how executives use marketing knowledge to recreate brand identities. It argues that the rebranding of ‘Pilsener’ as ‘Blue’ was successful because Labatt’s managers fashioned a new brand identity that downplayed the ‘ethnic’ heritage of the brand by appealing to a new ‘Canadian’ cosmopolitan modernity.     

Choice and self: how synchronic and diachronic identity shape choices and decision making

Research on the role of identity in choice varies widely across fields like psychology, philosophy, consumer behavior, and economics, in both the key questions addressed and the methods of investigation. Although a large literature has established how salient aspects of identity affect attitudes and norms, less is known about how beliefs concerning identity are shaped and how these beliefs affect decision making. In this review, we cover recent insights into these issues and summarize some newer, developing approaches to understanding (i) how people judge the persistence of identity, (ii) how beliefs about future changes in identity are formed and how they affect choices, (iii) the formation of beliefs about future changes in identity and how these beliefs affect decisions, and (iv) the historical and economic antecedents of identity norms and their consequences for economic behavior. We introduce a distinction between synchronic and diachronic approaches, and highlight important unresolved questions that will help these fields to more fully understand the role that identity plays in shaping choices.     

Exploring professional human brand identity through cultural and social capital: a typology of film director identities

ABSTRACT

Our research focuses on film director human brands. It addresses the issue of human brand identity construction through the social valuation of identity attributes linked to cultural capital. Based on Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social capital, we examine the identity attributes on which human brand identities are built through the acquisition of legitimacy. We conduct a qualitative study combining three context levels of analysis (external, internal and individual). Our results reveal the existence of four human brand identity types (i.e. chameleon conformist, niche archetypecast, mass archetypecast, cultural influencer), thus enriching and extending previous research. Each identity type is characterised by a set of culturally valued identity attributes, associated with legitimacies – specific, bourgeois, popular and institutional – bestowed by human brand constituencies.     

Has Mumsnet changed me? SNS influence on identity adaptation and consumption

Abstract

This paper seeks to assess how one SNS network may support ongoing processes of identity adaptation and explore the role of consumption references in identity negotiation on the site. Drawing on theories of the liminality of motherhood, and the identity reconstruction processes that emerge in online communities, this paper traces the complexity of identity adaptation on SNS. With focus on SNS as a platform that may enable different phases of liminality, the transition to reincorporation phase is explored, revealing how members may experience support for ongoing identity renewal. Adopting a qualitative approach and direct observation method, posts from 12 extensive mumsnet.com discussion threads were screened and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings show how the functionality of this SNS site may facilitate some identity reconstruction.     

Special issue introduction: Historical research on institutional change

Abstract

Both business historians and organisation studies scholars study institutional change to understand the interactions between business and society. However, research approaches differ fundamentally, with organisational research focusing on theory-driven explanations, whereas historical research is rather theory-informed. The consequence of such disciplinary orientation is that interdisciplinary conversations rarely occur. For this special issue, we invited submissions that address how historical research can contribute to our understanding of institutional change while demonstrating ‘dual integrity’ in terms of being significant pieces of historical research that provide us with new insights into historiography and at the same time addressing important theoretical concerns.     

The organisational structure of Spanish New Settlements in the eighteenth century

This paper analyses the organisational design of New Settlements (NS) of Sierra Morena, a Spanish farming and colonist project of the eighteenth century. Using archival data, historical facts during the period 1767–1772 are identified, collected and examined to understand how these settlements were structured. The reconstructions of their practices demonstrated that, in the eighteenth century, organisations already had the disciplinary techniques and dimensions of Weber's rational-legal bureaucracy. In fact, we observed the evolution of NS through three different organisational structures (configurations) to become more effective – rational – over time. This comprehensive analysis also provides evidence of how the colonies' growth (and their organisational complexity) implied changes to the co-ordination mechanisms used.     

Keeping up with the neighbors: The role of cluster identity in internationalization

This paper explores the implications of the collective identity of a regional cluster on firms’ internationalization. Prior research has established the value of cluster “insidership” through access to knowledge and resources. Through a longitudinal study, we find that cluster identity, through distinct identity claims, provides imperatives and shapes the motivation of firms to internationalize. These imperatives, we argue, stem from cluster identity seen as defined features of regional collectives, extending reference theory to encompass the role of social cues from similar firms located geographically close. The imperatives are particularly salient in the early stages of firms’ internationalization, adding the role of cluster identity to explain the differences between inexperienced and experienced firms in internationalization.     

Change dynamics in institutional discontinuities: Do formal or informal institutions change first? Lessons from rule changes in professional American baseball

Abstract

Extant research presents a conflicting picture of change dynamics during institutional discontinuities. Some studies propose or depict formal rules as changing first. Others argue that norms need to change before formal rules can be revisited, let alone change. An examination of the literature suggests a contingency theory. In mature organisational fields with institutionalised informal rules, norms need to be questioned and changed before any change in formal rules can take place. On the other hand, in emergent organisational fields – where no particular rules of the game have been institutionalised ? change in higher-level institutions begins with a change in formal rules. The article also presents two historical cases of major institutional change in professional American baseball that illustrate the theory proposed.     

Competitive advantage and the transformation of value chains over time: The example of a South Korean diversified business group, 1953–2013

We examine the historical evolution of different elements in value chains that create value-added and competitive advantage. This is achieved by using the conceptual model of the ‘smile curve’ with a longitudinal case study of a diversified business group, CJ Group, a former affiliated firm of Samsung Group. We found that the value-added structure graph in the industrialisation period displayed an ‘upside-down U shape’, indicating that production and manufacturing were the most value-adding sectors. However, in the more recent knowledge-based economy period, the graph shows a quite different shape, indicating R&D, firm infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, service, and marketing as sources of value-added. This shows that competitive advantage diversified into other fields to fit with the changed economy. We also investigate what type of organisational structure, strategy, and capabilities were adopted for organisational change. We found an evolution, with an unrelated diversification strategy by altering capabilities from contacts and generic to organisational and technological capabilities.     

Household production of sorghum beer in Benin: technological and socio‐economic aspects

This study evaluated the sorghum brewing microenterprises in Benin with emphasis on the beer quality, the social significance of the product as well as the income generated. Tchoukoutou, the Benin opaque sorghum beer, has important social functions as it fosters the cooperative spirit and remains an ancestral beverage widely used for traditional ceremonies. The manufacturing process consists of malting (soaking, germination and sun drying), brewing (mashing, boiling, filtration) and fermentation. The beer is sour with a pH of 3.2 and contains a relatively high but variable level of solids and crude protein. Most of the consumers appreciate an opaque, sour and pink‐coloured beer. The consumers related many of the beer properties to health effects. Participants can link the perceived qualities of the beer to the grain’s functional properties, and this leads to the classification of the farmers’ sorghum as varieties of top, medium and low quality for brewing. The profits from tchoukoutou production range from 2365 to 17 212 fcfa per month (1 euro = 656 fcfa) for the producers, depending on beer yield and quantity of raw grain transformed. The generated income is used for household needs and part of it is invested in children’s education.     

Entrepreneurship through a qualitative lens: Insights on the construction and/or discovery of entrepreneurial opportunity

This article applies inductive analytic techniques to identify and elaborate on two recurring themes that underpin the core puzzle of entrepreneurship research — where entrepreneurial opportunities come from. The first theme is the unique role of imprinting, or the profound influence of social and historical context in constraining the perceptual apparatus of entrepreneurs and delimiting the range of opportunities for innovation available to them. Second, our analysis offers insight into the counterbalancing role of reflexivity, operating at both individual and collective levels of analysis, in generating the ability of entrepreneurs to overcome the constraints of imprinting. These insights are based on a thematic review of the nine studies that comprise this special issue on qualitative research. The nine studies, individually and each in their own way, offer key insights into how we might better understand the emergence of entrepreneurial opportunity.     

From data problems to questions about sources: elements towards an institutional analysis of population-level organisational change. The case of British building societies, 1845–1980

Abstract

Institutional analyses of population-level organisational change seem particularly well suited to the task of further incorporating historical concerns into organisational theory, as has been advocated by a growing number of authors, both within business history and management and organisation studies. Such an approach has been applied, in particular, to studies of shifts in organisational forms within the early-twentieth-century US thrift industry. The aim of this article, building on the case study of British building societies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is to uncover both the promises and the limitations of this approach in terms of historical epistemology and methodology, and suggest ways to further consolidate the historical grounding of similar approaches to organisational change. In particular, detailed attention paid to sources and to periodisation may point towards improvements in methodology, both within historical institutionalism and neo-institutionalist history.     

Covert distinction: how hipsters practice food-based resistance strategies in the production of identity

This paper reveals the processes by which food is used to express resistance to the mainstream and perform identity work within the hipster community of consumption. Based on the findings of a qualitative investigation, several resistance strategies involving food emerged: Vegetarian choices; Brand choices and avoidances; and Decommodification practices. We discuss how these strategies are framed by hipsters' discursive distaste for the commercial food marketing system but are, in practice, operationalised as subtle ways to achieve proper representation of their collective identity within the marketplace. Mundane consumption emerges as motor-force in allowing these consumers to surreptitiously maintain distinction and to protect their within-group identity from mainstream co-optation. We conclude by suggesting that the inconspicuous nature of mundane consumables such as food and alcohol products allows for idiosyncratic shared community performances that are covert and difficult for broader social currents to detect and co-opt.