High-performance human resource practices in Australian family businesses: Preliminary evidence from the wine industry

Using quantitative and qualitative approaches, this paper examines the prevalence of high-performance human resource (HR) systems in Australian family businesses. Focusing on the wine industry, we found that establishing formal HR systems, particularly related to employee involvement and motivation, was positively related to perceived effectiveness of a company’s HR function, leadership, strategic alignment and profitability. Results indicated that formalizing HR systems occurs slowly in the industry, and is largely a function of organizational size. This exploratory study shows the need for more in-depth studies of HR in family-run organizations and supports the notion that increased emphasis on people practices is important to operational and financial success of the family business.     

Digital identity and the construction of distinctiveness by American wineries

Hospitality and tourism entrepreneurs need to balance uniqueness with conformity. Organizational identity theory proposes that an organization’s central and enduring attributes make it distinctive while helping observers categorize it. Since distinctive value creation is central to success in hospitality, this study asks how entrepreneurs in hospitality and tourism construct distinctive identity claims and how these identities help firms create distinctive value. The research context is the American winemaking industry, where entrepreneurs strive to present their wineries as destinations. The data comes from the digital identity statements of 314 members of the WineAmerica trade association. We identify seventeen identity themes and several clusters of themes that demonstrate how entrepreneurial claims shape distinctive organizational identities and contribute to distinctive value creation.