organizational values in a family-owned aquatic center a
TRANSCRIPT
SAMINT-MILI 2025
TVE-Number
Master’s Thesis 30 credits
Master’s Thesis 30 credits
Month Year
Month Year
Organizational Values in a Family-Owned
Aquatic Center A Case Study
Organizational Values in a Family-Owned
Aquatic Center: A Case Study
A Neo-Institutionalist view on the influence of
meaning systems, as manifested by organizational
values, in a Family-Owned Aquatic Center
A Neo-Institutionalist view on the influence of
meaning systems, as manifested by organizational
values, in a Family-Owned Aquatic Center.
Ernesto Hoyos de la Garza
Master’s Programme in Industrial Management and Innovation
Masterprogram i industriell ledning och innovation
trial Management and Innovation
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Abstract
Organizational Values in a Family-Owned
Aquatic Center: A Case Study
Organizational Values in a Family-Owned
Aquatic Center: A Case Study
Ernesto Hoyos de la Garza
The main objective of this case study is to understand how organizational values
of a family business are influenced – or are the outcome of – the interactions
between the controlling family, their employees, and the social context by which
they are surrounded. To investigate this topic a case study research design was
applied and a family-owned and -managed Aquatic Center was selected as the
company in focus. First, the organizational values were determined through the
application of semi-structured interviews and observations. The units of analysis
for the case study were the Top Management Team (TMT) and the employees
of the organization. The former is composed by three members of the controlling
family and the latter by the employees who are in most contact with the TMT
and the clients of the Aquatic Center. After the Thematic Analysis of the
empirical data eight organizational values were identified. These organizational
values, along with excerpts from the interview, were analyzed from a
Neo-Institutionalist lens and three meaning systems were identified to be
influencing the organization and its structures. These three meaning systems
were labeled as (1) Swimming the Sport; (2) Health Club Business; and (3) The
Owning Family. The set of rules, enforcement mechanisms, and effects that
these three meaning systems have on the overall organization were also defined.
Supervisor: Ernesto M. Hoyos Pescador
Subject reader: Peter Birch
Examiner: David Sköld
SAMINT-MILI 2025
Printed by: Uppsala Universitet
Supervisor: Ernesto M. Hoyos Pescador
Subject reader: Peter Birch
Faculty of Science and Technology
Visiting address:
Ångströmlaboratoriet
Lägerhyddsvägen 1
House 4, Level 0
Postal address:
Box 536
751 21 Uppsala
Telephone:
+46 (0)18 – 471 30 03
Telefax:
+46 (0)18 – 471 30 00
Web page:
http://www.teknik.uu.se/student-en/
Faculty of Science and Technology
Visiting address:
Ångströmlaboratoriet
Lägerhyddsvägen 1
House 4, Level 0
Postal address:
Box 536
751 21 Uppsala
Telephone:
+46 (0)18 – 471 30 03
Telefax:
+46 (0)18 – 471 30 00
Web page:
http://www.teknik.uu.se/student-en/
ii
Acknowledgements
I do not consider myself as a person who is good or even comfortable when it comes to the art of the
written word. Especially when it comes to words that attempt to describe feelings. Feelings of gratitude,
appreciation and accomplishment. Feelings with which I find myself identified at this stage of my life,
therefore, without much gallantry or eloquence, I will simply say, “Thank you”.
Thanks for my family – with all its Mexican meaning – for placing their trust in me. I would not be here
if it wasn’t for their support and effort. Given that life is pretty much the summation of one’s decisions
in addition to the decisions of others, I must admit that without those “others” I would have probably
taken a different path.
Thanks to the MILI program, faculty, fellow students, and my friends for granting me the opportunity
to learn and to broaden my mind with an enriching – perhaps a bit more cynical – perspective of life
and the subtle structures that conforms it. Thanks for pushing my limits, thanks for the feedback, and
thanks for the ride.
With special dedication to Fidel Benigno Hoyos Hoyos
(1931-2020)
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Popular Science Summary
This case study employs Neo-Institutional Theory (NIT) to understand how organizational values
influence and are influenced by the owning family, its employees and the social context that surround
the organization in a Hybrid Identity Organization.
To understand how the organizational values interact within the organization it was first important to
identify them. This was done through two qualitative methods, semi-structured interviews and
observations, and from a constructivist and interpretivist approach. These methods and epistemological
and ontological points of view upon reality were selected due to the social nature of the matters that
were involved. The view of social reality, which this paper follows, is that of one that is in continuous
construction and reconstruction and one that is subject to the interpretation of each the social actor.
Meaning that each of the employees, TMT members, and the researcher all have particular views upon
the social context by which they are surrounded. Thus, the objective of the thesis was to define the
organizational values that, on average, represent the view of all the members of the Aquatic Center.
Organizational values are important to understand because they are one of the most important
characteristics of organizational culture. Understanding these values can aid in understanding what
drives the day-to-day operation of an organization, in this case, an Aquatic Center. In regard to this
particular case, these values, as you will be able to read in this thesis, are intrinsically linked to the
identity of family firms. They serve as reference points for present and future decision-makers, whether
they are employees or future family members. Defining the organizational values is particularly
important for an organization, such as the one in focus, given that there is more than one institutional
logic influencing the organization. Thus, this Aquatic Center can be categorized as a Hybrid Identity
Organization given that there are, at least, three identifiable institutional logics exerting their effect on
the Aquatic Center
These three meaning systems are (1) Swimming the Sport; (2) Health Club Business; and (3) The
Owning Family. Each meaning system has their own set of regulative, constitutive, and normative rules
which, along with their particular enforcement mechanisms, push change and influence the behavior of
the members of the organization. These systems helped to create the organizational values which
characterize the Aquatic Center. Some can be clearly linked, for example, to the Owning Family
institution, such as Discipline and Flexibility, and other values like the Need of a Development Plan and
Expertise (Know-How) can be linked to the Swimming the Sport institution.
The application of NIT was helpful to understand how these meaning systems have influenced and
continue to influence the Aquatic Center and the behavior of its member. Finally, from an academic
and, for that matter, practical perspective I would argue that NIT has good concepts and structures to
understand the past and present of HIO’s given the number of identities which characterize this
organizations.
Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. i
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... ii
Popular Science Summary ................................................................................................................ iii
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background and Problem Statement ................................................................................... 1
1.2 Aim and Purpose of the Thesis ........................................................................................... 2
1.3 Research Design and Methodology..................................................................................... 3
1.4 Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 4
2. Literature Review ...................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Family Business: Definition and Characteristics ................................................................. 6
2.2 Organizational Studies in Family Business Research .......................................................... 7
2.2.1 Importance of Family Businesses in Organizational Studies............................................... 7
2.2.2 Organizational Culture in Family Business ........................................................................ 8
3. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................ 11
3.1 Neoinstitutional Theory .................................................................................................... 11
3.2 Sociological Institutionalism .................................................................................................. 12
4. Research Design and Methodology .......................................................................................... 15
4.1 Case Study Design ........................................................................................................... 15
4.2 Epistemology and Ontology ............................................................................................. 16
4.3 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 18
4.3.1 Semi-Structured Interviews and Ethnographic Approach ................................................. 19
4.3.2 Purposive Sampling ........................................................................................................ 22
4.3.3 Thematic Analysis........................................................................................................... 22
4.3.4 Applying the Methodology .............................................................................................. 23
4.3.5 Disposition ...................................................................................................................... 25
5. Identifying the Organizational Values ..................................................................................... 26
5.1 The Values of the Top Management Team ......................................................................... 26
5.2 The Values of the Employees ............................................................................................. 26
5.3 The Organizational Values of the Aquatic Center ............................................................... 27
6. Value Interaction within the Organization ................................................................................ 30
6.1 Swimming the Sport ......................................................................................................... 30
6.2 Health Club Business / Wellness Center ........................................................................... 32
6.3 The Owning Family ......................................................................................................... 34
6.4 The Aquatic Center .......................................................................................................... 36
7. Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 41
7.1 Addressing the Research Questions .................................................................................. 41
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7.2 Implications ........................................................................................................................... 42
7.3 Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 43
8. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 45
8.1 Organizational Values and The Power of Multiple Institutional Logics ................................... 45
8.2 Contributions and Further Research ....................................................................................... 46
9. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 48
Appendix ........................................................................................................................................ 54
Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. 54
Appendix B ................................................................................................................................. 57
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background and Problem Statement
Family Businesses, as will be further explained, are among the most common types of companies in the
world and, while there are in virtually every industry, they are considered to be inherently different to
their non-family businesses counterparts. Given the importance of this type of companies it was
surprising that there is not much research to be found that involves Organizational Behavior theories
applied in Family Business research. The thesis’ particular focus is to understand how organizational
values in a family business are influenced or are the product of the social interactions between the
owning family, its employees and the surrounding forces that are present in everyday life.
There was an initial attempt to understand this issue by looking at existing literature, however, the
literature that addresses organizational values in Family Business research seems to focus on how these
values are correlated to the performance of family businesses and not to how these originate or are
influenced by different entities. Consequently, the research continued by looking at Organization
Behavior theories to see if there was or not literature that addresses this particular issue. It was then
when I noticed that there was a research gap between Organization Behavior theories and Family
Business research. To add research that aims to address this particular research gap a case study design,
focused in a particular family business, was selected.
The thesis focuses on the case study of a Mexican family-owned and managed Aquatic Center. The
company belongs to my family. The top management team (TMT) is comprised by my father and two
of my aunts. My father oversees Operations, my two aunts oversee Administration, however, they all
discuss and decide upon strategy and future growth together. I, personally, have worked before in the
company (for about 10-12 months). My main role was that of project management primarily focused in
Maintenance and Operations. The limitations that my position entails within the thesis will be further
described in this section.
The company was founded 16 years ago in 2004. It started as a single site Aquatic Center which opened
from 6am to 10pm and employed around 4 full-time employees with one semi-olympic size pool
(25meter pool). The main program offered was swimming for adults, high-performance athletes, and
swimming lessons for children. Its growth began with the addition of a smaller swimming pool on the
same site for extra swimming programs and has now grown to three sites with a fourth on its way, all
within the same metropolitan area. It now employs around 30 full-time employees all year-round and
during summer there are between 15 and 25 additional part-time employees.
The company’s directors, in this case the TMT, main concern is to analyze the organizational values,
as a manifestation of organizational culture (Schein, 2017), that are present in the company. This
concern makes the Aquatic Center an ideal case study to attempt and answer the problems that guide
this research. Both academia and the case company will benefit from this study. The TMT’s main
concern is that the company, judging by their own past experiences, is in an opportune time to focus on
understanding the forces that influence the organization’s day-to-day operations. The company could
be categorized as Small Medium Enterprise (SME). To begin analyzing organizational values the thesis
will first focus on understanding the current literature on the subject, which will be briefly explained in
this section and more thoroughly on the Literature Review. Second, in identifying which are
organizational values present. Third, understanding these values through the context in which the
company operates and how they interact with its members (family or TMT, employees, and customers).
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Organizational Culture has been part of organizational studies for more than 40 years (e.g. Gagné et al.,
2014; Dyer, 2003; Le Breton-Miller et al., 2014). As it will be mentioned in the Literature Review,
Watson & Kroczynski (2011) defined organizational culture as a set of meanings and values shared by
members of an organization which set the accepted ways for people of the organization to reach the
organization’s goals while interacting with one another. The reason the main focus is on organizational
values is because they are one of the most important manifestations of organizational culture (Schein,
2017). Customer focused strategies, commitment to sustainable processes, employee-oriented
organizations, for example, may be linked to organizational values that promote loyalty, social
responsibility, and justice. These organizational values, thus, act as reference points from which
strategies, structures, and – to some extent – organizational culture can be created and/or maintained
(Ward, 2008; Athanassiou et al., 2002).
In the next section values will be defined, according to Rokeach (1973), as a socially preferable goal or
path to reach a goal and, given that the organization was defined as involving social and technical
arrangements between a group of people (Watson & Krozcynski, 2011), understanding the social aspect
and technical rigidities that are involved in an organization would be beneficial to understanding the
context in which the organizational values play their role. One of these arrangements includes the
position of the family as the TMT, the employees, and the customers which all interact within the
organization. The family, according to different studies, has an important influence in the way values
are assimilated and maintained in an organization (e.g. Sorenson, 2014; Gagné et al., 2014; Rau et al.,
2019). An influence that has been analyzed through different theories with the purpose of defining the
role of the family within the Family Business (FB) context (e.g. Rau et al., 2019; Athanassiou et al.,
2002; Dyer, 2003, Sharma 2004). A context that many scholars consider to be objectively distinct than
their non-family counterparts (e.g. Gagné et al., 2014, Rau et al., 2019; Astrachan, 2010). A distinction
based on the value-driven nature of FB (Rau et al., 2019), their – sometimes – non-financial goal
orientation (Astrachan, 2010; Le Breton-Miller & Miller, 2013), and their frequent long-term
perspective (Le Breton-Miller & Miller, 2006) whether it is either by relying on their networks or long-
term relationships (Carney, 2005).
1.2 Aim and Purpose of the Thesis
The aim of the thesis, as explained before, is to understand how organizational values in family business
are influenced by the owning family, its members, and different external forces. Nevertheless, the
academic purpose of the thesis consists of two main points, (1) addressing a gap of research between
Organizational Behavior (OB) Studies and the Family Business context and (2) the application of
Organizational Behavior theories, specifically Neoinstitutionalism Theory, as a theoretical frame to
explain and understand the issue that drives this thesis.
Addressing the lack of OB studies within FB is well documented (e.g. Gagné et al., 2014, Dyer, 2003,
Litz, 1997). Although FB studies is, by itself, a growing field of research, as exemplified with the
creation of some journals to be mentioned in the Literature Review, organizational behavior journals
have mostly neglected FB from their main journals (Dyer, 2003). According to Dyer (2003), this
neglection of the family from organizational research may stem from the long-lasting interest in the
performance of organizations and the variables that are measured to determine its efficiency. Even going
so far as to describe that family relations may be seen as “antithetical to good business practices” (Dyer,
2003, p. 403). Litz (1997) proposes also different reasons to explain this gap of research with different
reasons, such as, the amount of information available on large public companies, greater cooperation
from large corporations, and the belief of better personal or institutional rewards for studying large
public companies.
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Some applications of OB theories within a FB context have been made and the studies in which they
were applied have produced new insights (e.g. Chrisman et al., 2004; Gomez-Mejía et al., 2001; Schulze
et al. 2001). According to Jensen & Meckling (1976), agency costs should be lower where the interests
of owners and managers are aligned, context in which a family-owned and managed company should –
assumingly – operate. However, in a study of 276 family-controlled and non-family controlled Spanish
newspapers Gomez-Mejía et al. (2001) argued that adding family as a variable raises agency costs due
to the familial ties that influence decisions and oversight – e.g. the firing of a family CEO or granting
unusual generosity with family resources to relatives (Shulze et al., 2001). These comparative studies
both help to create new insight within agency cost theories just by applying the concept in a FB context.
This is but one example of how applying OB within a FB can aid in the generalizability of said theories.
To address the issue of analysing the organizational values of the company, in practical terms, the
research will have to focus on determining which are the current organizational values within the FB
and how they interact within a hybrid identity organization. To determine the former it will be necessary
to segment the company in its main groups, which are the family and the employees – the customers
were also initially considered but due to the outbreak of COVID19 it was not possible – and identifying
the main channels through which they interact. The latter, however, implies a much more abstract aspect
involved human relationships and individual perceptions. Therefore, the questions that will guide this
research will appear to be broad but, nevertheless, will serve as a reference point for this thesis. These
research questions are:
1. How do organizational values of a family-owned and -managed business influence a Hybrid
Identity Organization? 2. How can Neo Institutional Theory be applied to understand the different identities that are
part of Hybrid Identity Organizations?
1.3 Research Design and Methodology
The methodological approach will mainly involve qualitative methods because of the interpretative nature
of the subject of this thesis. The main qualitative methods that will be used are semi-structured interviews
and observations. Although these concepts will be expanded upon in their own section I found it appropriate
to introduce them now with the intention of better describing the nature of the research questions and the
problems which this thesis attempts to answer.
The semi-structured interviews have the intention to guide the topic of the interview while still letting the
interviewee talk more freely during their reply (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The interview guide is divided in
three main sections which are (1) past work experiences, (2) present work experiences, and (3) community
experience. The objective is to understand what they have lived through in previous companies, their likes,
dislikes, their experiences in those companies, what they are experiencing in this Aquatic Center, and how
they experience their community life all from their own perspective. The same flexible structure will be
employed for the controlling family.
The main limitation with the semi-structure interview may be interviewer bias because of my position in
the company and their capability to explain their experiences. The former will be described more on the
end of this section. The latter has to do with the interviewee’s ability to connect to deeper insights than
merely explain processual interactions. To avoid superficial answers the interviewee may be subject to
questions that are not included in the interview guide in order to pick upon things said that might be
interesting to follow-up on (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Nevertheless, the interview questions will be similarly
worded and similarly asked through the interviews.
Regarding the observations, the approach that will be used in this thesis will be overt, meaning that the
subjects will know they will be observed (Bryman & Bell, 2011), and will include informal
4
conversations as well as observations that may not require conversation. The overt approach was
selected because most of the employees will also be interviewed, thus, they will be aware that the study
is taking place. The results of the data obtained through observations will aid the results of the
interviews with the objective of complementing the information and/or identifying if there is a possible
contradiction between the results of the interviews and observations. Field notes will be transcribed as
soon as it is possible but not later than at the end of the day in which the observation took place, this as
a recommendation proposed by Bryman & Bell (2011). There is enough space to privately write about
the interactions that take place during said observations. The same type of observations will be used
when observing the controlling family.
1.4 Limitations
The ethical concerns are based on Bryman & Bell’s (2011) Ethical Principles which involve (1) harm
to participants, (2) lack of informed consent, (3) invasion of privacy, and (4) deception. For most of
these principles ensuring anonymity would avoid potential ethical dilemmas. Given the nature of the
interviews and that the interviewees may or may not criticize aspects or even members of the
organization, anonymity is crucial, as is letting the interviewees review the material that will be used
for the thesis. To address these ethical standpoints, it has been made clear to the interviewees that their
information will be anonymously codified and that there will be a call-back for them to approve the use
of what they said and, finally, every digital recording will be deleted once the thesis is approved.
Therefore, no information will be kept but that which makes it to the final version of the thesis.
Regarding the invasion of privacy and deception, the latter will be addressed by clearly defining the
objective of the research which is to analyze the organizational values of the company. In addition, the
results of the thesis will be presented to them at a later stage (after thesis approval), when I get back to
Mexico. This with the intention of formally showing them the end-product of their input. The main
concern of the former is regarding the information that they may or may not be consciously disclosing
during informal conversations. If that is the case and there is any information from the conversations
that they prefer to be omitted they can choose to do so during the call-back session.
One of the most important limitations of the study is the role I play – as a researcher and as a member
of the owning family – and how I may influence the behavior and answers of the interviewees or
subjects. Also, it is important to recognize that the bias may not be only one-way, e.g. from interviewee
to interviewer, but also how I may be biased in thinking one way or another about a certain event due
to comments of the TMT or my past experiences with them. To address my possible bias the results
will be strictly analyzed following methodological guidelines in a strict way which will be described in
their own section. Nevertheless, this particular limitation will be addressed and should be remembered
throughout the thesis.
Alongside the disadvantages, however, there are also advantages that come along with my position as
a researcher and as a member of the owning family. According to Bryman & Bell (2011), building
rapport is important in observational studies since the subjects would feel normal with my presence and
during interactions. Some of the employees have known me since before the company was founded
because of my background as a former swimmer. While others interacted thoroughly with me since I
was a swimming instructor in the company from the age of 13 until the end of my bachelor studies.
Another important advantage of my position is the full access that I am granted, both to employees and
the TMT, enabling more data to be gathered and better insights. Even entering special events, such as
swimming competitions, employee meetings, TMT meetings, etc., would be feasible and
inconspicuous. And finally being part of the organization or, in this case the owning family, also helps
5
me see the whole picture to eventually understand the culture of the organization (Alvesson, 2003), by
having been part of their conversations, their interactions, and their work, which is part of what an
ethnographer aims to accomplish.
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2. Literature Review
2.1 Family Business: Definition and Characteristics
The term Family Business (FB), as is common in social sciences, is defined in different ways and with
different points of emphasis, thus, it is complicated to articulate a concise definition (Sharma et al.,
2014). When considering the different types of FBs, Sharma et al. (2014) cites Lansberg et al. (1988)
says, “[Is it a Family Business when] A business is owned by a family but run by non-family manager.
A business is owned by a large, multi-national corporation but run by a local family. A business is
jointly owned by two unrelated partners, each of whom has a son in the business. Are these all family
businesses?” (p. 1). Some scholars base their definition of a FB based on ownership, governance, family
involvement in managerial decisions, succession, or a combination of these. The influence of the family
in the business and business in the family, however, seems to be considered as an important factor for
classifications (Holt et al., 2010). Although the aim and purpose of this study is not to resolve or propose
a general definition of a FB, it is still important to bear in mind that this research will simply follow a
general definition for the entire thesis.
Therefore, the general definition of FB that will be considered throughout this thesis will be, as
described by Gagné et al. (2014), as a business in which the controlling family has a significant
influence on the business of the firm. Family taking the definition proposed by Rothausen (1999), as
social groups within which members are “related by marriage, biology, or adoption, as well as people
related through affection, obligation, dependence or cooperation” (p. 820). The definition previously
described may seem to detail a one-directional influence between family and business, but this is not
the case as will be explained further on through the existing literature on the subject.
There seems to be a “virtually unanimous” agreement between researchers from different fields of study
that non-family businesses and family businesses are “conceptually and qualitatively” different from
each other (Gagné et al., 2014: p. 643; referring to Gomez-Mejía et al. 2011). This difference, according
to Rau et al. (2019), has to do with the values in the controlling family. As opposed to Top Management
Teams (TMT) in non-family companies the controlling family in a FB has nurtured and incorporated
values to its particular group during their upbringing, their education, through their role models, and
through social norms that have been maintained through long periods of times (Rau et al., 2019). These
interactions and experiences foster strong cohesive values that seem to remain stable over adult life
(Gehman et al., 2013; Klein, 1991). The TMTs of non-family companies, on the other hand, seem to
have been raised unrelated to one another, following different role models, with different social norms,
and with different views (Rau et al., 2019). Additionally, to the previous upbringing characteristics,
TMTs of non-family businesses tend to have a shorter amount of time to interact with one another as
opposed to controlling families. This last point has an effect in the fostering or defining of joint values
(Cruz et al., 2010; Boling et al., 2016) and will be discussed further on a different section.
Another important difference between FB and non-family firms is the constraints that come with the
hybrid identity nature of the organization. According to Whetten et al. (2014), a hybrid identity
organization (HIO) is that which mixes two different forms of organization that would be normally
thought to be mutually exclusive (e.g. Salvation Army and Social Entrepreneurs). Distinguishing
between HIO and an organization with multiple identities – e.g. conglomerates or business associations
– is not the main concern of this study but, nevertheless, it is related. This secondary concern, as it may
be described, aids in understanding that there are different institutional logics or meaning systems that
are involved in the Aquatic Center, which also happens to be a FB, that will be analyzed through a
7
Neoinstitutional Lens (theory that will be developed in its own section). Thus, HIOs require a brief
introduction and explanation.
In order to distinguish between HIO and cases of organizations with more than one identity, such as
conglomerates and business associations, Albert et al.’s (1998) proposes his “3I’s” approach
(incompatible, indispensible, and inviolate). The first “I”, is based on the incompatibility of the two (in
case of the common FB) types of social forms, in our case the family and business, that tend to have
conflicting interests. For example, FBs that are organized to align the “competing expectations” of
having both the identity of a business and that of a family (Whetten et al. 2014, ch. 24, p. 7).
The second “I”, is the indispensability of both identities for the organization. When a multiple identity
firm, in this case a non-family firm, has opposing identities (e.g. high quality and low-cost
manufacturer) the nature of the market tends to single out one of those identities and the organization
tends to survive. On the other hand, FB cannot stop treating family as family and operating the business
as a business because failing to meet those expectations may prove fatal for the internal and external
workings of the company (Whetten et al., 2014).
Finally, the third “I”, the identities of HIO are inviolable. This means that the identities of the
organization should reflect the social expectations which their identities carry. Failure to meet these
expectations – these values, norms, and practices – will risk an identity crisis for the company which
could be detrimental for the organization as it may lose its legitimacy (Whetten et al., 2014). For
example, if a pharmaceutical company (e.g. Purdue) fails to meet expectations set by law and society
they might face charges and lawsuits, but they will not cease to be identified as a pharmaceutical
company. While an HIO, like a health care provider, faces an obligation to meet both, a low-cost
profitable company identity and to provide a high quality treatment for their patients, failing to meet
any of those identities would, at least, produce the demise of the organization as it is known.
Understanding what a Family Business is and how does it differ from a Non-Family Businesses is, by
itself, a contended, yet clear area of study with clear definitions and concepts and even though this study
is not deliberately attempting to add to these debates, it indeed supports itself with the already defined
core characteristics of a Family Business. Particularly important is to understand that any FB will have
at least two institutional logics – the family logic and the commercial logic – that influence the structures
of the organization and the behavior of its members.
2.2 Organizational Studies in Family Business Research
2.2.1 Importance of Family Businesses in Organizational Studies
Family Businesses represent a large majority of all organizations in the world (La Porta et al., 1991). In
the U.S. they represent around 90% of all the tax returns, 65% of the GDP, and employ around 62% of
the total employed population (Astrachan & Shanker, 2003). Referring to a study from Heck & Trent
(1999) and Heck & Stafford (2002), Sharma (2004), indicates that the influence of U.S. family firms in
1996 can be shown through the gross revenue that they generated which was between $1.3-10.4 trillion
USD. In Mexico, after the signing of the NAFTA agreement, even though a few multinational
corporations caught the media’s attention, family firms retained control in major industrial fields and
continued to have a strong influence and power over the Mexican economy (Athanassiou et al., 2002).
In their article, Athanassiou et al. (2002), about the effects of founder centrality in FBs, they claim that
98% of small- to medium-sized companies in Mexico are family controlled and represent around 50%
of the country’s total workforce and around 45% of all manufacturing revenues. According to IFERA
(2003), family firms are not only comprised of SMEs since the majority of the top 250 largest listed
8
companies in France and in Germany are family-owned and between 60% and 90% of all companies in
the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, the U.K., Spain, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France,
and Germany are family firms.
Given the information stated in the previous paragraph it is reasonable to conclude that FBs have a
substantial role in the world’s economy. The economic weight which this type of organization carries
deserves special attention with its own given field. There are already scientific journals such as the
Family Business Review, the Journal of Family Business Strategy, the Journal of Family Business
Management, and different business and management journal with special issues that focusing on FBs.
However, there is still a gap between Organizational Studies and Family Business which if filled would
be fruitful for both fields (Gagné et al., 2014; Dyer, 2003; Martinez & Aldrich, 2014). According to
Gagné et al. (2014), Organizational Behavior theories (within Organizational Studies) would be
particularly benefited if its theories were to be applied within a Family Business context. They would
be able to help argue in favor of their generalizability independently from their context while FBs would
be gain from deeper FB-focused research that would aid in understanding its specific context (Gagné et
al., 2014).
The diverse characteristics of the controlling family that were previously described based on Rau et
al.’s (2019) and the influential position of the family in the organization – an organization which does
not live in isolation and is described to have its own culture and identity (Watson & Korczynski, 2011;
Schein, 2017; Whetten et al., 2014) – should be enticing territory for organizational behavior scholars
to test their theories. More so when you consider that an organization, as defined by Watson &
Korczynski (2011), is a social and technical arrangement between a group of people in a formalized
and contractual relationships under a power structure where actions of some are directed by others to
achieve tasks in the organization’s name. Whether people are working in groups or alone they inevitably
show signs of behavior – at an individual level, interpersonal, or at the organization level – and since
these behaviors will be strongly influenced by the family OB scholars should examine it. Even if the
outcome of the research may shine a light at weak points of different theories – and they are likely to
be different from non-family firms research (Gagné et al., 2014) – these differences could eventually
add-up to new understandings and/or interpretations of different phenomena.
2.2.2 Organizational Culture in Family Business
Although there has been a general neglection of FB in major OB journals (Dyer, 2003), there has indeed
been some research that focused on FB. Particularly important for this thesis is that of organizational
culture within a family business context. Organizational Culture has been part of Organizational Studies
for more than 40 years and could be defined as a set of meanings and values that are shared by members
of an organization which set the appropriate (accepted) ways for people to think and behave in regards
to the organization (Watson & Korczynski, 2011). Organizational culture is a distinguishing factor
between FB and the non-family counterparts, as Rau et al. (2019) explain, the strong ties within the
family foster an environment for strong value creation and also provide the opportunity to turn these
ties to positive economic output (e.g. lower transactional costs due to ease of communication or like-
mindedness between family members) (Martinez & Aldrich, 2020).
Defining Organizational Culture within a company is something that has been researched and some
theories have been developed, one of which will be employed as theoretical framework to analyze this
case. However, there is a special interest among scholars to focus on a specific manifestation of
organizational culture and this is organizational values (e.g., Gagné et al., 2014; Rau et al., 2019;
Sorenson, 2014, Sharm & Nordqvist, 2008). Scholars tend to define these values based on Rokeach’s
definition (1973) which states that values are beliefs and taken-for-granted assumptions that one’s goal
9
or the way in which one reaches that goal is personally or sociably preferable than another. In the case
for organizational values the same logic applies but instead of the self it is the organization’s goal(s)
and its member’s preferred method of achieving it.
Scholars see values as one of the most important characteristics of the FBs. This could be understood
because there has been links to the organizational values of a FB to its performance (Rau et al., 2019)
and because these organizational values tend to act as a reference point for decisions not only for the
family but for the employees of the organization (Kotlar et al., 2014). These reference points or
organizational values – also identified in Gehman et al.’s (2013) – play a crucial role in the strategy,
the structure, and the culture of the FB organization (Ward, 2008). These values are the result of the
family’s influence and this provides the FB firm with a unique identity (Craig et al., 2008; Rau et al.,
2019) that is central to the organization and – given the long-term perspective that characterizes FBs
(Le Breton-Miller & Miller, 2006) – will endure for a considerable amount of time (Albert & Whetten,
1985).
FB identity has been researched using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative methods
have focused on questionnaire approaches to identify values, such as Schwartz (1992), who identified
different value clusters and how they interact with one another. Although his approach was positivistic
and universally focused, researchers like García-Alvarez & Lopes-Sintas (2001) have used such models
to examine value clusters in family businesses. There has been measures of social capital within family
firms (e.g. Coleman, 1988; Hoffman et al., 2006), development of scales that attempt to measure the
consistency of values within families and between them and their businesses (Astrachan et al., 2003),
and use of different research streams, for example, GLOBE research, to answer questions regarding the
influence of national cultures in family firms and how these may influence and may measure long-term
aspects involved in family businesses (House et al., 2005).
Qualitative methods have also been used to address how values influence family firm decision making
(Kotlar & De Massis, 2013). Particularly important in FB is the employment of multiple data sources,
for example, interviews, observations, ethnographical data, etc., given the strength that different
methods provide to construct our understanding of a FB’s social reality (Patton, 1990; De Massis &
Kotlar, 2014). Although it may seem unsurprising that the most used qualitative methods in FB, for
example, interviews and observations, are also the most frequently used in other research fields, it is
important to note that in FB these insights are usually then employed in the development of quantitative
methods that aim to measure how the values of the family influence the strategic long-term decision-
making of the organization.
Whether they are measured by quantitative or qualitative methods, values are seen as identifying
characteristics of a FB, this is not to say that values do not form part of a non-family business, but in
the case of FB the family institutional logic tends to have interacted and socialized with each other
longer than a commercial logic as would be the case with most non-family businesses (Sorenson, 2014;
Rau et al., 2019). Hence, family values play a more influential role in shaping a FB than they would in
a non-family business – there is, of course, a difference in how much influence these values have
depending on how much communication and interaction a family has with its business (Sorenson,
2014).
The effect of the controlling family’s values on the FB is well studied both quantitatively and
qualitatively as can be understood in the previous paragraphs. Although there seems to be a general
understanding as to where the values originate and if there is a transfer of these through the interaction
between family members and the employees of the organization (e.g., Dyer, 2003; James et al., 2012;
Arregle et al., 2007; Albert & Whetten, 1985), there is still a lack of research as to how these values
10
affect interactions and behaviors within the organization, within its relationships, and within the family.
This thesis aims to address these questions and hopefully to add new insights.
11
3. Theoretical Framework
3.1 Neoinstitutional Theory
Neoinstitutional theory (NIT) will be used as theoretical framework to answer how the organizational
values of the family-owned and -managed Aquatic Center are influenced and influence the owning
family, the members and the social reality of the organization – members referring to the TMT and the
employees who have the most contact with the clients. The purpose as to why this theory was chosen
has to do with the field of which it is part of, Organizational Behavior Theory, and because of the hybrid
identity nature of the organization in study, the Aquatic Center, which we will see that it has interesting
properties, and because the organization’s of the Family Business aspect – family being considered as
one of the great institutions (Scott, 2001). Thus, by apparent reasons we can assume that there could be
different forces at play that may be analyzed through a NIT lens.
NIT, as its name conveys, revolves around the study of institutions and how these interact with one
another, with different organization structures, and influence the daily life of the individual (Miner,
2011). According to Scott & Meyer (1994), institutions are cultural rules giving collective meaning and
value to specific entities and activities, which may or may not integrate to larger systems. In this
definition, meaning entails a purpose that is created by the individuals that are part of the institution and
by surrounding institutions. Institutions have the capacity to assimilate, influence, legitimize, and/or
delegitimize other institutions and organization structures (Miner, 2011; Scott & Meyer, 1994;
DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). Thus, creating a dynamic where organizations, organizational structures –
organizational fields for that matter – and institutions both affect each other.
There are three different streams that are commonly defined as part of NIT: Historical Institutionalism,
Rational Institutionalism, and Sociological Institutionalism. All of them attempt to understand how
institutions affect the behavior of individuals, which are part of organizations, however, they explain
the relationships that revolve around the individual in different ways (Diogo et al., 2015). According to
Diogo et al. (2015), these three streams focus on explaining the sustaining mechanisms that institutions
use over time while also taking into account external forces that may influence or push institutions to
change. These external forces can be accounted as being part of the environment that surround
institutions, organizations, and individuals (Meyer et al., 2008). There are different ways to understand
how these external entities affect the behavior of individuals but that depends on the stream of NIT that
is applied. One could argue that the main differences between these streams of NIT relate to what
prompts institutional change.
Historical Insitutionalism (HI), according to Bevir (2009), focuses on explaining institutions by
analyzing the past, by looking at what makes them unique and by understanding the cause and effect
relationship by which they are involved. They claim that institutions resist change because “they embed
actor’s interests and also because institutions are implicated in actors’ cognitive frames and habits”
(Diogo et al., 2015, p.118). This implies that there is a certain staticity to institutional change, according
to HI, because radical disruption would be needed to change the interests and cognitive frames and
habits of the actors that form part of an institution. Rational Institutionalization (RI), as the name may
indicate, relies upon rational thinking. The main argument of RI is that the individuals or actors that are
part of the institutions make their decisions based on what is of his or her most utility (Diogo et al.,
2015). In this sense what drives the decision of the actors is efficiency, thus, if the institution needs to
change it will address the changes of preference from the actor. These changes do affect individual’s
choices and actions – as can be seen with changes in government policies – but they do not determine
them (Koelble, 1995). This seems to be also an importance difference, as opposed to having an actor
12
that is free to make rational choices in RI, in HI, the actors can not control their social, economic and
political environment because they are part of the system (Koelble, 1995), their environment and
institutions are already dependent on the paths taken in the past.
3.2 Sociological Institutionalism
Sociological Institutionalism (SI), according to March and Olsen (1989), claims that a logic of
appropriateness, and not solely rational thinking, is what guides individual behavior. This
appropriateness refers to the “cognitive and ethical dimensions, targets and aspirations” that guide
individuals to “fit” in an institution (Diogo et al., 2015, p.119). Thus, there is an important difference
in how actors make decisions, in RI, actors follow rational thinking and maximization of utiliy, while
in SI actors base their decisions based on norms of expected behavior or culturally-cognitive ideas. As
Koelble (1995 p.233) states, SI’s do not focus on “How do I maximize my interests in this situation?”
but rather, “What is the appropriate response to this situation given my position and responsabilities?”.
This appropriate is defined by a combination of representational, constitutive, and normative rules that
are part of the institution and are enforced upon the actors (Miner, 2011).
The specific stream of NIT that will be used as framework to analyze and answer the research questions
of this research is Sociological Institutionalism for the following reasons. One of the reasons is that this
stream of research fits well when it comes to analyzing organizational values. Organizational values, as
defined in previous sections, are taken-for-granted beliefs that a group of people share as to which is
the best path to achieve their goals (Rokeach, 1973). Besides they could be seen as normative or,
depending on the depth of the belief, culturaly-cognitive in nature, they are not “obligatory” as a law
would be (Miner, 2011). As Pietilä (2014) claims, it is important to achieve a normative compromise
between values and beliefs and the identities and traditions of actors in an organization. This view on
institutionalism has also the characteristic that it places institutional change, unlike HI or RI, in the
hands of the actors (DiMaggio, 1988), but this will be further discussed in this section. Another reason
has to do with how I, as researcher, view reality. As it will be explained in the Methodology section,
I’m defining – interpreting – social reality through what the members of the organization perceive as
the organizational values that characterize the Aquatic Center. Beliefs and values that have to do with
expected behaviors, cognitively held rules, and constitutively created rules.
In institutionalism institutions change due to a process of institutionalization, defined by Miner (2011,
p.253) as, “the process through which a given set of units and a pattern of activities come to be
normatively and cognitively held in place, so that they are taken for granted to be lawful – either as a
result of formal law, custom or knowledge”. This process of institutionalization, as can be seen in
Figure 1, is not unidirectional, it does exclusively travel from a larger system unto a smaller, both
entities help give meaning to each other (Miner, 2011; Scott & Meyer, 1994).
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Figure 1– A model of the Institutional Process (Scott & Meyer, 1994).
These institutional changes will affect the representational, constitutive, and normative rules that give
meaning to an institution or a meaning system and these changes will give rise to new social actors and
routines (Miner, 2011). This will be shown in the Analysis section of this research. Different meaning
systems with different social actors will be shown to influence the Aquatic Center and its organizational
structure. According to Scott & Meyer (1994), representational (cultural-cognitive) rules involve shared
modes of reasoning that develops into a shared understanding of reality (e.g. the belief in law that
everyone is created equal), constitutive rules are those who create social actors that are linked to specific
behaviors (e.g. husband/wife, teacher, politician), and normative rules are those that are internalized
and reinforced by actors and by the beliefs and actions of those with whom they interact (e.g.
socialization practices like shaking hands when greeting or saying “thanks” and “you are welcome”).
The previous rules are created and/or changed through three different processes: cognitive processes
based on the logic of orthodoxy which establish representational rules and are legitimized when they
are culturally accepted; normative processes based on a logic of appropriateness which establish
normative rules and are legitimized as they become morally governed; and regulative processes based
on a logic of instrumentality which establish constitutive rules and are legitimized when they become
sanctioned (Miner, 2007; Scott, 2001). See Table 1 for a summary of these processes.
As opposed to HI and RI institutionalism, in SI change is not a product of some radical extemporary
disruption or is only triggered by actors looking for utility maximization. SI identifies change as being
14
both being constantly created or renegotiated through interactions that may be the product of the effort
of political actors who are pursuing their own ends (DiMaggio, 1988). This change may be pushed
through different diffusion mechanisms: imitation or mimetic, normative, and coercive (see Table 1)
(DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). Mimetic mechanisms draw on habitual and cultural-cognitive responses
to uncertainty, normative mechanisms draw on shared influences of past experiences such as
professions and education, and regulative mechanisms involve the force of laws, regulations and
policies (Powell, 2007). According to DiMaggio & Powell (1983) and Diogo et al. (2015), these three
mechanisms differ on their capacity to diffuse change given that they are generally held at different
levels of consciousness. If that is so, one could argue, that, for example, cultural-cognitive knowledge
is also harder to displace and substitute than it is to change a regulation.
Before continuing, let us recapitulate, diffusion mechanisms of change (mimetic, normative, and
coercive mechanisms) are employed through different cognitive, normative, and regulative processes
which they in turn change the cultural-cognitive, constitutive, and normative rules that give meaning to
an institution or meaning system. That would be a broad summary of what the process of
institutionalization is, but what would be the reason behind this process? Why do institutions, according
to Greenwood et al. (2008), tend to become more similar as they mature? This tendency may be linked
to legitimacy and to what entails to be legitimized (Powell, 2007). Legitimization is the process through
which a condition that reflects “cultural alignment, normative support, or consonance with relevant
rules or laws” is achieved (Scott, 2001, p.35). This condition is dependent on how each set of rules,
previously discussed, is legitimized (Powell, 2007). This legitimization provides institutions with
resources, stability, and increases its probability of survival (Meyer and Rowan, 1997). It is a way for
institution to prevent social censure, protect themselves against accountability, they help actors navigate
in moments of uncertainty by giving people rules and cultural scripts that they can follow (DiMaggio
& Powell, 1983; Meyer & Scott, 1983). That is why, according to Diogo et al. (2015), institutions may
acquire different organizational structures as “window dressing and not aimed at changing the
organizational status quo” (p.120). Efficiency may or may not be a reason for institutions to adopt
changes.
Table 1 – Characteristics of Cognitive, Normative, and Regulative Processes (Scott, 2001)
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4. Research Design and Methodology
4.1 Case Study Design
In the field of Management Research, one of the most commonly used research designs is that of the
Case Study (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Given the focus of this research which addresses a gap between
Organizational Behavior (OB) Studies and Family Business (FB) Studies by applying OB theories as a
theoretical framework within a specific FB setting this study will also follow a case study design. As
will be explained further on, a case study provides a flexible design through which different qualitative
methods can be combined thereby avoiding relying too much on one single approach (Knights &
McCabe, 1997).
As a general definition, proposed by Bryman & Bell (2011), a case study entails a detailed exploration
of a specific community, organization, person, or situation (i.e. case). As the definition states the case
is not bounded to a single form or entity but it is, however, bounded to a system or situation with both
purpose and functioning parts. According to Stake (1995), there are three different types of case studies
(1) the intrinsic case which focuses on gaining insights of the particularity of the situation; (2) the
instrumental case that focuses on using the case as a means to understanding a broader issue or
generalization to be challenged and; (3) the collective case that analyzed together explores a more
general phenomenon. While Stake (1995) differentiates between the previous types of cases he also
claims that the case studies rarely, if not ever, fit exactly one single type since the boundaries between
these are usually blurred.
The main reasons why this study follows a case study design are (1) the nature of the OB theories that
will be analyzed within a FB setting would benefit from a multiple qualitative methods approach as
Knights & McCabe (1997) explain. Of particular interest is employing neo-institutional theory to
explain/describe the interaction of organizational values and its members. Thus, the abstract
characteristics of values was inferred to entail more than one qualitative method to be described which,
in this case, where semi-structured interviews and observations. (2) The particular setting in which the
FB operates in is also interesting. It is an SME owned and managed by a family and it’s an aquatic
center, which can be identified to a HIO, in which direct and indirect clients spend a significant amount
of time. It’s basically a privately-owned aquatic center but the operation of it would be best described
as in a public setting. Therefore, employing OB theories in this particular FB setting will address a gap
in the research and may shed new insights or understanding to those OB theories. The case study will
focus on the employees that have the most connections between members of the organization and the
Top Management Team (TMT) as its main units of analysis.
As opposed to a deductive approach, this case study will feature an inductive approach. According to
Bryman & Bell (2011) this tends to be the most common approach when qualitative methods are used
in a case study design. This approach was chosen as more appropriate given the characteristics of the
academic purpose of this research. Purpose that, as explained above, attempts to employ OB theories in
an FB environment to fill-in a gap between research fields and, hopefully, gain new insights regarding
the theories employed. Parting with an initial idea of employing OB theories to explain the issues at
hand does not imply that those particular theories will guide the research nor that any hypotheses will
be tested. On the other hand, even though the aim of the study is not to create new theories, as it tends
to be with an inductive approach and even if it does “start from scratch” from a data analysis point of
view. There will not be any preconceived categories to guide the coding, interpretation, and analysis of
16
the data. The objective is to use existing OB theories as a theoretical framework to explain how
organizational values interact within the organization and its members. It could be argued that an
abductive approach could also have been suitable for this case study, however, given that the way the
topic of the study was problematized and the natural and unforeseen limitations of the thesis the
abductive approach was not chosen. These limitations will be further described in this section but in
regards to choosing an abductive approach the main issue was the amount of time available doing field
work and that the problematization already considered the use of OB theories as a theoretical framework
of this study.
According to Bryman & Bell (2011) reliability, replicability, and validity are greatly discussed among
researchers (e.g. Yin, 1984; Stake, 1995; Lee et al., 2007; Kanter, 1977). Some researchers such as Yin
(1984) claim that there are different ways in which case studies can be carried out to enhance its ability
to meet those criteria. Others, such as Lee et al. (2007), claim that ability to enhance those criteria using
ways such as Yin (1984) provide is dependent on the positivistic nature of the study. Now, as stated
before, this study employs qualitative methods in the search to answer its research questions. Although
the external validity of the results and their generalizability are directly impacted by the selection of
qualitative methods to address this study, they should not represent a problem given the epistemological,
ontological, and research design proposed for this study. As suggested by Lee et al. (2007) the aim of
the case study should not be generalization but particularization. The goal should be to gain a thorough
understanding of the case in question rather than being able to generalize its findings (Lee et al., 2007).
There is, however, a need for this study to add or shed new insights into existing OB theories and,
according to Bryman & Bell (2011), this has been done before in different case studies. For example,
Kanter (1977), claims that the knowledge gained from her case study enabled her to create and
understand concepts which she could apply afterwards in three other large corporations. Another
example would be that of Jack & Kholief (2007) in which they suggest case studies are good means of
refining and/or refuting existing theories. The purpose of the selected methods is to follow a similar
path to that explained by Lee et al. (2007), Bryman & Bell (2011), Kanter (1977), and Jack & Kholief
(2007) to generate new knowledge and increase the external validity of the results.
4.2 Epistemology and Ontology
For the creation of any study or research document it is important to have a clear standpoint regarding
the epistemological and ontological views from which the researcher analyzes his or her subject of
study. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the theory of knowledge, of how it is
gathered, the methods employed in its search, its validity, and its scope. Ontology is the branch of
philosophy that deals with the nature of being, it focuses on what is reality, on what is our view of
reality. Thus, given that the ontological standpoint from the researcher will, generally, guide his or her
epistemological posture, the researcher should have a clear understanding of the implication this
concepts will have in selecting the adequate methods to address the research questions of the study.
However, particularly in social sciences, both these points are strongly debated because they can heavily
influence the direction, data, and analysis of results in sociological studies (Watson & Korczynski,
2011).
Two of the main epistemological points that are debated within sociological studies are positivism and
interpretivism (Watson & Korczynski, 2011; Bryman & Bell 2011). Positivism tends to be referred
when quantitative methods are employed in research. In social research it focuses on data collection as
a means to formulate laws that may be used to explain human behavior creating generalizations like
those of the natural sciences (Turner, 2001). It assumes that the natural and social world are not
17
fundamentally different and that similar methods can be employed to analyze it. Thus, in the case of
sociology through positivist methods, making social facts – rules, laws, or structures – the subject matter
of said field of study regardless of the people that are involved in the given context (Donaldson, 2003).
Interpretivism, on the other hand, in social sciences tends to be regarded as opposing positivism under
the main argument that the subject matter of social sciences – people and institutions – is fundamentally
different from that of the natural sciences – e.g. physics and chemistry (Bryman & Bell, 2011).
Nevertheless, both epistemological postures are used in social sciences, according to Watson &
Korczynski (2011), even the inventor of the word “sociology”, Auguste Comte, was an advocate for a
positivist sociology. It could be argued that human behavior, through a positivistic approach, has to do
with explaining superficially the social, interpersonal, and intrapersonal context that influence or
describes human behavior, while interpretivism attempts to understand why that context is, how it came
to be, and how it influences human behavior. As Schutz (1962: 59) states, “the world of nature as
explored by the natural sciences does not ‘mean’ anything to the molecules, atoms, and electrons… the
observational field of the social scientist – social reality – has a specific meaning and relevance structure
for the being, living, acting, and thinking within it – social actors.”. Given the previous fundamental –
and ontological – difference there is a need for a different approach toward researching social matters
that adequately addresses the reality of the subject of study.
Two of the most influential authors on interpretivism in social studies are Weber (1947: 88) and his
work Verstehen which defines sociology as a “science which attempts the interpretive understanding of
social action in order to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects” and Alfred Schutz (1899-
1959) who initially applied phenomenological ideas – which questions how individuals make sense of
the world that they are part of and how the researcher should omit his or her preconceptions of said
world – to social studies (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Watson & Korczynksi, 2011). Important to point out
is that in the former’s definition the job of finding the explanations of why social action takes a
determined course is left to its interpretative understanding. It rules out that there is a fixed, separate,
and external reality in which social actors interact. The latter, although similar, adds an important
element to interpretivism, it focuses on how individuals make sense of their social reality. How the
meanings they have interpreted from their relationship to one-another and to the structures that surround
them all add up to what they understand as “reality”. A reality which – although different to each
individual – may be considered an outcome of that group’s social constructs.
This study will take the interpretivist approach to social science that Weber (1947) and Schutz (1962)
propose in their definitions. The methods as to which this study aims to gather knowledge is through
understanding the perspective or point of view of the members of the Aquatic Center that are the focus
of this case study. Through qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews that focus on
comparing and contrasting past and present work experiences – and their perspectives as to how that
organization work(ed) – the study will aim to describe and understand, through OB theories, what is
the social reality at that particular time of the organization. These interviews will also be aided with
informal conversations and events in which the researcher took part of, in an attempt to increase the
validity of the results.
Regarding ontology and how we define reality there are two main views that are the focus in social
studies, as well as in general research, which are objectivism and constructionism. Objectivism views
reality – in this case social reality – with its social actions and meanings to have an independent
existence to that of the actors that are part of said reality (Bryman & Bell, 2011). For example, the
objectivist would claim that organizations and culture exert forces that constrain or enable social actors
18
through the use of rules, values, and laws which exist independently and externally from the actor.
Claiming that these forces and constraints have “the characteristics of an object hence having and
objective reality” (Bryman & Bell, 2011: 21).
In contrast to objectivism there is constructionism. Constructionism views social reality with its social
actions and meanings as continually being constructed – and reconstructed – by the social actors that
constitute that reality implying that these social actions and meanings are not only an outcome of social
interactions but that they are in a constant state of revision (Bryman & Bell, 2011). To follow-up on the
same example with organizations and culture, the constructionist would claim that those external and
independent forces that act upon social actors are actually social creations that are continuously
constructed and reconstructed (Becker, 1982). Bryman & Bell (2011) claim, referring to Strauss et al.’s
(1973), that social order in an organization – or within a group – is the outcome of agreed patterns and
norms, that in turn are product of ‘negotiations’ between the social actors or the organization. In this
context the word ‘negotiation’ does not forcefully entail a conscious action from the actors involved
even if this ‘negotiation’ is in a constant state of change.
The constant construction and reconstruction of the social creations and their meaning does not signify
that there is not a reality that “persists and antedates the participation of particular people” and influence
the perspective of social actors, but it is not a fixed and static reality that simply constrains said actors,
it also acts as a reference point that is constantly being (re)constructed (Becker 1982: 521; Bryman &
Bell, 2011). Although authors like Walsh (1972) and Potter (1996) may claim that there is no such
reference point, as claimed by Strauss et al. (1973) and Becker (1982), they all agree that social actors
have an active part in the creation of social constructs and social reality. So, it could be argued that, and
is corroborated by Bryman & Bell (2011) and Watson & Korczynski (2011), one of the most common
ontological view on social sciences is that of constructionism.
Therefore, guiding the epistemological posture of this study, the ontological view that is central to this
research study is that of constructionism. Based on the view that reality is made up of the interpretations
of each of the members of the organization in focus will this study attempt to answer its research
questions. In a way the study is looking to get as close as it is possible to the ‘reference point’, as
claimed by Becker (1982) and Bryman & Bell (2011), through the use of OB theories as framework
that explains the social phenomena that are part of the organization. The main reasons behind this
posture has to do with the social nature of the research questions, the employment of OB theories, and
the focus on a particular FB all of which can be addressed coherently through a constructionist
ontological view.
4.3 Methodology
As it was explained in the introduction, this study will employ qualitative methods as its main research
strategy. The decision of using qualitative methods to answer the research questions has to do with the
previously explained epistemological and ontological postures of this thesis. The following methods
consider that every member of the organization – and society – has its own interpretations of the social
phenomena that are part of their surrounding – in this case the organization – which are in a constant
state of (re)construction and that in order to access or gain that knowledge it is indispensable to use an
interpretivist approach which will aid in describing the social reality of the organization in focus in this
particular time.
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4.3.1 Semi-Structured Interviews and Ethnographic Approach
According to Bryman & Bell (2011) qualitative interviews, as opposed to quantitative interviews, are
better suited to answer questions that relate to interviewee’s values, their beliefs, their past/present
behaviors, their roles, their relationship and their emotions. This makes qualitative interviews
particularly adequate to address the research questions of this thesis. There are different types of
qualitative interviews, such as semi-structured, unstructured, life history interviews, photo interviews,
etc., but the two most common ones are semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews
(Bryman & Bell, 2011).
Unstructured interviews, as its name entails, have no particular structure. The researcher starts with a
set of topics which he uses as a memory aid to narrow down the subjects that the interviewee will talk
about (Bryman and Bell, 2011). This type of qualitative interview seems to behave somewhat as a
conversation with the exception that it usually starts with a question that the interviewee can answer
openly and freely. The researcher’s main job is to simply follow-up points of interest that may arise
and, more importantly, must be able to recognize the difference between important statements –
statements that describe points of view, emotions, beliefs, etc. – from statements that describe processes
– processes like daily procedures or operations and events (Whyte, 1953). It could be argued that,
although not unique for unstructured interviews, time and access to interviewees for unstructured
interviews may pose a greater difficulty due to the lack of accurate estimations of time and topics that
will be covered. Thus, special focus on having the proper access and permissions to carry out this type
of interview should be acquired (Bryman & Bell, 2011).
Semi-structured interviews, contrary to unstructured interviews, do rely on an interview guide but
without losing the flexibility of its unstructured counterpart (Bryman & Bell, 2011). This interview
guide, which focuses on the specific topics that the researcher wants to address, is not a fixed script as
it would be in a structured interview case. The interviewer may – or not – follow it strictly with the
intention of letting the interviewee answer openly but more focused than in an unstructured interview
(Bryman & Bell, 2011). In this way the interviewer, according to Bryman & Bell (2011), provides a
leeway for the interviewee to answer freely and address the topics that are of interest to the researcher.
De Massis & Kotlar (2014) argue that interviews, particularly in an FB context, are especially suited to
gain deeper insights to the values and beliefs of the interviewee because they have the potential of
producing unexpected, thoughtful – and focused – responses.
However, given the flexible nature of the interview, the researcher should emphasize in the ways in
which the interviewee frames his or her answers and the topics that are discussed with the interviewer.
According to different authors (e.g. De Massis & Kotlar, 2014; Bryman & Bell, 2011; Watson &
Korczynski, 2011; Musson, 1998) this is where the interviewer must make use of the flexibility– in a
thoughtful and strategic manner – that this method enables. The researcher must guide the interview
“process to a large extent by asking individuals to [talk] about . . . their understanding of the purpose of
the organization . . . about their lives in previous organizations and how they had experienced these;
what they had found rewarding, constraining or difficult to make sense of, and how this differed in their
current organization. Again, the open-ended structure of the narratives allowed people to introduce
subjects of major importance to them” (Musson 1998: 16).
A semi-structured approach to the interviews tends to be favored when the researcher has a “fairly clear
focus” since the start of the investigation and also when the researcher has a “clear idea” of which
method of analysis will be used for the data (Bryman & Bell, 2011: 472). This is the case for this thesis
and given the inductive approach of this piece of research the investigation starts with a focus on using
20
OB theories as a framework to analyze the data after interpreting the data with a thematic analysis which
will be further explained in the next sub-section.
The interviews where divided in three different sections. The first section involved talking about their
past working experiences. The main objectives were to give the researcher an idea of how long they
have been working, how were they involve (or not) in an aquatic environment and, finally, gain their
perspective of what they liked or disliked from their previous jobs. These answers would, consequently,
be compared against the answers of the second section which involved questions regarding their present
work. By contrasting the answers, the researcher could focus on different issues during the interview
which may prove to be important for the analysis. Finally, the third section involved a description of
their lives within their community from a local and personal perspective. This last section of the
interview had the objective of comparing whether their personal lives (family and close relationships)
and their community were similar between employees and the TMT. The questions were mainly of a
behavioral nature which are open-ended with the intention of obtaining a more thorough answer from
the interviewee (Glyré et al., 2014). This type of questions are also considered to be an adequate method
to describe actual behavior of the interviewee (Huffcutt et al., 2011) as opposed to hypothetical
questions which might promote ideal answers from the interviewees (Glyré et al., 2014). The same
three-section approach was taken with all the interviews as to be able to get comparable answers for the
analysis (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The interview guide for the TMT and the employees may be found in
Appendix A and Appendix B.
However, quantitative and qualitative interviews, are not bullet-proof research methods especially when
it comes to sociological research (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Watson & Korczynksi, 2011). According to
Alvesson (2003b), there are always different influences that can’t be controlled regarding an interview
context. Many authors coincide that this can be attributed to cultural roles which interviewees are
consciously or subconsciously trying to fulfill, to following certain norms which affects the way they
talk or act, and/or because the statements may be limited by the reflective capacity of the interviewees’
(e.g. Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Silverman, 1989; Dingwall, 1997; Alvesson, 2003a; etc.). For this
reason, an ethnographic approach was also employed with the intention of increasing the validity of the
data. The employment of different methods, such as semi-structured interviews, observations, and
casual conversations, sometimes referred as triangulation, is a suitable way of creating a more complete
description of a given social context (Denzin, 1994).
According to Bryman & Bell (2011), an ethnographic approach has the objective of understanding a
case (group, organization, community…) from an insider’s perspective by getting involved in the
organization’s daily activities. The word ethnography is conformed by two words, ethno- and -graphy,
which together mean the practice of writing (graphy) about people and culture (ethno). This makes it
an “obvious method for understanding work organizations as cultural entities . . . that focus on the
construction of cultural norms, expressions of organizational values, and patterns of workplace
behavior” (Bryman & Bell, 2011: 425). This approach, which was mostly employed by anthropologists,
is now commonly used in business research, given its unique focus on social relations and structured
goal-oriented work (Rosen, 1991). The main important factors to consider, according to Bryman & Bell
(2011), are access to the social context in focus, time spent within the given social context, and the role
that the researcher is going to have during field work. There are also factors involving transcription of
data and analysis, however, these factors are also of common importance for other qualitative methods.
The access to the social context – context that is pertinent for the study – is important because it has to
appropriately be suited to address your research questions. In this case the social context in focus was
the daily operations of a FB aquatic center (the organization) with employees and the TMT. My position
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as researcher made it particularly easy to gain access to the social context, as Van Maanen & Kolb
(1985: 11) state, “gaining access to most organizations . . . involves some combination of strategic
planning, hard work and dumb luck”, in this case the latter was just as important as the first two factors
given that I am part of the family that owns and manages the organization. Additionally, I have also
been part of the company in previous years, mostly as a part-time worker and swimmer, but more
recently as a full-time employee. Both the amount of years that I have been involved with the
organization and the access to employees and TMT provided me with a good amount rapport with the
staff and with an ideal of time interact with employees and TMT. The former is important because my
presence in the company is seen normal and, so, helps me get involved in daily casual conversations in
which the employees and the TMT may speak in a more natural manner (Alvesson, 2003a; Bryman &
Bell, 2011). The latter, the time spent in the ‘field’, was around 40 days of field work, these days were
mixed between daily operations and the semi-structured interviews. Although ethnographies in case
studies tend to last longer than 40 days (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Watson & Korczynski, 2011), for
example, from 2 months up to 5 years (e.g. Roy, 1958; Burawoy, 1979; Benyon, 1975, etc.), there are
instances – such as Master and Bachelor dissertations – in which a smaller amount of time is adequate
(Wolcott, 1995). This particular form of ethnography focuses on a particular aspect of an organizational
culture, in this case organizational values and their interaction within the organization and its members,
for a shorter time period to achieve a better understanding of that particular aspect of the organizational
culture (Bryman & Bell, 2011).
According to Gold’s (1958) classification of participant observer roles, which are complete participant,
participant-as-observer, observer-as-participant, and complete observer, there are 4 roles that the
ethnographer or researcher should follow during his fieldwork. The main difference between the roles
is the level of involvement or participation that the researcher chooses to have in the case (Bryman &
Bell, 2011). Starting from complete participant with the complete involvement decreasing to complete
observer in which the researcher observes its subject of study unobtrusively. During the empirical
investigation of this case my position varied from Participant-as-Observer to Observer-as-Participant
depending on the situation I was involved in a particular moment. Whether those moments were
interviews, observations, or casual conversations the members of the organization, employees and
TMT, were fully aware of my position as a researcher. This mix of roles – between Participant-as-
Observer and Observer-as-Participant – created a particular position in which I could take advantage
of the familiarity of the settings, the access it provided me with, and the time to interact in a more
meaningful manner with the members of the organization through “less formal, more spontaneous talks
between researcher [me] and informants [employees and TMT]” that are a good complement for the
gathering and analysis of the data (Alvesson, 2003a: 172). Although my position as researcher and
family member may be problematic it also may be employed as a resource if the aim of carrying out a
cultural analysis and not an introspection is maintained (Spradley & McCurdy, 1972; Bryman & Bell,
2011). As Alvesson (2003a) compares, “a conventional ethnographer uses any kind of active
participation for an instrumental purpose . . . whereas the idea of a self-ethnography - ethnography in
which the researcher is highly familiar with its setting (Bryman & Bell, 2011) – is to utilize the position
one is in also for other, secondary purposes, i.e. doing research on the setting of which one is a part” (p.
175).
These two types qualitative methods have the principal objective of aiding in the creation, description,
and explanation of the social reality that is present in the aquatic center. The methods stay true on the
constructivist view upon social reality which looks for common subjects or themes between the
members of the organization all the while understanding that each one of the members – including the
researcher, interviewer, and/or ethnographer – has their own perspectives, interpretations, and
understandings of the world that surrounds them.
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4.3.2 Purposive Sampling
According to Bryman & Bell (2011), one of the most common types of sampling methods in qualitative
research is that of purposive sampling and this study is not an exception. In these types of studies
purposive sampling can be used to either select the cases involved and/or select the people who will be
involved in the study. As explained in this section the case study focuses on a family-owned and
-managed aquatic center, its organizational values, and how these interact within the employees and the
TMT (unit of analysis) through an OB theoretical framework.
Being that said, although purposive sampling – as is in case studies – does not allow the researcher to
generalize to a population, the employment of purposive sampling does, however, contributes to the
objective of selecting a strategic sample that is fully relevant for the research questions of this study
(Bryman & Bell, 2011). Relying on statistical criteria, such as probability or random sampling, to select
a sample in a qualitative study that is primarily concerned with understanding a social phenomenon is
not appropriate, and it should, instead, rely on theoretical criteria (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).
4.3.3 Thematic Analysis
One of the main issues that arise within qualitive research is that it tends to produce large amount data
in a very diverse form (i.e. interview transcripts, field notes, and documents generate data that is
immediately comparable) (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Given these types of problems that are inherent to
qualitative research there are different analytic methods – such as Grounded Theory, Thematic
Analysis, Discourse Analysis, etc. – that have been developed address that data according to the study’s
epistemological and ontological position (Bryman & Bell, 2011). This thesis will employ Thematic
Analysis, which according to different sources is one of the most common ways to approach qualitative
data (e.g. Bryman & Bell, 2011; Terry et al., 2017; Rosala, 2019), to process and interpret the data
produced from the interviews and the observations.
According to Rosala (2019) thematic analysis (TA) can be – generally – described as a method of
separating and organizing qualitative data with – fitting and descriptive – codes to ease the discovery
of possible themes that may be used to describe the data. Due to the flexibility and the diverse ways in
which this method can be used it is important to define from which ontological – and consequently
epistemological – view will the data be analyzed (Terry et al., 2017). There are two main schools of
thought regarding thematic analysis: (1) TA analyzes the data from a positivist point of view which
focuses on building reliable coding (often associated with pre-studied categories and a deductive
approach); (2) TA analyzes the data from a theory independent and flexible stand point to organically
develop coding and themes (often associated with an inductive approach to data analysis) (Terry et al.,
2017). This thesis will follow the latter’s approach, the data produced from the interviews and
observations will be analyzed from an inductive approach with the objective of developing codes and
themes “from scratch” and without a significant amount of preconceptual influence.
Terry et al. (2017) propose that the research should follow 6 different steps to carry out a Thematic
Analysis. These steps are: (1) data familiarization, (2) code generation, (3) theme construction, (4)
potential theme revision, (5) theme definition and naming, (6) report production. As the name and the
steps imply this method focuses on codes and themes to analyze and interpret data. Codes are used to
describe what a certain text (interview transcription, field note, etc.) is about and aids in “categorizing”
it to ease comparability between different texts; codes can be either descriptive or interpretive based on
whether it describes what the data is about or includes an interpretation from the researcher (Rosala,
2019). A theme emerges from the codes, it can be describe as major common phenomena that captures
23
different codes within the data; the researcher main issue is to balance the possible – or not –
overlapping codes to find these themes and define them (Rosala, 2019; Terry et al., 2017).
Familiarizing with the data, according to Terry et al. (2017), is about engaging and deeply knowing the
data. The researcher should fully immerse in the entirety of the data set in order to start “. . . noticing
patterns or quirks, starting to ask questions, and so on, rather than just absorbing the information therein,
as when reading a good crime novel” (Terry et al., 2017: ch2, p.3). The researcher may employ different
tactics, such as side notes, interpretation, or thoughts, to aid him in understanding the data set, to be
able to refer back to them, and to begin with thinking in terms of codes. Code generating is an iterative
process focused on developing relevant – pertaining or relating to the research questions – labels to the
data set that helps in reducing and organizing the data into different patterns (Terry et al., 2017).
Theme construction involves the examination of the developed codes and combine or collapse them
into a more significant pattern (Terry et al., 2017). The main objective of this step is to identify and
form patterns that englobe the whole data set, the researcher needs to identify a central organizing
concept – a ‘clear core idea or concept that underpins a theme’ (Braun et al., 2015, p.102) – that is
shared between different codes (Terry et al., 2017). Reviewing the themes that are generated helps
ensure that they are compatible with relation to the codes that were generated, that they are distinctive,
and that they are relevant to the research questions (Terry et al., 2017). As Braun & Clarke (2006) argue,
the researcher should be able to evaluate if the themes capture the essence of the data set in a meaningful
and useful way, hence, starting the process of defining and naming the theme. Defining a theme,
according to Terry et al. (2017, p.20), should move away the researcher “from a summative position –
thinking of themes as list of codes and collated data – to an interpretive orientation”. Meaning that the
definition of the theme should include the details and the boundaries that each central concept means to
explain or describe. The definition should be clear and cohesive enough to stand by itself as a pillar of
the overall analysis (Terry et al., 2017).
Finally, producing a TA report is the last step of the process. Although there is already a fair amount of
written material by the time the researcher gets to this point the report’s main objective is to create a
“story” that “moves [the researcher] from a ‘purely’ analytic point in the research process . . . back to
the bigger picture of the overall project” (Terry et al., 2017, p.22). An analytical approach is going to
be employed in the report with some illustrative support in the form of interview excerpts. This
combination of two approaches has the benefit of both being able to use clear examples from each
interview to support the arguments that are going to be brought forth during the analysis of the results
(Terry et al., 2017).
4.3.4 Applying the Methodology
As explained in the previous sections the empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews,
through observations, and casual conversations that took place during normal working conditions of the
Aquatic Center. The purpose of using this approach was based on the epistemological and ontological
standpoints of interpretivism and constructivism, also previously explained, because the main research
question guiding this research is of a social nature which is more commonly addressed from said positions
(Bryman & Bell, 2011).
The employees that were selected were 7 Swimming Coaches, 6 Site Coordinators, and the TMT composed
of 3 members of the owning family. These employees were selected based on the number of connections
between the principal members of the organization and the customers. There was a considerable amount of
data which was properly processed and then analysed. A total of more than 20 hours’ worth of interview
24
material and different field notes from observations and conversations that took place during a 40-day
period on site. It would be reasonable to imply that the major bulk of the data analysed in this research came
from the interviews.
Each of the interviews were analysed through Thematic Analysis following Terry et al.’s (2017) 6-Step
approach which is (1) Data Familiarization, (2) Code Generation, (3) Theme Construction, (4) Potential
Theme Revision, (5) Theme Definition and Naming, and (6) Report Production. The first two steps of this
process involve the most time-consuming work given the need to listen, transcribe, and read more than 20
hours of interviews so that it may be more efficiently broken down to more digestible data sizes through
coding. Approximately it took around 4 to 5 hours of transcribing and a further 2 to 3 hours to organize and
code. The code generation, as stated previously, was made from an inductive position. There were no
previously made categories or specific theoretical influences in place before the coding started.
Approximately each interview generated between 44 and 83 individual codes. Each individual code was be
categorized together with other codes as to simplify the data. However, given that the research questions
imply the need of separating the values that are characteristic of the organization and those that characterize
the employees and the top management team (TMT) they were further divided into personal and
organizational codes. After this second division the codes were classified together into groups that shared
similar meaning or that are related to each other. This created the advantage of having a much more
manageable amount of codes to start with the theme construction. These sets of codes were measured with
and against each of the case units that are part of this study and sorted from most-to-least common and a
Perception Agreement Percentage was calculated.
Finally, to focus on the most important or most shared sets of codes, only 80% of the most common sets of
codes were selected for theme construction. This last division ended up including between 10 to 15 sets of
personal-oriented codes and between 8 to 16 sets of organization-oriented codes. The latter refers to the
researcher’s interpretation of each of the employee’s perceptions of the values – still codes at the moment
– that are characteristic of the organization.
Before addressing the construction of the themes, it is important to remember the definition of
organizational values that this research is based on. Values, as defined by Rokeach (1973), are beliefs and
taken-for-granted assumptions that one’s goal or the way in which he or she reaches that goal is personally
or sociably preferable than another. Whenever, before or after, this term is used it will be referring back to
this definition but within the context of the organization.
Proceeding after the final division of the sets of code, they were renamed to address and describe the
organizational value they are representing. This was done for each unit of analysis and for the organization
as a whole. Four groups were created from the two units of analysis of the case study: (1) TMT’s perception
of the organizational values, (2) TMT’s perception of their personal values, (3) Employee’s perceptions of
organizational values, and (4) Employee’s perception of their personal values.
The previously mentioned four groups were analysed – as it will be exemplified in the following paragraphs
– in the same manner. Although aiming to directly measure the personal values of either of these groups
was not part of the original aim but became necessary given that the organizational values and the personal
values are not always the same. Thus, a distinction had to be made and this was realized by interpreting
what the interviewee said based on, “What does this tell me about the interviewee? What does this tell me
about the organization?”. The following is an example of how two interview excerpts were analysed from
the transcription and initial coding to the defining of themes (values).
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“Well, perhaps… perhaps there could be a meeting at the end of the month where Director X would say, ‘Hey
Coordinator X, come let’s check the numbers, let’s see how we can attack from this side or the other…’. I’ve
always told Director X that I would like to make a career here. But, honestly, I see it very
complicated” - Employee
From this excerpt I started by writing a small interpretative sentence based on said questions. First, I
answered the question from the organization’s perspective, that is thinking about how this excerpt describes
the company, I wrote, “There seems to be a lack of formal communication in the company. There seems to
be motivation to grow and improve oneself, but he/she thinks its complicated.”. After writing these small
sentences I identified what was the main message of each of them. In this case it seems to be a clear need
of communication, a clear motivation to grow, and impediments to grow, these last two point were
afterwards classified together under need of a development plan.
Second, I answered the question from the employee’s perspective, how does this describe the employee,
I wrote, “In search for feedback and guidance. Probably clarity. Wants to improve himself. Seems
committed with the company.”. From these short sentences the codes growth oriented and commitment
were formulated. This process took place within the analysis of every excerpt of the interview. In total
there were an average of 43 excerpts per interview and an average of 1 hour and 15 minutes per
interview.
Once the transcribing, the coding, the theme development and the organizational values were
determined they were divided into three main categories: (1) Full Organizational Values, (2) TMT’s
Personal and Organizational Values, and (3) Employee’s Personal and Organizational Values. These
categories were based on each group’s perception of what are the values of the Aquatic Center (AC)
and were later related to three broader themes which will be explained further in the Analysis Section.
During this second analysis some observations were also considered, and they will be identified as such
in their given moment, mostly to complement the claims made in the analysis. Nevertheless, it is
important to explain that they will be presented in the form of paraphrased interactions of casual
conversations and of general observations that took place on site.
4.3.5 Disposition
The next chapters will focus on presenting the findings of the research. In chapter 5 I will present the
organizational values that characterize the TMT, the employees, and the Aquatic Center as a whole.
While in chapter 6 these values will be used together with Neo-Institutional Theory to analyze the
interaction of the organizational values within the different meaning systems that characterize Aquatic
Center. Chapter 7 will discuss the research questions relating to the results analysis presented in chapter
6, along with their implications, and limitations. Finally, chapter 8 will present the conclusion of this
thesis along with contributions and possible future research.
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5. Identifying the Organizational Values
5.1 The Values of the Top Management Team
As a group, the members of the TMT, agreed almost 100% on their top organizational values. The
values, according to their perception, that characterize the organization are, ranked from most to least
mentioned, (1) need of communication, (2) need of formal procedures, (3) discipline, (4) social impact,
(5) commitment, (6) flexibility, (7) passion, (8) customer service, and (9) need of a development plan.
The only value that was not mentioned by the three members of the TMT is customer service which
was mentioned only by one out of the three members. The reason for this discrepancy, as it will be
shown in the next section, has to do with the previous company in which said member used to work.
The director has always worked in a service-oriented company.
From the four organizational values perceived by the TMT and not by the employees, the most
important to discuss are discipline, social impact and passion. Discipline ranked 3rd on the TMT’s list
it was mentioned by all three members 20 times during their interviews and as it will be further analyzed
it’s the value that ranks higher within the TMT’s personal values – the controlling family’s personal
values. Social impact was ranked 4th in the organizational value list and was mentioned 18 times in all
the interviews of the TMT. It can also be linked to the TMT’s personal values, ranking 5th in the personal
value list, and can be related to the lessons and stories with which the members of the controlling family
grew up. Passion was ranked 7th in the organizational value list and was mentioned 12 times. However,
it was not part of the TMT’s personal value list. Although it is not just an exclusive characteristic of the
three members of the TMT, when compared to the rest of the siblings of the controlling family, it was
not mentioned as a personal value, but, it may be linked to the sport logic, which will be addressed in
the analysis, that is influencing the organization.
As can be inferred from the previous paragraph, the TMT’s organizational values and their personal
values differ from one another. Their personal values, as a group, are (1) discipline, (2) harmony, (3)
commitment, (4) responsibility, (5) social impact, (6) flexibility, (7) work-life balance, and (8)
proactivity. These personal values are interpreted as the values that were learned, instilled, or manifested
from the interaction of the members of the TMT and their family (grandparents, parents, and siblings).
Unlike with the organizational values, the members of the TMT all mention the personal values at least
once during the interviews. This may indicate the strong bond they have shared and fostered throughout
their lives and the common education with which they grew up. Although employees also share a large
share of their personal values, as it will be described in the next subsection, with the organizational
values of the Aquatic Center, the TMT’s personal values that are shared with the Aquatic Center can be
a product of the controlling family’s influence over the family business. This claim sustained by the
fact that with only 3 members and that some of these values are not shared by the employees, they are
still reflected in the organization.
5.2 The Values of the Employees
The employees of the Aquatic Center, as mentioned before, share 7 out of the 8 organizational values
that they perceive as being characteristic of the Aquatic Center. Unlike the TMT, which agree almost
100% with each other, the employees have a perception agreement that ranges between 90% and 100%.
Ranked from most mentioned to least, the organizational values that they, as a group, perceive as
characterizing the company are (1) need of communication, (2) harmony, (3) flexibility, (4) need of a
development plan, (5) need of formal procedures, (6) commitment, (7) expertise (know-how), and (8)
image. The most mentioned value was need of communication with 132 mentions in all 13 interviews,
follow by harmony with 109 mentions, flexibility with 82 mentions, and all the way to the least
mentioned value which was image with 29 mentions. Although the number of mentions seem to be way
higher compared to the TMT’s mentions of their perceived set of values, the average number of
27
mentions per employee is similar between both groups. Thus, the higher number of mentions can be
attributed to the higher number of employees.
Employees perceive three organizational values that are not perceived by the TMT and these are
harmony, expertise (know-how), and image. From these three values the ones I believe are important to
emphasize are expertise and image. Expertise, as previously defined, has to do with the specific
knowledge that is involved in swimming as a sport. Although it is not mentioned by the TMT, it is
something 10 out of the 13 employee interviewees possess. Only three employees who were interviewed
do not have a background in swimming. The rest either were swimmers themselves, have been
instructors, and/or they come from long family swimming legacy. In this case, expertise, just as passion
in the previous section, can be linked to the sport logic that influences the company. Image, however,
may be related to one of the TMT’s values. During some of the conversations I had with the employees,
their principal concern with the image that is portrayed by the company stems from the pressure or
demand – linked to discipline – that the TMT has always placed on them regarding customer service.
That may explain the reason why this value was not mentioned by the TMT explicitly but is still may
be an indirect consequence of some of the TMT’s values.
The employee’s personal values, on the other hand, differ more from those of the TMT compared to their
perceived organizational values. The employees’ personal values are (1) harmony, (2) growth oriented, (3)
service, (4) communication, (5) responsibility, (6) commitment, (7) flexibility, (8) authority, (9) work-life
balance, and (10) discipline. Out of the ten values, employees’ only share six of them with the TMT.
Although there are four personal values that employees do not share with the TMT (growth-oriented,
service, communication, and authority). I would like to focus on communication and authority because they
have a direct implication to some of the conflicts that arise in the interaction between the different influential
forces that affect the organization. Communication as defined by the organizational values has to do with
clarity and feedback and, although not defined as an organizational value, authority means that the
employees value clear authority figures. They do not fare well in situations where there is an ambiguous
authority figure because the uncertainty may disrupt the harmony in which they feel comfortable to work.
Communication, in this case, serves to create clear rules for situation in which this kind of uncertainty may
occur. In the analysis section there will be an excerpt that depicts one of these situations.
5.3 The Organizational Values of the Aquatic Center
The results of the thematic analysis served to identify the top 8 organizational values that characterize
the company. These organizational values are the result of the most common perceptions of the TMT
and of the Employees, however, as it will be described in the next section, these values may have
different, although related, meaning depending on the interviewee and his or her background. Therefore,
I intend to start by presenting these 8 organizational values – with their general meaning – and then by
presenting how each group, TMT and Employees, defined said values.
The main organizational values that resulted from the analysis are:
1. Need of Communication: referring to the lack of channels between different levels of the
organization which create vacuums with ambiguous authority figures and unclear goals,
instructions, and/or policies.
2. Flexibility: referring to the ability of the company to adapt to different circumstances, to quickly
solve pressing concerns, and – more importantly – the ability to employ one’s own criteria to
different situations.
3. Harmony: referring to the work environment that surrounds the social context within which the
employees and the TMT operate on a daily basis. There is a strong emphasis on collaboration
and respect between the members of the organization.
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4. Need of Development Plan: refers to the lack of opportunities to grow within the company
given to its characteristics. Secondarily, it also refers to a lack of feedback between the different
levels of the organization.
5. Need of Formal Procedures: refers to the lack of organizational structures and procedures that
aims to improve efficiency and control of daily operations and future growth plans.
Secondarily, it also refers to a lack of consistency on certain decisions, rulings, or sanctions
that have been made in the past.
6. Commitment: refers to the daily effort, persistency, and tenacity that are part of the working
environment. It also points to the commitment to the organization’s vision.
7. Discipline: refers to the constant focus on achieving one’s or the organization’s goal on a daily
basis and during a probably uncertain time period.
8. Expertise (Know-How): refers to the specific technical knowledge that is involved in teaching
how to swim, in training swimming teams and understanding clients. In the case of Mexico it
is not necessarily taught in a formal course (e.g. in an institution, certification program, etc.), it
is more commonly learned through experience and the informal exchanged of knowledge.
These were the organization’s top most common values that resulted from the analysis of the data. As I said
before they were sorted from most to least common and were linked to a calculated Perception Agreement
Percentage. The latter refers to the researcher’s perception ratio of the number of organization members
that shared said set of codes. It is a way of indicating what is the percentage of members that share that
particular value. As a whole, the agreement percentage of the organizational values varied from 8% to
100%, but, only from 85% to 100% for the main organizational values (values listed above). The
composition of the main organizational values included 6 out of the top 9 organizational values of the TMT
and 6 out of the top 8 organizational values of the employees, having a value compatibility ratio of 66%
and 75% respectively with the organization. While the number of values that were shared between the TMT
and the employees was 6 out of 9 for the TMT and 7 out of 8 for the employees. This overlapping will be
addressed in the next section when the larger themes are described. See Figure 2 and Figure 3 for a
visualization of this comparison.
Figure 2 – Comparison of the TMT’s perception of the organizational value as a group and the
organizational values of the Aquatic Center.
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Figure 3 - Comparison of the Employee's perception of the organizational values and the actual
Organizational Values of the Aquatic Center.
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6. Value Interaction within the Organization
After the initial thematic analysis, which was used to identify the organizational values of the Aquatic
Center, broader themes were identified which were analyzed by employing neo institutional theory
(NIT) as a framework to answer the research questions driving this case study. Addressing the
organizational values from these broader themes allowed me to notice that there were three meaning
systems that were influencing and interacting with the organization:
1. Swimming the Sport (Mexican Competitive Swimming)
2. The Health Club, Wellness Center Business
3. The Owning Family
These meaning systems or institutions, according to Scott & Meyer (1994), are cultural rules that bestow
meaning and value to specific entities and activities that may, or may not, be integrated into one another.
Given that institutions underwent – and continue to undergo – processes of institutionalization through
which a given set of units and patterns become normatively or cognitively accepted or taken-for-granted
(Miner, 2011), it is important to define which combination of representational, constitutive, normative
rules, and which enforcement mechanisms are part of the process that is taking place. Also important
to define are the social actors that, consciously or subconsciously, aid in the exertion of these forces
(Miner, 2011). These meaning systems and the previously mentioned characteristics will be explained
in the following paragraphs. See Table 2 for a summary of the analysis.
The analysis of this subsystems has the main purpose of aiding in the understanding the social reality
that is being manifested – interpreted – in the Aquatic Center. Each one of these systems has been
simplified because the main focus of this study is the organizational values of the AC and how these
interact with the members of the organization, however, the descriptions of these systems are supported
by the empirical data. Nevertheless, these systems could be studied individually and extensively in their
own separate works of research.
6.1 Swimming the Sport
The domain, or field, that is Swimming the Sport (STS) has a strong influence on the employees of the
Aquatic Center, especially on the coaches and clients who like to compete. Through a NIT lens, this
field has its own taken-for-granted ‘equation’ to achieve success. Success may be defined as being the
champion or improving one’s best performance. There is a taken-for-granted embedded belief that
swimming as a sport consists of a process of self-development and that it involves training, which can
be defined as daily work with constant feedback, and talent (FMN, 2020). The latter involves the
physical and mental capabilities that are inherent to any swimmer. Amateur or elite, every swimmer,
has a particular set of characteristics which may or may not enhance a particular part of their swimming.
The involvement of two factors to achieve success means that neither talent nor training by themselves
are enough to guarantee it. Unlike different countries where competitive swimming can indeed be a
self-sustaining professional sport (e.g. the USA, Australia, and other developed countries), in Mexico,
the goal of continuous development is what characterizes this sport’s domain.
During the analysis of the interviews one of the main concerns of the employees was the need to have
a proper development plan that emphasizes on increasing their knowledge as to improve their coaching
skills:
“I have like 8 year without going to a clinic [swimming conference]. I feel left out, I feel a bit down […]
I feel that we should at least try to get to go to one clinic per year […] I feel that part has been missing,
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even Government Institutions send one or two coaches […] Its important, it serves the purpose of retaking
and refreshing previously held knowledge. You get to understand certain aspects in a different
manner.” - Employee
One could argue, in general terms, that the main or most important social actors that are involved in
STS are the swimmers and the coaching staff. The latter would be made up of an assistant coach(es)
and a head coach. The coaching staff’s objective focus should be to improve the performance of their
swimmers. They may focus on following a continuous and carefully thought out plan, on the current
state of the installations in which they train their team, and the logistics that are involved when a
swimming competition is upcoming:
“When there are events [competitions] out of town […] I know it is not easy but the group [adult
swimmers] constantly ask me, ‘Hey Coach you are going to come with us right?’ […] to which I normally
answer, “You know the rule if 10 or more of you are going then I should be able to come with you, if
there is not a previous commitment with the company”. As I stall asking for permission, thinking the
right moment to ask, my group is already insisting, “You are going, here is what you would need for the
stay and your flight. Do not worry if the company does not provide you with the expenses, if they do
great, and if they don’t we will help you out”. - Employee
“[Concerning the team’s program]Since we have been growing I think we have been losing that part […]
I struggle because Coach X does not work the same as he does [Head Coach], he works too differently
[…] We reached a point that I had to modify my training to Coach X’s way because otherwise neither
Coach X nor myself would have properly worked.” - Employee
Also important is the role of the swimmer because the feedback that is required to excel in this sport is
not unidirectional. The coach learns just as much from the swimmer’s input and, from a motivational
perspective, it is generally the case that the coach feels proud of their swimmer’s achievements. It
creates the opportunity for coaches – to some extent it is also comparable to what teachers may feel –
of having an important impact on the life of their swimmer.
“To be able to see that a client who could not swim because she had some sort of paralysis […] I taught
her how to swim here [Aquatic Center], I gave her some therapy, and then some swimming lessons. The
girl with this impediment and now she is walking with an aid by herself. It gave me a lot of satisfaction;
she arrived in a wheelchair and is now walking all the way from the parking lot to the pool.” - Employee
“[Discussing the first 10k swim of the 10 & Under Kids] Sometimes you have to swim with them and
help them. You swim against the current with all the little kids to motivate them and push them to fight
the current so that they may cross the finish line” - Employee
It is for that reason that some employees from the Aquatic Center are concerned with the amount
attention, the amount of dedicated space, and the quality of the installations – connecting also the STS
meaning system and the Health Club Business system that will be explained in the following subsection.
These concerns create certain expectations of how an Aquatic Center must be managed and what
conditions should be complied by said organization. For example, some points or expectations that kept
being mentioned during the interviews were the need for formal procedures or guidelines that would
aid in clearly defining which is the training schedule, which are the lanes that will be dedicated to the
swimming team, and the water quality of the pool.
“Yes, I think communicating to the adult that between 4pm and 6pm the focus is on the swimming team.
[…] It is something that has to be solved because it is one of the things that makes me explode a bit.
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Because there are some adults that arrive at 3:50pm, and then I don’t know if I’ll give him or not the
service, you end up not focusing on the adult nor on the swimming team” - Employee
“I compare the change between the current management and the previous one and it is completely
different. The water temperature is the correct one, the water color [clarity] is really good, the security…
the previous owners [a different company] were too lose with their procedures.” - Employee
The enforcement mechanisms that seem to be in effect in STS are mostly normative and coercive in
nature. There are mimetic mechanisms in place such as embedded beliefs, for example, that no amount
of talent will ever truly succeed without training or to the contrary that training as hard as possible is
always positive, or the different classifications for swimmers (sprinters, freestylers, long-distance
swimmers, etc.), but they would apply to any Swimming Institution and not only in Mexico. The
normative mechanisms that are most common tend to be those carried by preparation (education in
swimming), coaches have to comply with the standards that are in place, for example, complying with
certain amount of distance or training time with 10-&-Under kids. The coercive mechanisms are usually
enforced by the Head Coach and they come in the form of a predesigned training that must be followed
(some adaptations are allowed but the core principles must be followed) and, as mentioned in a previous
quote, complying with certain requirements to be granted special permissions.
“[…] it is really hard sometimes to get that ‘pat on the back’, so I got somewhat upset at that moment,
and it was then when the Head Coach enlisted my errors, ‘You [coach] push the children too hard, you’re
to passionate, that is too much distance…’. I told the Head Coach that Coach X had already told me all
of that and that I’ve been working hard on adapting my training style.” – Employee
In general terms the competitive swimming field could be defined as a meaning system with a taken for
granted belief that training (daily work and feedback) and talent are necessary for continuously
improving one’s own performance. The main social actors involved would be the swimmers and the
coaching staff (there are also judges, parents, and government appointees that enable the sport). The
latter is mainly involved in the feedback and the guidance that the swimmer needs. While the former
mainly focuses on his or her performance while also providing feedback and a sense of meaning to the
coach. These actors also have expectations as to what they want to receive from each other, what they
need in order for them to do their job, and what commitments can be expected from either party.
6.2 Health Club Business / Wellness Center
The Health Club Business meaning system refers to the idea that the Aquatic Center also functions or
survives as a profitable business. Just as many other systems, paraphrasing a member of the TMT, the
success recipe for this business is based upon two main factors which are number of clients and
customer service. The former is based on the premise that if there is no profit the organization will not
survive while the latter is the combination of the quality of the installation, quality of the programs, and
quality of service and it is based on the premise that the value offer from the organization will attract
more clients.
“Here in the Aquatic Center we haven’t focused on saving on costs when it comes to improving the
facilities. We have always been trying to use the best equipment and we have prioritized the improvement
of the installations at the expense of immediate profit. In the long-run I believe it has worked because we
managed to satisfy our customers. […] a satisfied client will go out to the public and give us a good
review.” - TMT
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“I always tell my employees, ‘Do I want that everyone earns a huge amount of money? Yes, I do. That
we could all study and be able to create our own patrimony? Yes, I do.”, it is a valid a noble goal, but we
all have to construct it and work for it. It is not free.” - TMT
The main social actors that are involved in this meaning system, from a broad perspective, would be
operators, managers and directors (there are also maintenance technicians, cleaning staff, suppliers,
etc.). Basically, social actors that have been created by already institutionalized business practices. The
main objectives of operators would be to perform the work needed to deliver the service offered by their
organization which in turn was hired by the client, the managers will focus on organizing the operators
as to comply with the strategic direction of the organization. While the directors will decide which is
the most suitable way of organizing the company to guide the organization towards the desired goal.
“I see the Aquatic Center as being one step behind of Company X with respect to maturity. […] There
are certain implicit values in the organization but they are not systemized yet.” - TMT
“Well, that we would achieve our vision of being the best swimming option… that is my dream… I feel
we are missing a lot of coverage in the state and I expect that the next generation takes this to all of
Mexico” - TMT
“Where do I see the Aquatic Center in 15 years? All around the republic. I don’t know if it can be
replicated outside Mexico but I think that maybe on 20 years it should be doable […] I think the future
is down [Latin America] and not up [USA].” - TMT
The expectations to which these social actors are subjected to defer between the different groups. The
directors are expected to guide the organization towards profitability and growth. They have to deal
with the expectation ‘imposed’ by their employees of being able to guide the organization in a way in
which they are rewarded and, to some extent, even provided the opportunity to grow. The managers
should deal with expectations that the way in which they manage their employees and functions will
comply with the goals of the organization and with the capabilities and limitations of their workers.
They are expected to balance the needs of their colleagues while complying with the director’s
directions. The operators are expected to use their technical knowledge and abilities in a manner in
which they will satisfy the goals of the company – this is not to say that knowledge and abilities are not
used by directors or managers – and they are expected to do so with the tools they have been provided
and perhaps even if they do not fully agree with the methods.
“Well, I do find exceptionally moving being able to provide work to people. To provide them with the
means to feed an X amount of families. That makes me wake up every day.” - TMT
“Even if the pool is full or if it is between 4pm and 6pm, if I get a new client, I’ll send him or her and
push the coaches to properly treat the client. I know the focus should be swimming team in that time but
we have to adapt sometimes to achieve our goals.” – Employee
“Its a good organization. It is keeping itself up to the technologies, it is continuously update. I would
maybe look into the organization’s method of teaching see if there could be something to change.” -
Employee
The main enforcement mechanism of this meaning system is coercive. The focus is on controlling the
business through the employment of rules, as you will read in the Aquatic Center sub-section, and
measurement of KPI’s that have the main purpose of controlling the operation. Out of the 33 KPI’s that
are measured daily 23 are focused on customers and rules, the rest refer to maintenance and, recently
employed, sanitary control. Normative mechanisms are also employed but in a less emphasized manner
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and mostly applying to a different set of employees (technicians), that were not part of the study, and
complying with maintaining strict water quality even if the law does not require it.
“The idea is that the rules and policies are intended to improve our services and to make them more
uniform.” – TMT
To summarize, this meaning system is based on the taken-for-granted premise that profitability and
growth is how the organization will survive. This is in broad general terms, there are even more
embedded cognitive beliefs like work in an organization is indeed organized, that there are different
kinds of resources in which an organization may survive, and different kinds of institutional forces that
may or may not increase the survivable chances of an organization (Scott, 2008). Social actors –
operators, managers, and directors – are roles which are embedded in the organizations and are expected
to follow a number of constitutive and normative rules that are part of a for-profit organization.
6.3 The Owning Family
The meaning system of the family – referring to the owning family – is based on both the personal
values that were interpreted from the interviews and the observations that were made and from the
relationship that I have, as researcher and family member, with the owning family. Following the same
explanation that was taken with the two previous meaning systems the main representational rule is that
one contributes to society through work. Their de facto method of approach towards creating wealth for
themselves as for others is based on two principles. The first involves hard work and dedication and the
second refers to adaptability, the ability to adapt in an ever-changing environment. It could be argued
that they find the notion of not working as inconceivable.
“We are a family with a lot strength and, even if we have been through different difficult times, I consider
us to be really united, even if we don’t say it much. I think it comes from your great grandparent that
crosses the ocean when he was 12 [Spain to Mexico], from your great grandmother that is left by her
husband in the 1950’s with a single daughter [my grandmother], a woman without studies of the high
class, gets a truck and starts selling steel… It was unheard off.” - TMT
“I started Company X with another partner in 1991 and I am the only original partner left. Before the
crisis of 95 we were 15 employees and afterwards it was only me. Even my former partner left. […] If I
would’ve known back in 91 what I would have to endure I would probably have started to look for a job.
It is really hard, you have to have the stomach for it, and you to overcome a lot of obstacles.” – TMT
“I got to meet the grandsons of my grandfather’s employees that have made me favors just because I’m
the grandkid of the boss of their grandfathers its impressive how far those values transcended through
generations. He was the first person to share his lands with his employees, he opted to make them his
partners [during land expropriation at the beginning of the 20th century]. His friends considered him
crazy, but he and his partners were the only crazies with lands left.” - TMT
The social actors, unlike in the previously explained meaning systems, tend to be more ‘timeless’
perhaps because of the temporal extent as to which one is involved in the family – one could argue that
the owning family has been surrounded by family since they were born – contrary to being officially
involved with businesses and sports from a certain point on their lives until now. The actors involved,
without creating an endless list, are the grandparents, the parents, the siblings, and the future generation.
The siblings would be the owning family of the Aquatic Center, the original owners for that matter, and
they were heavily influenced by the life stories and examples from their parents and grandparents, as
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can be seen from one of the previous quotes. They also consciously recognize the impact their education
had on each other as well as for themselves.
“I think we are an extremely working family. Some people even say we are playing with the borderline
of obsession […] Really, if you ask each of us [my uncles], one of the things that characterizes us is that
we really do love working. Everyday I wake up happy, tired and fatigued also, but always thinking in
how to overcome the next obstacle. Not overwhelmed, but happy. - TMT
“My mom is a tenacious and highly disciplined person […] We were a family where consequences were
clear. If you broke it [a rule] your grandmother was relentless. That pushes you into order. At the end of
the day she combined perfectly being nice without being naïve. We all had very clear consequences and
the clear objective of being the best.” - TMT
Although the expectations from the each of these members seem to vary more over time than that of a
manager or a swimming coach, given that there are different life stages involved in the passing of years,
it is evident from the interactions I had with the family members and from the situations that we as a
family have recently experienced that we are transitioning towards a new life stage. The parents of the
siblings are now in need of attention and care; thus, the siblings have found ways to adapt to these new
challenges and have changed their expectations towards the future generation to start focusing on the
organization with more dedication. Perhaps it is not consciously imposed by the siblings or maybe it is
something that was self-assumed by the future generation. It is, nonetheless, a normative behavior that
has been learnt by the future generation through different cultural-cognitive mechanisms.
“Defining where each of the responsibilities and roles start and end is easy. But not so easy is that you’ll
find that we [TMT] like to do whatever we like. It is your role to specify our reach as directors. There
has to be one head of the organization that has the door and window open to the board and with a clear
and direct line of communication with the employees.” – TMT
“You have a lot of work to do. We have been investing two years in you and you are asking me? You
have to select the employees who will enforce your vision really really really good […]” – TMT
The enforcement mechanisms that are employed in the Owning Family involve the three types
normative, coercive, and mimetic. As can be seen the above quotes there seems to be a rich variety of
stories and lessons that are passed on to the family. There is also a clear identity with hard work
(discipline), so, there is definitely a variety of mimetic mechanisms in play. Normative mechanisms,
aside from values, can be seen, for instance, on the familial obligation of getting together every Sunday
(grandmother, siblings, and cousins). On the expectations that the members of the family will support
one another whenever it is required. Coercive mechanisms were more common when the future
generation (cousins) and/or the siblings were younger and are not really applied in a significant manner
anymore.
“There is this whole tradition in our house that your uncles love to transmit. There are stories and stories
and stories… The grandfather this or the grandmother that… there is a lot of union in the family. Also
whenever there is a sick person on the family and nobody plays aloof. Yes, there is a lot of union, a lot
of love towards working…” – TMT
“[Regarding Company X] I wish people indeed worked. That they worked and that they became
accountable for their results. Another huge difference in Mexico compared to other countries is that,
excuses, everyone is to blame. The rain, the sun, my mom, my dad, my stomach…people do not take
accountability for their results.” – TMT
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“The calling for work. Meaning that I would like for everyone to love the work they are doing, I know
that generally everyone works for a remuneration… they should be happy… In fact, we do try to keep
them happy and content with their remuneration.” – TMT
“I think one of the most important values for the Aquatic Center should be discipline and effort [hard
work] on a daily basis. This is not an organization in which one can do home office and that already
requires daily effort and discipline.” – TMT
Therefore, without delving into too much detail because this is not the focus of the research, the Owning
Family is composed by the siblings who direct the company, they were and are influenced by the stories,
examples and lessons that they were taught by their grandparents and parents. Stories, examples, and
lessons that carry with them intrinsic beliefs that are then passed on to the future generation, which in
this case would be, me, the researcher. The main orientation, based on the stories and different
conversations, is not to generate wealth just to hoarder it but to redirect it towards the community to
contribute to their surroundings. Just as the grandparents worried about their workers, the siblings aim
to contribute to society through the self-improvement medium that the sport provides.
“To transcend in my students, I have too many years in this, to transcend also in the community… We
always dreamt of building a big center to offer opportunities to people with lack of resources… may we
can start by building in parts […] We want to increase the free Saturday courses with the foundation.
Hopefully this summer we can increase the number of kids that come.” – TMT
“Our goal in Company X is to leave a place where people enjoy coming to work. That we wouldn’t
sacrifice our values in exchange for quick growth. A place where people can develop themselves. Even
though we don’t have kids we want that to be our legacy.” – TMT
“The Aquatic Center came to be an addition to that social aspect [of Company X]. It came to complete that humane
transcendence in a more direct manner. It delivers health but it also forms athletes and it’s a medium to transfer
positive values to people, old and young, it became something that completed our vision as
businesspersons.” - TMT
6.4 The Aquatic Center
These meaning systems, Swimming the Sport, the Health Club Business, and the Owning Family,
manifest themselves in the Aquatic Center. As the analysis of the empirical data progressed there were
evident contradictions that continuously seemed to appear between different interactions and,
subsequently, between different organizational values. The reader may notice that some of the
organizational values, for example, are named as a need of formal procedures or as a need of a
development plan, although they do not represent a somewhat ‘standard’ value as would be for example,
loyalty or responsibility, however, these values do represent taken-for-granted beliefs of the members
of the organization as to how they should be able to achieve the organization’s goals. These values in
turn refer to different expectations that social actors have from one and another, expectations that are
influenced by the aforementioned meaning systems. These expectations can be better understood if we
analyze who are the social actors, their constitutive roles, the constitutive rules from which they
originated, and what enforcement mechanisms influence their behavior.
The first things I want to point out regarding the social actors is that they seem to be a compromise or
mix – for the most part – between the first two meaning systems, Swimming the Sport and HC Business,
while the Owning Family meaning system seems to be influencing mainly the views of TMT and they,
consequently, balance the influence the other two meaning systems have on the organization. The
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Owning Family, as some studies suggest (e.g. Craig et al., 2008; Rau et al., 2019), provides a unique
identity to the organization that is central to the organization and can be linked to its performance.
Being that said, the first social actor I would like to address are the Swimming Instructors. They have
learned to compromise the drive to compete and the sole focus on the swimming team with the need to
provide different kinds of feedback to clients based on their own criteria. Using an earlier quote to
exemplify this compromise we could link one of the organizational values, the need of formal
procedures, because they are in need of a clear definition as to when they can change “modes” and
focus 100% on their swimming team. Another problem they face that could be related to the first two
meaning systems’ influence is the need of communication that sometimes is exemplified in a lack of
clarity as to whom is to be prioritized if competitive swimmers or clients.
“Sometimes I feel that the priority is the swimming team and sometimes I don’t… for example, in each
site you may have some special space dedicated to the team with maybe one or two lanes for adults but
that is not the case because the teams grew. And it seems that this is the only site where we still allocate
adults during team hours. Coach X prioritizes adults and moves everything, making the rest of the pool
really crowded. I see that the priority is not the team. People notice that we are losing focus towards the
team.” – Employee
Given the influence of what seems to be a technical goal (stemming from Swimming the Sport) and a
sales goal (stemming from HC Business) swimming instructor have different incentives. On the one
hand, they have incentives which are focused on the number of swimmers they have on the competitive
swimming team and on the other on the complete number of clients that pay their membership on a
monthly basis. They are also measured by the progress their competitive swimming teams are making
and on the quality of service and attention they provide regular clients. They are asked to follow a
specific swimming plan that is homogeneously applied in all three sites (some revisions are allowed to
adapt it to the specific needs of their clients) just as they are all asked to comply with organizational
rules (concerning punctuality, dress code, etc.).
“I like how the system is managed… in concern with the swimming team and the adults. It is one single
program. Adults can go to any of the other sites and receive the same training. Maybe there are some
changes in some exercises but the core remains the same. They [adults] sometimes even comment that
like the variety in teaching styles of each coach.” – Employee
“The director came around 2pm and I was getting ready to leave [end of shift is 2:30pm] so I change my
official baseball cap to one with an NFL team logo. I see the director making signals to me which I didn’t
understand and I was being reprimanded for not wearing the official uniform. […] After the second
incident I got punished again and there was no bonus for me even though we got the incentivized goal.”
– Employee
The second social actors to be defined are the Site Coordinators. They would function as typical
managers if it were not for the multiple functions they carry out and the different disciplines in which
they are engaging. Site Coordinators are basically the administrative authority figure that is between
the TMT and the employees. They do not only oversee that the installations are well maintained and
that the rest of the employees do their job, they also receive payments, give information, receive
complaints, organize the payroll, and coordinate the swimming school (referring to lessons for children,
youths, and adults). This last function, in particular, is the one that best represents the duality of the
STS and HCB meaning systems that is present in the organization. They have to be able to test and
place children according to their different levels, a classification that is not always straight forward, and
they have to coordinate the spaces as to be able to fit the biggest number of clients in the installations.
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The latter becomes a problem due to the seasonality of the business (there is a 7 to 1 ratio of clients in
summer compared to winter) and the former tends to present itself as a problem when the site
coordinator does not have a swimming background.
“Regarding how to teach swimming lesson I didn’t need a course. It was something that I had known
for all my life already. I had that advantage. […] Many coordinators don’t know that, and I had to teach
them how to do things that I would consider basic. Things like not assigning 3 swimming instructors for
5 kids, that is just not necessary, or things like teaching them how to place the kids in their corresponding
level. […] I went to the other site and helped them out and they told me they didn’t know.” – Employee
The duality of the STS and the HCB also cause a different conflict between Swimming Instructors and
Site Coordinators. On the one hand, the belief held by swimming instructors that coaches are the
ultimate authority in concerns with the swimming team and, for that matter, also applying to regular
swimming lessons seems to contradict the authority that the Site Coordinator has when it comes to
organizing or designating the swimming spaces and the swimming levels between that each swimming
instructor will teach. There is a need for communication in a sense that there is an “authority” figure
with ambiguous power of authority. Whether this ambiguousness stems directly from the mix of both
meaning systems or if it may be due to a power dynamic issue, may be further studied but the connection
to the duality of both meaning systems is something that could, at least, be arguably taken into account
as a factor of the ambiguousness.
“One day a coach opted to discipline some swimmers from the team and told them to leave the facilities.
I had to stop them at the entrance because they are not allowed to leave [due to them being too young].
The coach confronts me claiming that she has authority over them and I had to tell her that her authority
ends in the pool and not anywhere else. Even if she has been told otherwise.” – Employee
“The scuba divers arrive and I send them to the side of the pool. While they get ready I quickly finish
what I was doing and head to the pool. One of the coaches was already confronting the scuba divers
asking them to wait until her class was over because classes were prioritized. When I see this, I wasn’t
sure of what to do. The coach had already talked to the scuba divers and I didn’t want to make a scene at
that moment. I had to clarify to the coach after the fact that I can designate the spaces that are going to
be used for every program and that she should comply with my decision.” – Employee
The last group of social actors is the TMT. Out of the three members, two of them were involved in all
three meaning systems, while one of them only got involved with the Aquatic Center 16 years ago. The
three of them were, swimmers and coaches (one exception), they have been businesspersons, and they
are all members of the owning family. Given the long background in the sport, it seems now fitting as
to why one of their business ventures is an Aquatic Center. The TMT is comprised of 3 members that
divide upon themselves operations, finance, administration, and the strategy that concerns the
organization. Additionally, and again, unsurprisingly, the Director of Operations is also the Head Coach
of the swimming teams of each of the sites. The director among supervising the daily operation of the
sites also designs the swimming program for competitive swimmers, adult swimmers, and general
swimming school lessons. The director of administration and finance was also a high-performance
swimmer in the end of the 1980’s under the training of the director of operations. They all have been
involved in different companies before deciding to venture together with an Aquatic Center. The
director of operations had an industrial machine rental service company and the other directors have a
29-year company (Company X in excerpts) that focuses on the sales of marketing article for companies.
Thus, the combination of these qualities and the values bestowed upon them from their core family
influences the organization.
39
“The moto was, ‘We don’t lease machines, we lease service”. I was the general director of the company,
It was a small company at the most around 10 employees. […] The main difference with the Aquatic
Center is that I had less amount of sales, but they tended to be way bigger while the Aquatic Center is
more focused on the volume of sales.” – TMT
The TMT as the heads of the organization, as confirmed by some theories that were discussed in the
literature review, has a big influence on the values that the organization seems to follow. These values,
which seem to be ingrained and pushed by the Owning Family meaning system, whether by education
or role models, also influence the member of the organization and consequently the organization itself.
For example, the value of discipline (work) was perceived or interpreted as one of the most important
values of the Owning Family, while for the employees that value did not rank on their top values, and,
although there is a difference between the number TMT members and the number of employees, the
value discipline still ranked on the top values of the organization with an 85% perception agreement
index. Another important influence of the Owning Family meaning system is the mix of qualities that
are brought into the mix. Past experiences and beliefs from the TMT could be linked to the flexibility
(adaptability) value which refers to the free and open space to use one’s criteria to solve problems in
the organization. This value could be seen to counterpose the need for communication or the need for
formal procedures (not to say that improvement in this aspect is not direly needed).
“There are things that I’ve had to do different from what my partners would’ve wanted. When it comes
to clients losing classes, we have a strict rule of no refunding or rescheduling but given that each
circumstance is different, and some require more attention than the others I try to analyze them
individually. I propose a series of discounts that would make you get your money back if you stay with
us for a certain number of months. I feel it is a nice compromise between our no rescheduling rule and
the clients feeling of attention and service.” – TMT
The TMT is the group of the organization that is the main responsible of emplacing the different
enforcing mechanisms that are applied to the rest of the members of the organization. For example, the
previously mentioned measures of swimming team improvement and number of clients – which is also
a measure that affects site coordinators – for swimming instructors and the daily KPI formats that site
coordinators must fill out that measure aspects of maintenance (water quality) to company policies. It
is a way for the TMT to enforce that which they seem to value the most, discipline and flexibility, by
creating the habit of constantly reviewing one’s own performance indicators as if it were the feedback
loop that characterizes the STS meaning system.
Regarding the enforcement mechanisms in the Aquatic Center there is not much to add given that the
previously mentioned mechanisms take part in the Aquatic Center and the main concern was explaining
from where they originate. There is, however, important expectations concerning the trust that there is
between the members of the TMT. They are fully aware of each other’s capabilities and can expect
specific behaviors and accountability from each other.
“We don’t fight, no. However, we do discuss […] Truth is we are in constant communication, it is strong,
and it truly is productive. Any employee can ask me anything from the commercial department and I’m
able to solve the problem and the same goes in the other way” – TMT
“Without realizing it I am perfectly in-the-know in respect to my partner’s department, I know what my
partner is doing and vice versa.” – TMT
40
“My partners are more organized, administration is their department, mine is operations […] They
basically handle the money and I just ask for it to improve our facilities, our services, and sometimes to
increase an employee’s salary.” – TMT
All of these leaves in place the normative rules – organizational values – along with the expectations
that each member of the organization has to one another, the social actors with their respective
constitutive rules regarding what are their specific tasks and, to some extent, how to prioritize these
tasks, and the different enforcement mechanisms that could be associated with how the social actors
create their specific routines. Nevertheless, one could wonder what the representational rules are or
what taken-for-granted culturally embedded belief is common for the three meaning systems and the
organization itself?
I would argue that there is indeed such a belief, whether consciously or subconsciously thought through,
embedded in the vision of the organization. The vision of the Aquatic Center is, “To become the best
swimming option.”, if we try to think of what it means to be the best, one could reach the conclusion
that it is an unreachable goal. If the main goal of the STS meaning system of improving one’s best
performance, the main goal of the HCB which is to generate profit and growth, and the main goal of
the Owning Family that is to generate wealth to contribute to society we could agree that those goals
are, to an extent, limitless. If improving one’s best performance is the goal then once it is improved
there is another performance to beat, if profit and growth is the goal then the amount of potential profit
and potential space for growth – especially considering new markets – could be never ending, and if
contributing to society, creating opportunity, is the goal then there is potential at the local, regional,
national and international level. Being the best is simply unreachable, it constantly requires discipline
and commitment, it requires collaboration (harmony) and flexibility to adapt to new circumstances and
solve new difficulties, it needs a development plan for the people involved, it also needs communication
and formal processes to achieve the goals in an organized manner, and it most definitely needs the
expertise (know-how) to carry out the specific tasks that are involved. The process of self-improvement
is what could be argued is the embedded cultural belief that encompasses the organization.
Table 2 - Summary of the 3 meaning systems with their symbolic dimensions that influence the
Aquatic Center and it's structures.
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7. Discussion
7.1 Addressing the Research Questions
At the beginning of the thesis we began with two problems, the first one involved understanding how
organizational values of a family business are influenced – or are the outcome of – the interactions
between the controlling family, their employees, and the social context by which they are surrounded.
The second problem stemmed from the lack of research between Organizational Behavior (OB) theories
and Family Business (FB) research that was needed to address the first problem. These problems were
formulated as research questions and were constructed in the following manner, (1) How do
organizational values of a family-owned and -managed business interact in a Hybrid Identity
Organization?, (2) How can Neo Institutional Theory be applied to understand the different identities
that are part of a family-owned Hybrid Identity Organizations?
My initial objective, as I have said before, was to understand the nature of how these values interact in
a family business with a hybrid identity and not simply to focus on how these values influence the
overall performance of the company. On one hand, it could be said that the latter focuses on describing
the more explicit and measurable effects said values have on the organization while the former focuses
on how these values are promoted by different entities – in this case different meaning systems – and
how they influence the behavior of the members of the organization. On the other hand, focusing simply
on describing the effects of organizational values in Family Business, given the amount of literature on
the subject, would not address the gap of research between in OB and FB and, more importantly, would
only have added to a research focus that is frequently investigated.
Being that said, I want to emphasize the importance of the choice of the Aquatic Center as the family-
owned and -managed HIO because it relates to one of the meaning systems, Swimming the Sport. The
expected finding, not a hypothesis, which I thought the data would show was that the values of the
Owning Family or the values of the controlling family would probably be the main influencers of the
Aquatic Center. However, this does not seem to be the case. The swimming side of the organization
and the members of the organization that have been involved in the sport for the most part of their lives
seem to also heavily influence the behavior of the employees. If we re-read the first research question
the reader should be able to notice that it is formulated from a standpoint of how A influences B, the
former being the values – with special emphasis on the family – and the latter the Aquatic Center –
emphasis on the swimming and business identities. The way this question is formulated would seem to
infer that the influence is only unidirectional, however, according to the analysis, it seems to be
multidirectional. The sport, through the members of the organization who have been part of it, has a
strong effect on the behavior of the organization and on how each of the members interprets the needs
of the company. Even the majority of the TMT members have been involved in the sport for most of
their lives and, although the Owning Family has a stronger influence of them, it has definitely influenced
the way in which they understand how growth, discipline, and competition works. It is not only the
Owning Family influencing the Aquatic Center and its members but it is also the Swimming the Sport
meaning system who primarily influences the company.
Applying NIT, its concepts and definitions, importantly aided in the identification of these meaning
systems and how they influence the behavior of the members of the company. Now, even though it is
hard to distinguish whether the TMT has been influenced by the sport – and it probably is the case –
with its representational, constitutive, and normative rules, it is clear that the employees who have a
long background within the sport, as former swimmers and long-time coaches, are motivated by the
same beliefs that seem to motivate the sport. Given these characteristics, as portrayed through a NIT
lens, of the members of the organization – TMT members included –, given their affinity to the sport,
and given this background influences the interactions that happen within the organization, I would
argue, makes the Aquatic Center a particular HIO in which focusing on aligning this competencies can
42
prove to be valuable long term decision. It may be even considered one of the most important assets of
the Aquatic Center. Perhaps, the previously mentioned TMT concern with formalizing the procedures
of the organization or improving the general communication should be addressed secondarily and not
prioritized, even if it may be the taken-for-granted belief or expected behavior favored by the Health
Center Business meaning system.
7.2 Implications
The first question addresses the main problem of the study which, as stated before, relates to
understanding how the organizational values of a family business influence or are influenced by the
interaction between the owning family, the employees, and the social context of the organization. Given
that the knowledge that was generated by answering this question will probably be employed in one or
another manner, it is important to address that different implications that the knowledge inherently
possesses.
From a societal and ethical perspective, the main implications this knowledge produces concerns the
employees of the company. They are the most vulnerable unit of study because of their position in the
company and the unbalance of power that exists between them and TMT. To counteract or
counterbalance these implications different measures were taken during the empirical data gathering.
The most important of these measures were the application of the ethical principles, as proposed by
Bryman & Bell (2011), particularly harm to participants and lack of informed consent. The employees
were clearly explained that their participation in this was completely voluntary and completely
anonymous. This was done through an initial email explaining the details of the study and they were
later reminded at the beginning of each interview (see Appendix A and Appendix B). Beside
guaranteeing them that the interviews were going to be anonymous and that the participation was
voluntary. They were also offered one more opportunity to decide whether or not they would like a
certain part of their interview to be omitted.
Societally, the implications have more to do with the impact any changes to the work environment or
the structures of the organizations may have in its members and their social context. Positive or
negative, consequences, are inevitable for those who are part of the social reality of the organization. It
may be implications in the lives of the employees, the dynamics of the family, the service for the
customers, or the overall social impact of the organization. Minimizing the possible negative
consequences of this implication may be hard or perhaps impossible to completely realize but,
nonetheless, should be carefully analyzed and supervised as to maintain them as minimal as possible.
If further research is done within the HIO field may, perhaps, incentivize HIOs to understand how they
can leverage their multiple identities to create a more cohesive and motivated work environment. NIT
theory provide a rich set of concepts, definitions, and processes that are suited to understand how
different identities, meaning systems, or institutional forces collide within this type of organization.
Thus, there is a strong implication that relates to the administration of HIOs that could be potentially
implemented. That would be, of course, after more research is done to further expand on the knowledge
of organizations.
Academically, the possible implications this study may have are perhaps related to the particularity of
the case study. Although the application of NIT in a family-owned and -managed HIO, such as this
Aquatic Center, was successful and seems to explain the phenomenon in focus, this may not be the case
for other HIOs. This may be the case that the application of NIT only applies to this Aquatic Center.
Further studies of a similar nature should be conducted in order to increase the generalizability of the
conclusions of this study.
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7.3 Limitations
The main limitations that surrounded the study had to do with the limited amount of time, that is inherent
in many master degree theses, the language in which the empirical data was gathered, my position as
researcher and member of the owning family, and the limitations imposed by the outbreak of COVID19.
The limited amount of time played a crucial role given that the empirical gathering of the data had to
take place in Mexico. So, there was only a 40-period in which the data could be taken, transcribed, and
briefly analyzed to make suitable adjustments or focused observations. Another limitation was the time
to analyze in a more documented manner the meaning systems, to employ an analysis of their
documentation and their history to better explain the better describe the symbolic rules and institutional
dimensions that are involved in each system.
The language of the interview and, for that matter, observations present themselves as a limitation due
to translation. During the data gathering period the interviewees, as subjects of the study, were able to
express themselves in Spanish. Translating certain phrases from their native language to English is
sometimes not directly possible, perhaps there is no direct word equivalent in English, the meaning of
the phrase is subject to a certain tone in which it was said, or may even have different meaning
depending on the social context in which it was said. Although translating the empirical data from its
native language to English has its clear disadvantages, it also presents some advantages. The first one,
and perhaps most obvious one, has to do with being able to get the data, given that most of the study
subjects do not speak English. Most importantly, the second one is granting them the opportunity of
expressing themselves in their own language with their own native expressions which provided a richer
and deeper meaning to the answers of the interviewees.
The limitation that was embedded with my position as both researcher and member of the family was
described in the introduction of this thesis, nevertheless, it is important to readdress. There were two
main issues with this limitation. The first one involves any possible interviewer bias that I may cause
during the interviews because of my position – or future position – in the company. This position may
change or influence the behavior and the answers of the interviewees and may bias my findings.
However, interviewer bias of this kind also has its advantages, there is already trust between interviewer
and interviewee, there is a rapport that has been built since the company was founded. Besides when
making observations and having different conversations my position granted me access with a
normalize presence within the social context. This helped me corroborate the data I got from the
interviews with some of the data from observations and conversations that was also captured.
The second limitation that is inherent to my position is the influence that my family and my time being
part of the company’s social context has on the way I think and interpret its reality. The discourse that
I have been subjected to throughout all the interactions I have had with my family have influenced my
way of thinking and, very possibly, the way in which I view, Aquatic Center included, the world and
its social reality. Minimizing or addressing the limitations that are inherent to my role as researcher and
member of the owning family may not be possible, nonetheless, transparency and strictly following the
methods may be enough to grant enough objectivity to my analysis and my conclusions to produce a
reliable and viable study.
The outbreak of COVID19 at the end of February of 2020 also imposed a major limitation to the scope
of this study. The original scope of the study intended to include customers as a unit of analysis,
however, the measures adopted by local, state and federal authorities in Mexico made their inclusion
not possible. The company had to close down due to the sanitary contingency on Monday March 16 of
2020 and to this date, June 2020, are still in process of reopening the sites. Due to the limited amount
of time, explained in the first limitation, the inclusion of the clients, unfortunately, could not be done.
Hopefully, this limitation may be addressed from a future research perspective to explain how they are
influenced and how they influence the organizational values of the Aquatic Center.
44
These limitations, as in any other study, are sometimes inherent to the circumstances in which the
research takes place and are not always avoidable. Besides explicitly mentioning each of these
limitations and being transparent about them, which by itself is important to the implications that this
research may have, different actions were taken to minimize the impact and influence of said limitations
with the hopes of producing a more objective thesis.
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8. Conclusion
8.1 Organizational Values and The Power of Multiple
Institutional Logics
Organizational values in a family-owned and -managed HIO seem to be an outcome of the interaction
of the different identities –institutional logics– that characterize the organization. In this case the
institutional forces that influenced the company were the sport logic (swimming), the business logic,
and the family logic. Each of these have their own representational rules, constitutive rules, normative
rules, and enforcement mechanisms that characterizes them as a specific meaning system that influences
the Aquatic Center and its organizational values. The Aquatic Center can be seen as a mix of these three
meaning systems that, according to the analysis, influence different members of the organization in a
different manner, even if all three influence the organization at the same time. The concepts that are put
forth by NIT proved to be an important aid in understanding how the different identities in an HIO, in
this case a family-owned Aquatic Center, interact with one another. Being able to conceptualize the
cultural beliefs, normative expectations, and regulative dimensions of each of the identities provides a
clear and structured framework from which one can understand how these, somewhat contradictory,
identities can coexist in a hybrid identity organization.
Addressing how different identities interact within a family business is important because of the role
these companies, as explained in the literature review, play in the world’s economy. Although there is
some literature that relates values with FB research, the focus of these studies tends to revolve around
the effect these values have on the performance of the company and not towards the source of origin of
said values or how are these influenced by the different identities that characterize a Family Business.
For these matters, Organizational Behavior (OB) theories, which focus on how people interact together
within groups, are particularly suited to understanding how individual behavior is influenced by the
social context that surrounds organizations. On the other hand, applying OB theories within a FB
environment also aids in the generalizability and validity of its theories. Addressing this OB-FB
research gap, as this case study has done, should be seen as a way of increasing the relevancy of OB
theories for not only family business management, but, for business management as a whole.
During the daily challenges that this modern and more connected world presents it is particularly
relevant to understand the role(s) our institutions play in every-day life. Although the focus of the study
was one family-owned Aquatic Center it was still possible to show how three meaning systems, which
interact together only within the specific organizations, affect and counterbalance each other
influencing the behavior of the members of the organization. These forces do not disappear in a moment
of crisis, such as the outbreak of COVID19, they instead seem to be ever more present serving as strong
support pillars or reference points that guide organizations, particularly HIOs given their different
inherent logics, through the crisis. Therefore, there seems to be an important area where NIT, along
with its concepts and processes, can be applied to understand family businesses, especially family
businesses that also have three or more identities with different competing expectations. Understanding
the interaction of these logics, through a NIT lens, can be crucial for the strategy or even survival of the
company.
The relevancy for the case company, however, relies broadly in the use of the generated knowledge of
how these three different forces drive and influence the members of the company and, consequently,
attempt to improve the working environment of the organization. Just as with any HIO, aligning
46
competing expectations, is important for the Aquatic Center’s legitimacy and working efficiency and
to address this issue the organization, or in this case the TMT, should identify and understand the
different logics that presently influence the company. Nonetheless, from a more specific point of view
the relevancy for the company comes from the alternatives that this new knowledge provides
particularly with the aligning competing expectations. Having the awareness of whether or not adopting
different measures and policies – isomorphic forces – on behalf of a single identity may promote a
proper and better oriented growth path. As discussed in the previous section, perhaps focusing on
prioritizing employees that have been part in swimming as a sport and, eventually, as a professional
worker can be a powerful differentiator.
The values that the employees possess tend to be instilled from their external environments and,
although the FB literature suggest otherwise, from the institutional forces that are part of these
environments and not mainly from the controlling family. It may be the case that this is a specific
characteristic of HIOs and that these characteristics would not apply to a single-identity family business.
Although this is a case study, and thus not generalizable for the whole population, I would argue that
HIOs, as is this family-owned and -managed Aquatic Center, does not have to align “competing”
expectations and that these, in the case of the Aquatic Center, actually are compatible with each of the
identities that were described.
In summary, the use of OB theories like NIT and HIO have proven to be strong and insightful tools to
analyze how organizational values interact in a family-owned and -managed business with multiple
identities. Identities that, in this case, exert institutional forces on the organization influencing its
members and the social context in which they interact. Understanding how this phenomenon will
provide the TMT with knowledge that can be focused to increasing the efficiency of the company by
aligning, as much as possible, the contradictory identities of the organization. At the same time,
addressing the OB-FB research gap will aid in increasing the generalizability and the relevance of
different OB theories. The knowledge generated through the application of OB theories, either by
applying them in a new field under new variables or even by failing to explain the specific phenomena
of a specific study, will be useful to further develop said theories.
8.2 Contributions and Further Research
The main contributions of this study can be divided into two main categories. The first one is the
academic contributions that are mainly a product of addressing the research gap between Organizational
Behavior Studies and the field of Family Business research. The reasons why this gap exists between
these two fields of research has been addressed in the literature review. Nevertheless, this research
aimed to employ OB theories, particularly NIT, to explain how it could be applied to understand the
different identities that are part of Hybrid Identity Organizations and perhaps shed light into the theory
themselves or point to a direction where future research could be made. In this case study, the latter was
the case. Although there were no particularly new insights with respect to NIT conceptualization or
understanding, I would argue that there are indeed some interesting directions in which further NIT
studies could be carried out.
Some benefits of employing a NIT lens as a framework may indeed be emphasized. For example, to
understand the present and past influences of different institutional forces on an organization. In this
case NIT was flexible and practical, at least for HIOs, to identify and understand the origins and
influential forces that affect organizational values. An interesting area of opportunity that could be
analyzed in future research, perhaps in a longitudinal study, is how good of a model is NIT to be used
reliably to make changes to an organization? Is there any predictability in it? How efficient are the
diffusion mechanisms in pushing isomorphism?
47
Another dimension and one that I find more interesting is to analyze the power dynamics in a family
business between the owning family, employees, and the organization itself. It seems to be that,
according to value research in family business, the owning family exerts a really strong force on their
business. Or could it be that the different identities of a HIO could be leveraged in a way in which the
values of the controlling family are not the most influential? Where would this force originate? Is it an
institutionalization process with origin in the family as the institution? Is there legitimacy involved
when values are negotiated? Is this force measurable in some way? These questions pose interesting
challenges and may perhaps shed new light on NIT.
However, the principal conclusion that I believe to be more valuable to the field is that NIT is
particularly well constructed to understand the past trajectory and the present institutional forces that
are in place in Hybrid Identity Organizations. Given that HIO involves at least two different logics that,
if they fulfill the requirements stated by Albert et al.’s (1998) model of the 3I’s, may be considered
institutional forces. Thus, family business, being a HIO, would benefit from the employment of NIT in
significant manner.
In the other hand, the main contribution for the case company is the identification and understanding of
how organizational values are influenced by the different identities that characterize HIOs. This study
puts the organization in a position in which they can focus on adapting, modifying, and creating
different structures to increase the efficiency of the organization while at the same time addressing the
needs of their employees. It also opens up an alternative, which may or may not be followed by other
HIOs, to leverage one of the identities of a HIO to exploit the uniqueness of said organization as a long-
term value offer with long-term profits in mind.
Also important is the concept of legitimacy for the company and the understanding that, even though
mimicking different process for the sake of legitimacy can be detrimental for the company’s efficiency,
working to create a larger, stronger, and more homogeneous group of companies with similar
characteristics may increase the chances of survival of the company. This may be particularly
exemplified with the current outbreak of COVID19, for example, SMEs and private companies using
their collective power as leverage against the government to gain resources or different benefits.
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54
Appendix
Appendix A
Semi-Structured Interview
Questions for the Top Management Team
I would like to start by saying that this interview is 100% confidential. I will be the only one with
access to the names of the interviewees and the recorded material will be deleted once the thesis is
approved. The transcriptions of each interview will be identified by a job position which may be
either “employee” or “TMT” so that it is possible to refer back to said transcript in the thesis.
Nevertheless, if someone is named during the interview, whoever it may be, their name will be
changed so that it can not be connected to the you [the interviewee] or to the person you may be
referring to in the interview.
The principal focus of this interview are organizational values. These values can be defined as the
beliefs or habits shared by members of an organization with the objective to reach their social or
personal goals in a socially acceptable manner.
For example, “In Company X we strive to have the most sustainable processes” or “Our principal
concern is customer satisfaction” or “We are a premium brand that constantly seeks to fulfill with
every standard of quality”.
In the previous examples we could assume that the organizational values of said companies may be
linked to sustainability, customer satisfaction, and high quality.
On the other hand, as a secondary objective, it is also important to see if there is a connection between
the values of the family, the organization, and the employees.
Lastly, I would like to add that this is a two-way conversation and if you would happen to have any
questions you are more than welcomed to ask them.
Any doubts?
A. Introduction
1. May you please tell me what is your age and the main role you perform in the
company?
2. In total, how many years have you been working? Or, if its easier, when did you
started to work?
B. Previous Work and/or Previous Companies
1. Besides your job in the Aquatic Center, what other types of jobs have you had or do
you have?
2. In concern with the working environment, how would you compare your different job
positions or your different companies with the Aquatic Center?
i. Which difficulties do you think the Aquatic Center has that may be different
to the ones of your other companies/jobs?
ii. Which strengths do you see in the Aquatic Center that may be different to the
ones of your other companies/jobs?
55
3. Which values, attitudes or capabilities would you have liked to be able to change in
your previous work or companies?
i. What differences would they have made?
ii. Why do you think they would have had that effect?
4. Concerning the strategic decision-making, how did those decisions were made? Was
there any specific process?
i. Which measures were taken if those decisions did not produce the desired
outcome?
5. If you had different partners or colleagues, how did you divide the work between
yourself?
6. What are the most important lessons that you learned in your previous
work/company?
i. How would you apply does lessons in the Aquatic Center?
C. Present Company
1. How would you describe the working environment of the Aquatic Center?
i. Can you describe an example were that description is exemplified?
ii. Which values do you think are advantageous for improving the work
environment in the Aquatic Center?
iii. Which attitudes do you think are harmful for the Aquatic Center? Why do
you think they are harmful?
2. Is the transmission of values something that concerns you within the company?
i. Why is it so? What benefits could be obtained from it?
ii. Why is it not so?
3. Which would you consider to be the organizational values of the company?
i. Which one would you think is the most important?
ii. Would you mind if I share your answer with the other two members of the
TMT?
4. Do the employees know which are the organizational values of the company?
5. How do you think values are transmitted within the company?
i. Is there any specific method that’s being used? Formal or informal
communication?
ii. Do you think there is a more effective way?
6. Which is or which are the main differences between the way you work compared to
the way your employees work?
i. Are you able to see a generational difference?
ii. Do you one way is better than the other?
iii. Which aspect of their way of working would you consider negative as
compared to your way of working? Why?
iv. Which aspect of their way of working would you consider positive as
compared to your way of working? Why?
7. Which organizational values do you see in the rest of the members of the TMT?
i. What are their strengths?
ii. What are their weaknesses?
D. Social
Now we are going to focus on how you would describe your community from a social point
of view and from your inner circle of close friends and family.
56
1. Starting with your inner circle of close people, how would you generally describe the
values with which your family identifies itself?
i. Where do you think these values originated?
ii. Do you think these values have change through the past events and years?
iii. Which would you consider to be the most important values of your family?
Why?
iv. With which family values do you not identify yourself? Why?
2. In a general way, how would you describe the normal day-to-day interaction with
your family?
i. How are these interactions now?
ii. Have you noticed any differences as years have passed?
3. Do you think that events happening in the family affect the business?
i. May you provide an example of these events?
ii. If so, in what way did the business was impacted due to said event?
4. Which family values would you like to be reflected in the Aquatic Center?
i. Why?
ii. Do you feel it may have a negative impact in the company?
iii. Why?
5. What are the attitudes, traditions, and object that are most valued in your family?
6. Concerning your social circle, do you think that the environment and the culture of
the society that surrounds us affect the company?
i. How do you think this affects the Aquatic Center and/or any of your other
companies?
ii. What do you think are the most important problems we face as a society?
iii. How do you think this affects our clients?
iv. In a general way, how would you like to confront these problems?
v. How should the company respond? Should it remain steady or should it
change?
vi. In your opinion, what strengths do you think we have as a society to confront
these situations?
vii. What are our weaknesses?
7. Do you feel that companies have a moral obligation with society?
i. Why?
ii. If positive, is there any short or long term plan which is intended to help
society?
1. How do you think such plan will work?
iii. If negative, do you think it would advantageous that companies seek to help
society?
1. How would these plans help?
E. Closing
1. To conclude, what is your main motivation to continue working? What is your main
aspiration?
57
Appendix B
Semi-Structured Interview
Questions for the Top Management Team
I would like to start by saying that this interview is 100% confidential. I will be the only one with
access to the names of the interviewees and the recorded material will be deleted once the thesis is
approved. The transcriptions of each interview will be identified by a job position which may be
either “employee” or “TMT” so that it is possible to refer back to said transcript in the thesis.
Nevertheless, if someone is named during the interview, whoever it may be, their name will be
changed so that it can not be connected to the you [the interviewee] or to the person you may be
referring to in the interview.
The principal focus of this interview are organizational values. These values can be defined as the
beliefs or habits shared by members of an organization with the objective to reach their social or
personal goals in a socially acceptable manner.
For example, “In Company X we strive to have the most sustainable processes” or “Our principal
concern is customer satisfaction” or “We are a premium brand that constantly seeks to fulfill with
every standard of quality”.
In the previous examples we could assume that the organizational values of said companies may be
linked to sustainability, customer satisfaction, and high quality.
On the other hand, as a secondary objective, it is also important to see if there is a connection between
the values of the family, the organization, and the employees.
Lastly, I would like to add that this is a two-way conversation and if you would happen to have any
questions you are more than welcomed to ask them.
Any doubts?
A. Introduction
1. May you please tell me what is your age and the main role you perform in the
company?
2. In total, how many years have you been working? Or, if its easier, when did you
started to work?
B. Previous Work Experiences
1. Have you had any previous work experience before the Aquatic Center?
i. If positive:
1. What type of work did you have? How long did you work there?
2. What was the role you perform in said company? May you describe
the types of problems you faced?
3. How did you feel in that job?
4. How would you describe the work environment of that job?
5. Did you like that work environment?
6. If you could change anything form that job what would it be?
7. How would you describe your boss?
8. Did you like the way in which he or she worked?
58
9. How would you describe the relationship with your colleagues? Did
you like working with them?
10. [If applicable] How would you describe your relationship with
customers?
11. How would you evaluate your previous boss’ work? Which would be
his or her strengths? Which would be his or her areas of
opportunities?
12. What strengths would he or she think you have?
13. What area of opportunities would you think he or she would sya you
have?
ii. Negative:
1. How did you imagine your first job was going to be? What kind of
work environment did you imagine it would have?
2. What type of experiences did you expect to have?
3. How did you imagine your colleagues were going to be? The clients?
Your bosses?
C. Present Work
1. How would you describe your work functions in the Aquatic Center?
2. Have you had to do any other type of work in the company? How did it make you
feel?
3. Could describe what is the work environment of the Aquatic Center?
4. Which may be some area of opportunities for the company?
5. How would you improve them?
6. How would you describe a typical day during summer? How would you describe it
during winter?
7. What type of problems do you face in your job?
8. How do you face those problems?
9. What is your relationship with the customers?
10. Have you had any comments, suggestions, or complaints? If so, how did you face
them?
11. In your opinion, what would be the best way to treat clients?
12. How is your relationship with your colleagues?
13. What type of experiences have you had with your colleagues?
14. Do you see each other outside of the workplace?
15. How is your relationship with the TMT?
16. What kind of topic do you address with them? Do you feel comfortable expressing
your ideas?
17. How would you evaluate the TMT? What are their strengths and what are their area
of opportunities?
18. What strengths do you think they recognize in you?
19. What area of opportunities do you think they recognize in you?
D. Social
Now we are going to focus on how you would describe your community from a social point
of view and from your inner circle of close friends and family.
1. Starting by your inner circle of people, how would you describe the environment that
surrounds you?
59
2. Do you like the way in which you relate to them?
i. If so, why?
ii. If not, why not? What would you change?
3. What are the attitudes, traditions, and objects that you value the most?
4. If you could change anything, what would it be?
5. Regarding your community, how would you describe the environment in the city?
6. What do you like and dislike about the environment in the city?
7. What would you like to change and why?
8. How do you relate to people around your community? Do you frequent festivals,
parks, protests, etc.?
9. What type of challenges do you think we face?
10. In your opinion, do you think we have the strengths to overcome them?
11. What would be our weaknesses?
E. Closing
1. To conclude, if you were hired exclusively as a consultant for the company, what
aspects of the work environment would you try to change? What would be the most
important one?