Organizational Imprinting and Narrative Memory in Historical Turkish Businesses: Insights from Asırlık Lezzetçiler Documentary
Öz
This study examines how century-old family businesses construct and reproduce organizational imprints through retrospective narratives, using digital documentary sources as a form of organizational memory. In this context, the study focuses on how century-old family businesses narrate their founding past and embed these narratives into contemporary organizational identities. The study drew on a qualitative thematic analysis of 26 episodes from TRT’s Asırlık Lezzetçiler (Century-Old Gourmets) documentary series. The research analyzes these publicly available audiovisual materials featuring long-established businesses across Türkiye. The results reveal that organizational imprints are narratively reproduced through recurring themes of passion for profession, loyalty to profession, and professional excellence in century-old businesses. These narratives function as symbolic anchors through which organizations link founding values to present-day practices, shaping how tradition, quality, and continuity are interpreted rather than causally enforced. By conceptualizing imprinting as a form of narrative memory rather than a deterministic mechanism, this study contributes to organizational imprinting research by highlighting its interpretive and retrospective dimensions. Methodologically, the article demonstrates the potential of digital documentary sources as public historical data for qualitative research in business history and organization studies.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Organizational Imprinting, Family Businesses, Narrative Memory, Organizational Identity, Documentary Analysis, Organization Theory
Etik Beyan
This research is based entirely on the analysis of publicly available documentary content produced and broadcast by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT). The study does not involve human subjects, direct interaction with individuals, or the collection of primary data.
In accordance with the regulations of the Higher Education Council of Türkiye (YÖK) and international research ethics principles, studies relying solely on publicly accessible archival or media sources do not require ethics committee approval. Accordingly, ethical approval was not sought for this study.
Teşekkür
An earlier version of this study was presented at the VII Business History Conference, held at Anadolu University in Eskişehir, Türkiye. I would like to thank the reviewers and conference participants for their valuable feedback.
Kaynakça
- Abecassis-Moedas, C., BenMahmoud-Jouini, S., Manceau, D., & Pereira, J. (2021). Imprinting of founders’ entrepreneurial motivations on enterprises’ practices and processes: The context of creative industries. Creativity and Innovation Management, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/caim.12421
- Ahn, S.-Y. (2018). Founder succession, the imprint of founders’ legacies, and long-term corporate survival. Sustainability, 10(5), 1485. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051485
- Aktas, Ü. N., & Akdeve, E. (2024). Career imprints from diverse institutional settings: A comparative study of academic and non-academic partnered ventures in technopolis. Journal of the Knowledge Economy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02192-5
- Arndt, M., & Bigelow, B. (2005). Professionalizing and masculinizing a female occupation: The reconceptualization of hospital administration in the early 1900s. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(2), 233–261. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2005.50.2.233
- Arslan, M. (2001). The work ethic values of Protestant British, Catholic Irish and Muslim Turkish managers. Journal of Business Ethics, 31(4), 321–339. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010787528465
- Auer, T., Knorr, K., & Thommes, K. (2023). Long-term effects of institutional conditions on perceived corruption: A study on organizational imprinting in post-communist countries. Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, 32(2), 478-497. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12506
- Baron, J. N., Hannan, M. T., & Burton, M. D. (1999). Building the iron cage: Determinants of managerial intensity in the early years of organizations. American Sociological Review, 64(4), 527–547. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657254
- Battilana, J., Sengul, M., Pache, A.-C., & Model, J. (2015). Harnessing productive tensions in hybrid organizations: The case of work integration social enterprises. Academy of Management Journal, 58(6), 1658–1685. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0903
- Bhimani, A. (2020). Digital data and management accounting: Why we need to rethink research methods. Journal of Management Control, 31(1–2), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00187-020-00295-z
- Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. London, England: Routledge & Kegan Paul.