10.6092/issn.1974-4382/15513
Corporate storytelling has been usually investigated from the perspective of both marketing studies (Brown 2006: 734) and corporate communication (Ford et al. 1995; Boje 2001; Clifton et al. 2020), which have emphasized the role played by narratives in corporate identity claims. This work is a pilot study aimed at providing a different methodological perspective applied to corporate narratives. In particular, theories from cognitive linguistics (Rosch 1978; Lakoff, 1987), previously applied to corporate mission statements (Ran et al.1997), will be explored here in corporate narratives. More specifically, cognitive categories including, among others, positive, negative and neutral positioning along with interaction processes (Glaser et al 1968) will be taken into consideration. Positioning, for instance, implies a value structure, as an organization can be positioned at either the positive or negative end of the continuum or at some neutral midpoint. From a general perspective, an identity claim that represents an organization too positively or too negatively may lack credibility to target audiences. Conversely, an identity claim that defines an organization neutrally may construct an identity that audiences consider more reliable. In brief, examples of storytelling employed by centenarian Italian companies (https://www.assocentenari.it/en/index.php) will be explored in order to analyse the ways these companies represent themselves from a cognitive perspective.
application/pdf
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Stefania D'Avanzo
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centenarian companies
The Role of Cognitive Linguistics in Corporate Storytelling – A Methodological Perspective
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Stefania D'Avanzo
2022/09/22
10.6092/issn.1974-4382/15513
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Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"
1974-4382
centenarian companies
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The Role of Cognitive Linguistics in Corporate Storytelling – A Methodological Perspective
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Updating Discourse/s on Method/s                                        mediAzioni 34 (2022)
                                                                              ISSN   1974-4382


   THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS IN CORPORATE
    STORYTELLING – A METHODOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
                                   STEFANIA D’AVANZO
                 UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DELLA CAMPANIA LUIGI VANVITELLI

stefania.davanzo@unicampania.it



Citation: D’Avanzo, Stefania (2022) “The role of Cognitive Linguistics in corporate
storytelling - a methodological perspective”, in Lucia Abbamonte and Flavia Cavaliere (eds.)
Updating         Discourse/s     on      Method/s,       mediAzioni     34:      A77-A88,
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1974-4382/15513, ISSN 1974-4382.



Abstract: Corporate storytelling has been usually investigated from the perspective of
both marketing studies (Brown 2006: 734) and corporate communication (Ford et al.
1995; Boje 2001; Clifton et al. 2020), which have emphasized the role played by
narratives in corporate identity claims. This work is a pilot study aimed at providing a
different methodological perspective applied to corporate narratives. In particular,
theories from cognitive linguistics (Rosch 1978; Lakoff, 1987), previously applied to
corporate mission statements (Ran et al.1997), will be explored here in corporate
narratives. More specifically, cognitive categories including, among others, positive,
negative and neutral positioning along with interaction processes (Glaser et al 1968) will
be taken into consideration. Positioning, for instance, implies a value structure, as an
organization can be positioned at either the positive or negative end of the continuum or
at some neutral midpoint. From a general perspective, an identity claim that represents
an organization too positively or too negatively may lack credibility to target audiences.
Conversely, an identity claim that defines an organization neutrally may construct an
identity that audiences consider more reliable. In brief, examples of storytelling employed
by centenarian Italian companies (https://www.assocentenari.it/en/index.php) will be
explored in order to analyse the ways these companies represent themselves from a
cognitive perspective.

Keywords: corporate storytelling, cognitive linguistics, corporate identity, centenarian
companies.




Copyright © 2022
The text in this work is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.                                        A77
THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS IN CORPORATE STORYTELLING                        A78


1. Introduction


The purpose of the study is to propose an investigation of corporate storytelling
from an integrated cognitive-linguistic perspective. In particular, in this pilot
research study, some cognitive categorizations, previously explored in corporate
mission statements, will be applied to corporate narratives. The corpus under
investigation includes the storytelling sections published on the home pages of
the companies belonging to the ‘I Centenari’ Association, founded in Naples in
2001 by Pina Amarelli and Martino Cilento. They decided to create a project for
the enhancement of long-standing family firms, following the experience already
consolidated by Les Hénokiens, an association from across the Alps, which
succeeded in bringing together family businesses with more than two hundred
years of history from all over the world. They are long-lived family firms, which
managed to survive over time thanks to their roots and set of traditional values.
In this study, the website home pages of long-lived Italian family companies
producing artisan and hand made products will be investigated, as illustrated in
the following table:

        Table 1. Description of the companies under scrutiny
 Company                                       Industry

 A. D’Andrea                                   Home textile

 Besana                                        Dried fruit

 Cianciullo Marmi                              Natural stone for building

 Cilento M. & F.llo                            Textile/men’s tailored clothing

 Coelmo                                        Generating sets

 Casa D’Ambra Vini D’Ischia                    Wine

 De Luca Industria Grafica e Cartaria          Packaging

 Don Alfonso 1980                              Restaurant/catering

 E. Marinella                                  Fashion

 Fabbriche Riunite Torrone di Benevento        Confectionary/merchant wholesaler

 Gruppo Petrone                                Pharmaceutics

 Giovanni Ascione & Figlio                     Coral craftsmanship/jewellery

 Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company         Shipping
 Hotel Jaccarino/Hotel Imperial
                                               Hospitality
 Tramontano

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 Agenzia Marittima Michele Autuori             Shipping

 Ottica Cav. Raffaele Sacco                    Optics

 Pastificio F.lli Setaro                       Food/ pasta

 Serpone srl                                   Sacred art

 Antonio Sada e F.lli                          Corrugated paper/packaging

 Ceramica Pinto                                Artisan pottery

 Ventrella                                     Jewellery

 De Nigris                                     Food /Vinegar

 Voghera                                       Clothes

 Umberto                                       Restaurant

 Gruppo Tavassi                                Logistics

 Castaldo                                      Agriculture

 Amarelli Liquirizia                           Food / Liquorice

 Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria                Hospitality

 Savinelli                                     Pipes
 Officine grafiche Francesco Giannini &
                                               Typography
 Figli
 Guida Editori                                 Publishing


More recently, much attention has been paid to the immaterial values that
characterize Italian long-lived family companies. Their historical values and
traditions, for instance, have been analysed as strategic resources employed to
build empathy in their relationships with customers (Montemaggi et al 2007). In
this scenario, narratives have acquired more and more importance as, through
narration, long-lived family companies can communicate their past traditions,
values and identity more efficiently, thereby encouraging the involvement of
customers and improving the knowledge of the companies on the part of all their
stakeholders (Salmon 2008; Qualizza 2009). The first section of this work will
be devoted to a literature review of previous studies on narratives in corporate
discourse from both linguistic and marketing perspectives. The methodology
section will outline the cognitive approach applied to the corpus under scrutiny.
The findings section will show some examples published on the ‘I Centenari’
website, where cognitive categorization can easily be identified in published


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corporate storytelling. Finally, some final observations will be provided in the
concluding remarks section.


2. Literature review

The analytical focus on storytelling is increasingly common across different
disciplines with different aims, as, for instance, in social science and corporate
studies. In particular, in corporate discourse, storytelling has been considered as
‘responsible’ for corporate collective identity. The latter “‘resides’ in the
collective identity stories that, for example, people tell to each other in their
conversations, write into corporate histories, and encode on websites” (Brown
2006: 734). More specifically, from a narrative perspective, “organizations’
identities are discursive (linguistic) constructs constituted by the multiple
identity-relevant narratives that their participants author about them, and which
feature, for example, in documents, conversations and electronic media” (ibid.:
733). Thus, narratives can be performative, as they are “speech acts bringing
into existence a social reality that did not exist before their utterance (Ford et al
1995)”. This concept derives from social constructionist and critical studies,
which have suggested that narratives are the products of particular contexts
(Gabriel 1995), that fragments of narrative intertextually dialogue with, quote
from and anticipate other narratives (Fairclough 1992), and that organizations
are literally narratives (Cooren 1999) or ante-narrative networks of dynamic and
unfinished stories (Boje 2001). A clear instance of this is provided by an
investigation from marketing studies, where storytelling was explored in order
to provide a better understanding of the nature and role of the strategic
orientation of family firms (Riviezzo et al. 2015). An interesting approach
derives from the fields of cognitive linguistics and social psychology (Glaser et
al. 1968; Ran et al. 2007). Thanks to these studies, it is possible to investigate a
fundamental three-way relationship between identity, language, and cognitive
processes of categorization. In particular, the interaction processes of cognitive
categories including, among others, positive, negative and neutral positioning
along with movement (positive, negative, stable), can help to represent corporate
identity through narratives. Specifically, organizational identities are defined
through the organizations’ classification according to social and conceptual
categories, as well as corporate identity claims. As Ran et al. (2007: 157) asserts,
“[a]n identity claim establishes an idiosyncratic system of value-laden
categories; positions the organization positively or negatively within these
categories; projects images of identity movement and transformation; constructs
past, present, and future identities; and defines the organization in terms of
categories reflecting its actions and interactions with other individuals or
organizations whose identities are also constructed through the identity claim”.
     Understanding the cognitive processes involved in organizational identity
claims is fundamental as corporate identity is strongly entangled with
organizational performance. Thus, its exploration may help professionals who
investigate corporate strategies to represent their company in a more efficient
way and explore critically the strategies of others. According to the traditional
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concept of categorization, all objects belonging to a category share essential
features and thus a category is characterized by definite boundaries (Lakoff
1987). Nevertheless, Wittgenstein (1958) underlined that the referents of words
do not necessarily share a set of common attributes as they may bear only “family
resemblance” to one another, forming amorphous categories with fuzzy
boundaries. Thus, to identify the right categories where words are included and
understand the actual speakers’ intentions, it is necessary to explore the linguistic
and social contexts where those words and expressions are found. According to
Ran et al. (1997), when a communicator uses words to label an object, the
audience’s knowledge of the category influences how the object is likely to be
interpreted; that is, category labels tend to invoke mental images for audiences
based on their understanding of category prototypes. In this study, the cognitive
mental processes involved in the construction of an organization’s identity were
investigated.


3. Methodology

The methodology will be based on the cognitive categorization applied to
corporate narratives (Lakoff 1987; Ran et al. 1997; Taylor 1995). In particular,
the classification typically applied to mission statements will be adopted to
investigate the ways storytelling is developed by centenarian companies. The
main assumption is that storytelling is strongly entangled with performativity.
In particular, branded communications are performative (Lowrie 2007: 992;
Mautner 2008), as they do not simply express a pre-existing brand identity, but
are the means through which brand identity is created, transforming a functional
commodity into a socially meaningful entity and generating “economic capital
through the exploitation and creation of symbolic capital” (Thurlow et al. 2007:
310). According to Browning (1991), people do not just tell stories, but they tell
stories to "enact" an account of themselves and their community. Stories also
shape the course and meaning of human organization.
     Thus, an attempt to outline the performative power of corporate storytelling
will be made through exploration of cognitive categories.
     As mental images, organizational identities are conceptual representations
of organizations built up through Identity claims. Identity claims include
statements made on behalf of an organization by official spokespersons (e.g.,
letters to shareholders in corporate annual reports, advertisements, public
relations announcements, corporate mission statements) and a wide variety of
other formal or informal statements authored by various stakeholders, such as
employees, customers, industry competitors, market analysts, media
commentators, etc. (Ran et al. 2007). Identity claims that articulate different
conceptions of an organization can socially construct its identity for specific
stakeholder audiences in specific contexts (Berger et al 1966). As mentioned
earlier, categorization has been adopted in previous studies to explore mission
statements on some company websites. As reported by Ran et al. (1997: 169),
“[m]ission statements often emphasize the comprehensiveness of an
organization’s activities, products, or services. Because an organization must
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satisfy the demands and expectations of stakeholders in diverse domains, it needs
to be perceived as capable of providing complete and comprehensive coverage
of these domains”. Mission statements convey a company’s identity through the
use of ‘comprehensive words’ aimed at defining them, while Storytelling, on the
other hand, strongly identifies a company as ‘responsible’ for corporate collective
identity. Thus, cognitive categories traditionally used to analyse corporate
mission statements will be used here to analyse the companies’ storytelling
outputs, in order to explore the identities shaped by the ‘I Centenari’
organizational members. According to Ran et al. (1997: 171), “[l]anguage is used
to define the organization’s position within the cognitive space, to convey
dynamic images of organizational movement through the space, and to establish
logical or functional interactions between specific identity categories”. Cognitive
categories include, among others, positive, negative and neutral positioning
along with movement (positive, negative, stable), interaction processes.
Positioning implies a value structure in which an organization can be positioned
at either the positive or negative end of the continuum or at some neutral
midpoint between positive and negative positions. Positive positioning includes,
among others, positive nouns or noun phrases, positive superlatives.
     Conversely, negative positioning is conveyed by processes that are analogous
to those used in positive positioning: they consist in using negative
nouns/superlatives and/or noun phrases. Finally, identity claims may contain
neutral language that positions the organization in a neutrally defined category.
     Thus, neutral positioning does not convey clear positive or negative
connotations and therefore positions the organization in a ‘neutral’ or ‘emotion-
free’ context. From a general perspective, an identity claim that represents an
organization too positively or too negatively may lack credibility to target
audiences while an identity claim that defines an organization neutrally may
construct an identity that audiences consider more reliable. A further category
is represented by movement, “which conveys dynamics through what we call
movement processes — language that projects an image of the organization
moving along figurative trajectories through the cognitive space established by
the identity claim toward positions representing future identity states or goals”
(ibid.: 174). Positive, negative or neutral movement can be found in identity
claims.
     Positive movements suggest that the organization is moving along a
trajectory toward a desired position or objective. In particular, positive
movements suggest that although the organization may not have yet reached the
desired identity position or goal, it is moving along a trajectory toward it.
Identity claims can also imply the movement of the organization from a positive
to a negative identity category or toward the more negative end of a category
continuum, which is often metaphorically expressed as downward or backward
movement. Negative movement is related, instead, to either the movement of a
company from a positive to a negative category or the tendency towards the
more negative end of a category continuum. Finally, stable movement could be
compared to the ideas of “constant velocity or acceleration in physics, whereby
an organization’s identity is represented as being in a kind of dynamic
equilibrium (e.g., constant positive movement) rather than a static position”
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(ibid.: 176). Further possible classifications include category interactions which
mainly deal with construction of the organization’s identity in terms of
interactions with other categories of social actors or conceptual objects (ibid.:
176). For instance, some examples imply inputs received by other actors or
providing outputs to others. Finally, interaction processes are also found in
identity claims. They denote idealized functional relationships between various
subject, object, or action categories. The processes include, among others, causal,
transitive, and associative relationships, as well as various other logical forms.


4. Findings

In this section, some examples of corporate storytelling will be drawn from the
‘I Centenari’ website to show how cognitive categorization can be applied to the
narratives delivered by the companies under scrutiny. In the following example,
both positive positioning and positive movement are found in the narratives
delivered by Cilento M. & F.llo-Ugo Cilento - a centenarian Neapolitan tailor’s
shop belonging to the ‘I Centenari’ Association:

      1) La nostra è una missione di eccellenza e stile, di estrema cura della
      qualità, tutto ciò che è prodotto su misura porta con sé anche un servizio
      superiore fatto di coccole al cliente, questo è il nostro mondo. (Cilento M. &
      F.llo-Ugo Cilento) (https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-cilento.php)

      1) Ours is a mission of excellence and style, for attention to quality, all that
      is custom made also brings with it a superior service of pampering the client,
      this is our world. (Official English version available at
      https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-cilento.php)

In example 1), movement is clearly represented by ‘mission’, a noun defined as
“an important task that people are given to do”. The tasks to be performed by
the company are to both ensure that the customers receive excellent, stylish
products and to establish good relationships with them. Positiveness as an
essential identity feature is emphasized by the cataphoric reference of the
possessive pronoun (ours). Positive positioning is clear in this example along
with movement.
     Moreover, the company’s commitment to guarantee future quality aims to
satisfy its customers. Thus, interaction processes are involved in identifying the
company’s identity along with the two categories mentioned above, as the final
aim is to satisfy the customers. Interaction processes are defined as processes
which “construct causal, transitive, and associative relationships, as well as
various other logical forms” (Ran and Duimering 1997:177).
     Movement is also found in some other instances of storytelling by the owners
of Serpone - a tailor’s shop where holy garments are embroidered:

      2) La valorizzazione di un patrimonio di saperi unici e irripetibili avviene
      anche con le tante innovazioni di prodotto e con l’apertura di un piccolo
      laboratorio dove si sperimentano ancora oggi nuove tecniche di lavorazione,
      l’utilizzo di filati pregiati come l’oro e dove ancora si tramanda l’arte del

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      ricamo a mano, da una generazione all’altra di abili operaie (Serpone-
      Francesco Serpone). https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-serpone.php

      2) The regard of a legacy of knowledge unique and unrepeatable also
      happens with the many product innovations introduced over the years,
      always with respect for tradition and history. And with the opening of a
      small workshop where they are still experimenting new processing
      techniques today, the use of quality yarns like gold, and where, still, the art
      of hand embroidery is handed down from one generation of skilled workers
      to      another     (Official     English       version     available        at
      https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-serpone.php)

In 2), movement across time is clearly expressed by time adverbials such as “over
the years”, “always” referred to innovations encouraged by the company along
with traditional values over a long period of time. Thus, the company’s identity
is constructed by stable movement referred to constant positive value over time
- a constant velocity. A stable movement from the past towards the future, with
a focus on the company’s glorious past, is found, instead, in the following
examples. Storytelling in 3) is delivered by a company producing electrical
generators. Example 4) reports the story told by the owner of a Neapolitan
company which makes jewellery:

      3) La sicurezza di chi opera sul mercato da tempo, sopravvivendo ai
      cambiamenti, disegnando i confini dell’impresa per un futuro sempre più
      vicino, nel rispetto delle persone che condividono un credo irrinunciabile
      nel modo di fare business, e la gestione della sicurezza sul lavoro,
      consentono alla Coelmo di essere riconosciuta e apprezzata in tutto il mondo
      (Stefania Brancaccio, Domenico e Marco Monsurrò- Coelmo, Gruppi
      Elettrogeni       Industriali)     (https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-
      coelmo.php)

      3) The security, the certainty of those operating on the market for some time,
      that survives the changes rather than the ephemeral of the new, thus
      drawing the boundaries of the company for a an ever closer future, with
      respect for people who share with them an ethical manifesto (Official
      English version available at https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-
      coelmo.php)

In 3) stable movement is represented both by the adverbial for some time
referred to the length of time during which the company has been operating on
the market, while guaranteeing reliability and loyalty to the organizational
members, and the verbal phrase “survives the changes”, which refers to duration
of the company over time. In example 4, stable movement is combined with
positive positioning:

      4) Argento, oro e bronzo si fondono per creare opere sempre differenti dalle
      precedenti, ma al passo con i tempi anche nelle creazioni meno impegnative,
      bilanciando sapientemente l’orientamento al mercato con la voglia di
      miglioramento e con la ricerca di nuove opportunità, anticipando le richieste
      dei       più       esigenti.       (Ventrella,       Paolo       Ventrella)
      (https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-ventrella.php)


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      4) Silver, gold and bronze combine, intertwine and merge to create works
      that are always different from the previous ones, but in step with the times
      even in less demanding creations, expertly balancing market orientation
      with the desire for continuous improvement. (Official English version
      available at https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-ventrella.php)

In the example above, stable movement is conveyed by the noun phrase
continuous improvement, where the adjectival premodifier implies commitment
by the company to provide positive achievements over time. Positive positioning
is implicit in the same noun phrase along with the adverbial phrase “expertly
balancing” market orientation, where the adverb “expertly” communicates the
capability of the company to keep up its expertise over time.
    Positive positioning is the most prominent category in the following
example, as positive qualities are employed to refer to the traditional values of
the famous company that produces hand-made ties:

      5) La fedeltà di Marinella a Napoli è consapevolezza e gratitudine per ciò
      che oggi rappresenta nel mondo. Un gene imprenditoriale unico che ha
      interiorizzato e reinterpretato lo stile inglese in un mood personale, forgiato
      dalla forte e ingombrante identità della città. Marinella resta a Napoli.
      Sempre più corteggiata, adulata e ricercata, sempre più global. Ma a Napoli.
      Nonostante          tutto.       (Maurizio          Marinella-      Marinella)
      (https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-marinella.php)

      5) Marinella’s loyalty to Naples is also awareness and appreciation for what
      it represents today in the world. A unique entrepreneurial gene, of the
      founder and his descendants, who has been able to interiorize the English
      style and reinterpret it in a personal mood but forged by the strong and
      cumbersome identity of the city. (Official English version available at
      https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-marinella.php)

In 5), positiveness is construed in terms of pride of the relationship of the
company with the city of Naples, but also as regards respect and devotion to its
founder. Only a few instances of interaction processes have been found in
storytelling by companies producing paper (example 6), packaging (example 8),
or in narratives by Don Alfonso, a centenarian Neapolitan restaurant (example
7):

      6) L’impresa nel senso nobile della parola deve confrontarsi con il proprio
      territorio, deve produrre ricchezza prima per il prossimo poi per i
      proprietari. (De Luca Industria Grafica e Cartaria -Andrea de Luca)
      (https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-deluca.php)

      6) An enterprise is not for its own sake. An enterprise in the noble sense of
      the word has to deal with its own territory, it must produce wealth for the
      neighbor first then for the owners. (Official English version available at
      https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-deluca.php)

      7) Ancora oggi Alfonso e Livia, insieme ai figli Ernesto e Mario, diffondono
      la conoscenza, il rispetto e la valorizzazione del territorio, offrendo la
      possibilità di conoscere le sue bellezze, gli odori, i colori attraverso i loro
      piatti e la qualità delle materie prime. Una dinastia che fa del forte legame
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      per la terra una linfa vitale inesauribile per raccogliere le grandi sfide offerte
      dal mercato, in un connubio di passato e modernità, di innovazione e
      tradizione.             (Don              Alfonso-Alfonso              Iaccarino)
      (https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-donalfonso.php)

      7) Numerous are the recognitions that remain in the heart of Livia and
      Alfonso by celebrities who attended the restaurant, from Carlo Azeglio
      Ciampi to the Queen of Holland, as well as many ordinary people who live
      a dream, an experience of light, unique and unrepeatable, in a charming
      setting. (This version does not correspond to the Italian one although it is
      the         official      English        version         available        at
      https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-donalfonso.php)

      8) Profonda la considerazione per l’ambiente e la salute delle persone, che
      trova riscontro nell’orientamento verso package biodegradabili, riciclabili o
      riutilizzabili. Prodotti che sotto forma di imballaggi, scatole, raccoglitori
      variopinti e atossici provano a ricreare il ciclo chiuso della natura (Sada&
      F.lli- Antonio Sada) (https://www.assocentenari.it/associato-sada.php)

      8) Profound, finally, was and is the consideration for the environment and
      people’s health, which has been reflected in the orientation towards
      biodegradable, recyclable or reusable packaging. The territory being a
      constituent element of the company, that is where we get the raw material,
      then becomes a privileged recipient of a great part of the production.
      (Official          English           version           available        at
      https://www.assocentenari.it/en/associato-sada.php)

In 6), and 8) interactions are represented by relationships of the company with
the local area in terms of its contribution to the area (e.g., must produce wealth
for the neighbour) or attention to environmental issues (e.g., orientation towards
biodegradable, recyclable or reusable packaging). Conversely, in 7), emphasis is
placed on the relationships with people who used to go to the restaurant in the
past and people who still go there to appreciate its charming atmosphere.


5. Concluding remarks

In previous studies, corporate storytelling has been mainly explored from the
perspective of both marketing studies and corporate communication. In
particular, the role played by narratives in corporate identity has been
investigated and analysed in detail. Taking our trajectory from these
antecedents, this study sought to propose an additional perspective, by
addressing the issues related to the mental categorization involved in corporate
identity narratives. In particular, this work aimed to show how cognitive
linguistics could help explain how corporate identity claims are developed
through storytelling strategies. Thus, from a methodological perspective, some
cognitive categories, previously applied to corporate mission statements, have
been here identified and explored in corporate storytelling in order to discover
which strategies are typically employed by Italian family companies to define
themselves and build-up their own identity. The study has shown the

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predominance of positive positioning and movement as the most relevant
cognitive categories found throughout the whole corpus. The companies define
themselves through dynamics which represent a movement from the past to the
future while they tell the story of their efforts that are firmly rooted in the past
while reaching into the future.


REFERENCES

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