A Multiparadigmatic Perspective of Strategy

Abstract

Research into family businesses has a long history of lacking theoretical underpinnings, especially with respect to strategy. Moreover, the family of the firms in question has frequently been assumed to be Anglo-Saxon, unless the family business of an ethnic minority has been the specific subject of the research. This article broadens the prevailing discourse by studying the strategic affinities of an ethnic family firm in the context of Whittington’s (1993) framework, which proposed four approaches to the study of business strategy. The subject of this study, GOF, is a medium-sized family firm controlled by a South Asian family specializing in the wholesale distribution of ethnic foods and drinks in the UK. The management of this firm believes that its successful firm (of 35 years standing) has never had a strategy. However, a multiparadigmatic examination of the narrative of this family business reveals that there are several ways in which to gain an understanding of business strategy in medium-sized family firms.