Identifying the Role of Heritage Communication: A Stakeholder-Function Framework

Abstract

This article uses the case of family business to distinguish the range of potential aims and outcomes of corporate heritage communication. In family businesses, the challenges of heritage communication are particularly salient as the past of the firm is simultaneously that of the controlling family. Based on a study of 55 websites of Swedish and German family-owned firms, we classify aims and outcomes of heritage communication with reference to different stakeholders. Our findings elucidate the need to consider various stakeholders when planning heritage communications, and the value of such communication for different corporate functions, such as marketing, management and governance. To aid decision making, we offer a framework to map aims and stakeholders of heritage communication related to a company’s functions.