From Nurturing the Successor to Attracting New Founders: How Firm Platforms Organize a Market for Selling Businesses
Firm platforms organize a market for selling Mittelstand firms in Germany. In doing so they face a challenge: to instill a market frame in a segment of the German economy that is known for its family embedding. This study examines the strategies firm platforms use to reframe ownership transfer from...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Organizational Sociology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/joso-2022-0001 |
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| Summary: | Firm platforms organize a market for selling Mittelstand firms in Germany. In doing so they face a challenge: to instill a market frame in a segment of the German economy that is known for its family embedding. This study examines the strategies firm platforms use to reframe ownership transfer from a gift passed on within the family to a commodity traded on a market. Building on a content analysis of the seven largest and most innovative firm platforms in Germany, this study reveals how firm platforms argue from within a gift exchange frame and shift its parameters in social, object, and time dimensions. This study makes a more general point by arguing that digital platforms function as cultural trailblazers in marketization. This study contributes to succession, digital platform, and marketization debates. |
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| ISSN: | 2752-2997 |