Organizational Identity and Performance: An inquiry into Nonconforming Company Names

Mario Amore (), Orsola Garofalo and Mircea Epure

No 1408, Working Papers from Barcelona School of Economics

Abstract: Choosing the right company name is challenging and may have major consequences for firm prospects. Drawing on the strategic conformity literature, we investigate the implications of "nonconforming" company names, i.e. foreign sounding and family-unrelated, for family firms' performance. Consistent with the idea that such names endow the business with greater visibility and recognition, we find that nonconforming names are positively associated with financial performance. This association is stronger when the firm operates in an industry with a low share of nonconforming peers and a high share of eponymous peers, in a crowded product class, and is smaller than industry peers. Collectively, our analysis provides new evidence on the strategic implications of company names.

Keywords: Family firms; performance; organizational identity; company names (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G30 M10 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec
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Related works:
Working Paper: Organizational Identity and Performance: An Inquiry into Nonconforming Company Names (2023)
Working Paper: Organizational identity and performance: An inquiry into nonconforming company names (2023)
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