Current managing director

Mr. Ranin's great great great grandson Mr. Nylund is the current managing director of Lignell

& Piispanen, representing the sixth generation of the family owning the business (Nylund 2013a, 5). Mr. Nylund's photo is presented as the illustration 2 (see appendix 2 for case illus-trations). As can be noticed in the illustration 2, a portrait of the family business founder Mr.

Ranin is in the frame standing on the table.

Mr. Nylund assures that the company is very much connected to its heritage (Nylund, inter-view). The office of the company is full of cultural artifacts, including old furniture, paintings, and bottles, among others. Lignell & Piispanen values its history, keeping track of records and protecting the legacy. The history books stored in the company office are examples of the cul-tural artifacts that facilitate the process.

«We have three history books written about the company. One ... was written when the company turned 85 years, another ... [when the company turned] 100 years ... another ... [when the company turned] 150 years» (Nylund, interview).

At this point, it is reasonable to presume that the «respect for the family business history» runs through the organization on such a deep level that it represents an underlying cultural assump-tion, as will be further proved in the case study.

During the case interview, when asked about his view on organizational culture, Mr. Nylund tells right away that at the core of the company's operations is the notion that Lignell &

Piispanen is a family-owned company. The owning family does not want to change its family ownership under any circumstances. Consequently, it is a given that the family holds complete financial control over the business, with this notion not changing throughout the whole family business history (Nylund, interview). This is clearly influenced by Mr. Ranin's vision for the family business and the fact that the company made such a long way already.

«Mr. Gustav established the company and worked hard ... He had a vision for the business to serve the family. It is something that I respect ... Sometimes people tell me that it would be easy to let go [of the family business] ... lead an easy life ... this is not something I want to do.

Keeping the business running is really important» (Nylund, interview).

«Familiness», in form of a strong organizational commitment on part of a family member taking part in business activities, is one of the ingredients contributing to family business survival (Ibrahim et al. 2009, 2, 12). The will to continue the family business, as it appears, only grows as the years go by, fueled by the proudness of the family business history (Nylund, interview), represented in the aforementioned underlying cultural assumption, and the general refusal to give up (Lignell & Piispanen 2014f, 9). In this regard, Mr. Nylund also mentions that the era of complete prohibition was one of the most challenging times throughout the family business long history (Nylund, interview), putting the will for continuation to the test. Prohibition in Finland lasted from 1st of June 1919 till 5th of April 1932 (Wuorinen 1932, 218; Wuorinen 1932, 223). During that time, Oy Gust. Ranin had no choice but to cease operations in its core business, stopping manufacturing and sales of alcoholic beverages (Lignell & Piispanen 2013f, 33). Mr. Ernst Biese (referred to as Mr. Biese further in the thesis), the husband of the Mr. P.

E. Ranin's sister (Lignell & Piispanen 2013a, 29) and the managing director of the family busi-ness at that time, assumed that the family busibusi-ness must continue its operations anyway and reorganized the company, employing the strategy of focusing on the flour-milling industry in order to keep the business going. In 1924, acting on the «open-mindedness» sacred value in-stilled in family business by Mr. Ranin, Mr. Biese established a soft drinks factory in the old distillery, which proved profitable and ensured the company's survival. Sensitivity to changing environment is, indeed, a factor that contributes to long-term survival of companies (De Geus 2002, 34). Acting on the «long-term thinking» sacred value instilled in the company by its founder, Mr. Biese, presumably, saved enough resources in order for the company to get through the Great Depression, which hit in 1929 and left the population without purchasing power. When prohibition finally ended in 1932, Oy Gust. Ranin was still a family-owned com-pany, not selling its ownership to the third party and not being taken over, like a lot of compa-nies did during the period. In 1932, the family business signed a contract with the newly estab-lished government alcohol monopoly, turning its distilleries in Kuopio on, in order to act as a subcontractor for manufacturing of Savon Viina products (Lignell & Piispanen 2013f, 33), and also purchased the Lignell & Piispanen brand name (Lignell & Piispanen 2012b, 29). Leaders of successful family businesses quickly seize opportunities when needed (Miller & Le Breton-Miller 2003, 130).

This subcase not only confirms the importance of the role that the sacred values set by the founder played in the family company's survival through the critical period of its history, it also makes apparent that «the will for continuation», along with the «perception of the company as

a family business» are underlying cultural assumptions supporting the case company through-out its history. Indeed, a family business should, ideally, perceive itself as a family business (Sonfield & Lussier 2004, 190), and continuity, as a process of enduring and passionate com-mitment to propel the family business into future, is characteristic for successful long-living family businesses (Miller & Le Breton-Miller 2005, 32).

Mr. Nylund's vision for the company is for it to become truly international. After Finland joined the European Union in 1995, the government alcohol monopoly lost its production, import and export monopolies (Tigerstedt & Rosenqvist 1995, 91). Mr. Nylund says that it was a relief, since from that time the company can finally produce its products based on its own decisions, without being tied down by the government limits and orders. But, as Mr. Nylund also confirms, government alcohol retail monopoly remains a challenge, along with various restrictive laws and legislation, and heavy taxation (Nylund, interview). These continue to be a serious obstacle for the company's growth on the local market. Mr. Nylund, in order to ensure the family busi-ness future, picks up on the international vision of the founder, since Mr. Ranin's international focus fueled by the «open-mindedness» organizational value was the major force underlining the family business success in the first place. Indeed, in the words of the current managing director, «today it is wonderful to see how our company has continued his [Mr. Ranin's] work by taking great strides in an international direction» (Nylund 2012, 5). Mr. Nylund pushes the envelope in line with the present times. Since Mr. Nylund became the managing director of Lignell & Piispanen, the company extended its export reach to a number of destinations, in-cluding the Nordic and Baltic countries, with, for example, Lithuania being a significant market, along with Estonia, Norway and Sweden. German-speaking countries are also targets for ex-port, with such examples as Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Lignell & Piispanen 2014a, 67;

Lötjönen 2014). But, importantly, the company not only trades with culturally similar European countries (Food From Finland 2015) as it did in the past, but also engages with culturally dif-ferent Asian markets, successfully exporting its products to China, with Japan on the way to become a trade partner as well and South Korea seen as the next step (Lötjönen 2014; Food From Finland 2015; Malinen 2015; Nylund, interview). Mr. Nylund looks far in the future and believes that consequent step will be the distant North American market, including Canada and selected US states (Food From Finland 2015). The illustration 3 (see appendix 2 for case illus-trations) provides a look on one of the promotions abroad - in this case, the promotion takes place in Hong Kong in 2015 and Mr. Nylund is present himself to represent the company.

Gordon and DiTomaso (1992, 794) argue that one of the ways for a company to ensure its long-term survival is to develop strong organizational culture that is not only stable, but also encour-ages exploration. Given the cultural scope and geographical reach of the Lignell & Piispanen's current and future target markets, it is evident that «open-mindedness» sacred value, repre-sented in the will to take risks and pursue new markets, is alive and well. Miller and Le Breton-Miller (2003, 132-133) argue that long-term strategies contribute to family business survival.

«Long-term thinking» sacred value is also at play in the present example: in the words of Mr.

Nylund, the development of export requires perseverance, since the process can take years (Lö-tjönen 2014). It can be seen that the sacred value is still at work in the family business, since considerable amount of resources and time are being spent on the result that will come in the future.

«It is less about making profit now, even though that is important as well ... [ultimately] it is about stable growth. In five years, we want half of our revenue to come from export» (Nylund, interview).

In order to execute his international vision and meet global demand, Mr. Nylund opened a new Lignell & Piispanen facility in 2013, which represented one of the biggest investments in the family business history (Nylund, interview). The decision-making process and actions that fol-lowed show how sacred values and underlying assumptions, accordingly, influence and support the family business operations.