A home in the ocean: how identity shapes social purpose in a small family business

This paper examines how organizational identity evolves to sustain social purpose in long-lived family firms. Drawing on an online ethnographic case study of Peter Café Sport – a century-old maritime family business in the Azores – we trace how founding narratives, legacy-based commitments, and deep relational networks shaped responses during the COVID-19 crisis. Our findings show that organizational identity, often viewed as a stabilizing force, can also be a generative resource for adaptive action, promoting the balance between social and economic logics even in times of disruption. We demonstrate that the founder’s social involvement not only persists but can be reactivated decades after inception, enabling the reaffirmation of the firm’s enduring role as a community anchor. By explaining how hybrid economic – social logics sustain across organizational life stages, the study advances understanding of social entrepreneurship in crisis, emphasizing the role of family organizational identity beyond start-up contexts, and deepens insight into how small family enterprises preserve and reinterpret their social mission over time.