Revisiting the promise of the Strategy-as-Practice perspective for family business research

In the inaugural issue of the Journal of Family Business Strategy , Mattias Nordqvist and Leif Melin argued for the benefit of a ‘Strategy-as-Practice’ perspective for family business strategy research (Nordqvist & Melin, 2010). In this paper, we draw upon a contemporary conversation with Professor Leif Melin, to purposefully revisit and reflect on this promise. What was the promise, has it come to pass, and what might the future hold? Following the conversation with Leif, considered one of the founding fathers of this research stream, we review and discuss extant literature that has applied a practice theory perspective to family business. We call attention to practice theory approaches for the family business community and illustrate the benefits of researching family businesses with practice theory perspectives. Having taken stock, we then suggest research opportunities to further advance this avenue. Finally, we reflect on the past, present, and future of researching family practices to continue the advancement of family business strategy research led by this journal over the past 15 years.