Longevity factors of Polish companies

Aim of the project One of the key challenges in the area of strategic management is the definition of criteria survival of the company in the face of dynamic changes in the environment (Ben-Menahem et al. 2013; Geroski et al., 2010; Le Breton-Miller and Miller, 2006; Klepper, 2002). Identifying the factors that can ensure the longevity of companies (Galadanchi and Bakar, 2018) is therefore important in the context of various theories in management sciences (Napolitano et al., 2015). These factors are the subject of my postdoctoral research, including the analysis of literature, the development of a database of the oldest Polish companies, preliminary qualitative research and fundamental quantitative research. In the proposed preliminary research, as part of the MINIATURE competition, I intend to identify factors influencing the longevity of Polish companies. This research is exploratory, qualitative in nature, so a research question will be posed, while the end result will be research hypotheses for the main research (according to the inductive theory-building cycle of Eisenhardt (1988)). Identification of factors influencing longevity will allow to answer a broader research question: "What were the strategies of Polish companies allowing them to achieve longevity?". As part of the research procedure, 35 companies will be selected for the study, which constitutes approx. 10% of the population of long-lived companies (Pikos and Olejniczak, 2017). A company is considered long-lived if it has survived for at least 100 years (Sasaki and Sone, 2015). Sampling will be carried out on the basis of the principle of maximum heterogeneity (private, state-owned companies, from various industries, locations, family businesses). The study of 35 companies will allow for a statistically significant analysis of the results needed to construct the questionnaire. The source of the data will be in-depth interviews with company representatives. The interview scenario will be based on a research tool adapted to the Polish context (Tàpies, Moya, 2012). Data analysis will be performed using structured coding (Saldana, 2015) and MAXQDA qualitative data analysis software.

Expected impact The result of the study will be the identification of factors influencing longevity of Polish companies, which will enable further research. I also plan to use the collected material in planned articles that I intend to submit to high-ranking international journals.