The strategic legacy of company founders

The key aims of this article are (1) to explore the relationship between th e vision and strategy of an organizational founder and the strategy of subs equent managements, and (2) to analyse the potential effects (if any) betwe en the founding vision and current company strategy. This article details a review of literature which discusses the crucial role of founders in shapi ng the culture and strategy of their businesses and the importance of strat egic vision in guiding the direction of the organization. A case study of t wo UK retailing companies finds that the organizational founder of both com panies had created a strategic legacy. Such a founding legacy was found to be either negative (a 'strategic hangover') or positive (a 'strategic divid end'). These findings offer several new insights and identify important dir ections for executives and scholars in addressing issues of management choi ce and environmental influence. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.