We examine the changes had in the Brazilian airline industry in the 1970-2005 period. Our study covers three firms, Varig, Tam and Gol, the market leaders during the relevant period. Our theoretical framework is an unorthodox combination involving the concepts of discourse and narrative, nostalgia and organizational memory, strategic commitment and the resource-based view (RBV). We show how certain discourses associated with dominant rationales are formed, and how these rationales, in turn, condition the definition of business models and the use of strategic skills and resources. We also show that those discourses are aligned with organizational memory, foster nostalgia, and encourage organizational inertia, hampering adaptive change processes and transforming the set of resources new market dynamics require.
discourse analysis; strategy; organizational change; airline industry
