Mafia firm reputation is inseparable from the identity of its current boss

Evidence

In the mafia, by contrast, the reputation of a firm often depends on customers’ knowing who occupies the key positions and seldom, at least in Sicily, reaches a point where the name of a family generates credibility irrespective of who carries it. The name of a family is also the name of its head. As Buscetta explained in court, “The Inzerillo family still exists, but it changed its name. It is no longer Inzerillo; the head of the family is Buscemi” (TB-GdS, April 6, 1986). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 168

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with institutionalized brand reputation that survives personnel turnover — connects to Gambetta’s broader argument that the mafia is a business firm whose ‘product’ is protection.