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The selves of individuals abhor vacuums and find themselves constituting identities with which to fill them. Such identities are either conferred by others or chosen by the agents themselves and cultivated and processed and presented. The processing of identities is best described by using Kenneth Burke's dramatistic grammar. He asked, “What is involved when we ask what a man is doing and why he is doing it?” and he answered that the individual will be performing an act as an agent by using one agency or another in defined scenes while displaying one attitude or another, in order to fulfill one purpose or another. In the current essay, these Burkean arguments are applied to the constitution; the processing (that is, choosing one among the multiple identities that an agent bears); and the performing of an identity. It is claimed that identities are constituted in one way or another and performed by processing them according to the Burkean grammar. Identities are not ways of being but ways of doing, by taking one road rather than another.

Family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent a substantial part of many economies. In these organizations, close and informal relationships between employers and employees often foster a mutual understanding of each other’s needs, facilitating the negotiation of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals), special employment conditions tailored for individual employees. However, research on how i-deals are negotiated in family SMEs, especially regarding power dynamics and influence, remains limited. This study aims to identify the types of i-deals negotiated in family SMEs and explore the role of power and influence in these negotiations.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 employees and 15 employers from Spanish family SMEs. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti 8, and thematic analysis was performed.

The study concludes that task, flexibility, financial and development i-deals are particularly negotiated in family SMEs. It identifies that referent and expert power play an important role in initiating these negotiations. Furthermore, rational tactics are generally employed for negotiating work performance, soft tactics for employment-related aspects and hard tactics for work flexibility. Additionally, the study identified gender differences in the negotiation of i-deals.

This study enhances i-deal literature by highlighting the distinct characteristics of family SMEs and their impact on i-deal negotiations. The findings suggest that power dynamics and influence tactics in family SMEs differ from those in larger firms. Moreover, certain i-deals may encounter resistance due to concerns about organizational performance and economic implications. Understanding these factors is essential for developing effective negotiation strategies in family SMEs.

This study offers a dual perspective, analyzing the power and influence tactics used by both employees and employers in family SME i-deal negotiations and highlighting gendered dynamics in these processes.