Work

Competing Through Categorization: Product- and Audience-Centric Strategies in an Evolving Categorical Structure

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: We investigate how and why competing organizations position their similar products in categories of varying status. We studied the paired longitudinal case of the highly publicized contest between ESSEC and HEC, two French business schools, as they sought to position their core Grande Ecole program in the evolving international business education categorical structure. We conceptualize categorization as a competitive, relational process involving multiple actors and producing various meanings and perceptions. Our study (a) highlights the role of anticipated category status spillovers versus anticipated relative status within a category in producers’ entry decisions; (b) contrasts product- and audience-centric categorization strategies; and (c) shows the role of intermediaries in adjudicating categorization contests.

Source: Organization Studies

DOI: 10.1177/0170840618772597

Authors: Farah Kodeih, Hamid Bouchikhi, Valérie Gauthier

Institutions: Aalto University, École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales, HEC Paris

Language: English

Topic: Management and Organizational Studies

Subfield: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900

Funder: Aalto-Yliopisto