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optimal distinctiveness: past approaches, theoretical integration and future research agenda

Organizers

Eric Yanfei Zhao (Indiana U.)

Jae Kyung Ha (Boston U.)

Participants

Gino Cattani (New York U.)

David Deephouse (U. of Alberta)

Rodolphe Durand (HEC Paris)

Amir Goldberg (Stanford U.)

Oliver Hahl (Carnegie Mellon U.)

Brayden King (Northwestern U.)

Rory McDonald (Harvard)

Ming Leung (UC Berkeley)

Michael Lounsbury (U. of Alberta)

Joseph Porac (New York U.)

Wendy Smith (U. of Delaware)

Program Information

Program Session: 318 | Submission: 11069 | Sponsor(s): (OMT, BPS, TIM)

Scheduled: Saturday, Aug 5 2017 10:45AM - 12:45PM at

Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Marquis M301

Registration

This PDW is composed of two rounds of plenary sessions and a round table discussion.

We do not require a formal registration. However, for a more prepared discussion at the roundtable and a more targeted feedback from our distinguished panelists, we encourage you to send us a brief summary (max. 1-2 page) of your research idea related to optimal distinctiveness to ericzhao@indiana.edu before July 15, 2017.

For those of you who are interested in participating but not ready to submit a brief summary, we strongly encourage you to simply let us know which topic of the round table discussion (listed below) you are most interested in to ericzhao@indiana.edu before July 22, 2017. This will help us convey your interest to our round table discussion leaders.

Table 1: Institutions and Organizational Identity

Table 2: OD and Social Movement

Table 3: OD and Labor Markets

Table 4: OD and Differentiation Strategy

Table 5: OD in Nascent Markets

Table 6: OD and Stakeholder Multiplicity.

For more information regarding the structure of the PDW, please visit www.ericzhao.org. 

Abstract

Organizations constantly face the competing pressures to be both "similar to" and "different from" their peers. To reconcile the competing pressures of conformity versus differentiation, organizations need to engage in strategies that achieve optimal distinctiveness (OD). Through this PDW, we aim to systematically flesh out the various theoretical perspectives in past research, unpack the underlying mechanisms driving OD, evaluate each perspective's strengths, weaknesses and connections, and more importantly, point to directions for future research. The PDW will begin with a short introduction to the session, providing a background and setting the agenda. An opening plenary panel will follow, where five scholars from varied background and expertise will each reflect on their understandings of OD and how it is embedded in their own research. Following the first panel, we will have break-out roundtable sessions. The tables will each start with a provisional discussion topic, and participants will be encouraged to share their own ideas regarding how their research is related to the topic and how they could envision building a research program around OD. Finally, all participants will reconvene for a closing plenary panel that seeks to extend OD research with a broader array of topics. Six new scholars on the closing panel represent some of the most contemporary topics of research related to OD. These scholars will offer insight about how the notion of OD could inform and be informed by these emerging and growing areas of research.