*Apologies for cross-posting
Optimal Distinctiveness: Comparing and Bridging Macro and Micro Perspectives
Scheduled: Friday, Aug 9 2019 8:00AM - 9:30AM at Boston Hynes Convention Center in 208
Organizer: Eric Y.-F. Zhao, Indiana U., Bloomington
Organizer: Jae Ha, EMLYON Business School
Panelist: Noah Askin, INSEAD
Panelist: David Deephouse, U. of Alberta
Distinguished Speaker: Rodolphe Durand, HEC Paris
Panelist: Stine Grodal, Boston U.
Distinguished Speaker: Geoffrey Leonardelli, U. of Toronto
Panelist: Michael Lounsbury, U. of Alberta
Panelist: Margaret Ormiston, George Washington U.
Panelist: Cynthia Pickett, UC Davis
Panelist: Kimberly Rios, Ohio U.
Panelist: Wendy K. Smith, U. of Delaware
Panelist: Filippo Carlo Wezel, USI Lugano
Panelist: Ezra Zuckerman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Organizations constantly face the competing pressures to be both "similar to" and "different from" their peers (Deephouse, 1999; Durand & Calori, 2006). Conformity helps organizations gain legitimacy and avoid performance penalties associated with deviance from existing norms, expectations, and practices (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). Differentiation allows organizations to stand out from the crowd, establish unique competitive positions, and gain competitive advantage (Helfat et al., 2007). To reconcile the competing pressures of conformity versus differentiation, organizations need to engage in strategies that achieve optimal distinctiveness (OD). Building on and extending the first two annual PDWs on Optimal Distinctiveness organized at the AOM 2017 and 2018, the theme of this year's PDW is centered around juxtaposing and bridging the micro and macro perspectives on OD. Our goal is to stimulate some interesting discussions (even debates) between these two sides who have rarely talked with each other up to this point, and ultimately generating some specific research questions that scholars on both sides could start engaging.
Registration is not required. Everybody is welcome to attend. Please add our PDW to your online program!------------------------------
Jae Ha
EMLYON Business School
Ecully, France
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