Elena Dalpiaz

A Cultural Quest: A Study of Organizational Use of New Cultural Resources in Strategy Formation

Our study was motivated by the growing influence in cultural sociology and organizational research of the view of culture as a “toolkit,” from which individuals draw resources flexibly to develop strategies of action that address different circumstances. To investigate if and how organizations can also use new and diverse cultural resources, we undertook a historical case study of the incorporation of new cultural resources in the cultural repertoire of the Italian manufacturer of household products Alessi. Through in-depth analysis of four rounds of incorporation of new cultural resources, we develop a robust theoretical model that relates the use of new cultural resources to the development of unconventional strategies and strategic versatility. We find that cultural repertoire enrichment and organizational identity redefinition are two core mechanisms that facilitate this process. The model contributes novel theoretical understanding regarding the use of cultural resources in strategy formation and change.

Succession Narratives in Family Business: The Case of Alessi

One of the most significant challenges facing family firms is how to successfully manage succession from one generation of leaders to the next. In this paper, we contribute to existing understandings of this complex and difficult process by exploring how successors use family business succession narratives to legitimate their succession. Building on a case study of Alessi, a family–owned Italian design firm, we draw on the literature on organizational narratives to develop a framework for understanding family business succession narratives and present a typology of some of the narrative strategies that can be used during succession. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical ramifications of a narrative view of succession in family firms.

The cultural side of value creation

The question of how organizations create value has become a central question for understanding inter-firm competition and performance differentials (e.g. Coff, 2010; Lepak et al., 2007; Makadok and Coff, 2002; Nickerson et al., 2007). Much of the work on the topic emphasizes the importance of technological innovation for improving operational efficiency and/or product functionality (Adner and Kapoor, 2010; Brown and Eisenhardt, 1995; Tushman and Anderson, 1986). Accordingly, much of the work in the area has focused on understanding the development of technological capabilities (Helfat and Raubitschek, 2000) and the dynamics of competition among different technologies (Henderson and Clark, 1990; Tushman and Anderson, 1986). Whereas this line of research has contributed greatly to our understanding of value creation through technology performance improvement, it has also left unexplored the strategies for differentiating products on the basis of their cultural significance. Yet, research in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from anthropology, to cultural sociology, and consumer behaviour, shows that consumers value products not only for their functional and technical performance, but also for their cultural meanings. The infusion of products with cultural meanings enables consumers to use these products to make statements about their personal and social identity and status. It is therefore well understood that consumers derive value not only from what products do (functional value), but also from what they signify in a given social group (symbolic value). Importantly, consumers pay premium prices for products that enable them to signal status and identity (Lawrence and Phillips, 2002; Ravasi and Rindova, 2008). While strategy scholars recognize that product meanings are a source of differentiation and generate price premiums (Porter, 1980), they also tend to view the activities that generate them – e.g. branding – as a part of the marketing strategy of the firm. More generally, strategy research has been criticized for its reluctance to delve into the demand side of value creation (see Priem, 2007). Rooted in disciplinary assumptions about atomistic consumers with idiosyncratic preferences, strategy researchers view demand as largely exogenous (Frenzen et al., 1994) and ignore its cultural embeddedness in social conventions that define the cultural meanings of objects and shape 452824 SOQ10310.1177/1476127012452824Ravasi et al.Strategic Organization 2012

Combining Logics to Transform Organizational Agency Blending Industry and Art at Alessi

To understand how organizations combine conflicting institutional logics strategically to create and pursue new market opportunities, we conducted an in-depth longitudinal study of the multiple efforts of the Italian manufacturer of household goods Alessi to combine the logics of industrial manufacturing and cultural production. Over three decades, Alessi developed three different strategies to combine normative elements of the two logics, using each strategy to envision and pursue different market opportunities. By combining the logics of industrial manufacturing and cultural production, Alessi was able to envision new possibilities for value creation and to enact them through innovation in product design. The three strategies triggered a common set of mechanisms through which the purposeful combining of logics enabled the pursuit of opportunity, while each strategy structured the process differently. We develop a theoretical model linking the development of recombinant strategies to the dynamic restructuring of organizational agency and the related capacity to create and pursue new market opportunities. Our findings and theoretical insights advance understanding of the processes through which organizations challenge taken-for-granted beliefs and practices to create new market opportunities, use logics as resources to enable embedded agency, and design hybrid organizational arrangements.

Where strategy meets culture: The neglected role of cultural and symbolic resources in strategy research

In this paper, we discuss how “cultural capital” and “symbolic capital,” understood as specialized subsets of intangible resources and capabilities, enable firms to achieve valuable strategic positions in ways that are currently underexplored by mainstream strategy literature. We articulate the similarities and differences between cultural and symbolic capital and the intangible assets that have been the focus of mainstream strategy researchers, such as intellectual, social, and reputational capital. Our theoretical arguments build on insights from a number of studies conducted primarily in non-North American settings that have shown how symbolic properties of products create value. We conclude by delineating future avenues of research that strategy scholarship should consider in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships between intangible resources and capabilities, and value creation.