I want to break free! On the general importance, cognitive mechanisms, and field strategies behind category avoidance
Final Report Abstract
For this project, I conducted three studies interconnected studies on the topic of strategic category avoidance, scrutinizing (1) its necessity, (2) practical implementation by organizations in the field, and (3) socio-cognitive underpinnings. In the first study, I aimed to emphasize the general importance of categorization, to highlight why strategic action in this space may be necessary at all. Through a replication and extension of a foundation study on category spanning, I demonstrated that strategies of categorizing individuals, organizations, or products are highly dependent on which categories are spanned, who the evaluating audience is, and in which contemporary context the categorization takes place. Still, overall, categorization clearly matter. In the second study, I studied in the field how organizations deploy and apply practices of category avoidance. I developed an inductive-qualitative process model in which I outlined two primary lines of action through which the sharing economy firm Uber utilized strategies of cultural entrepreneurship to circumvent unfavorable categorization. In the third study, I examined category avoidance from a socio-cognitive perspective. Here, I theorized about a maneuver through which economic actors may successfully and credibly transition between categories. Specifically, I showed that substantial transformation of physical appearance may enhance movie actors’ attempts to engage in categories different that those with which they are mainly associated by their audience. While still in progress, through this projects, I eventually hope to present substantial extensions to academic debates around strategic categorization in the leading academic journals and the intersection between management (organization theory and strategy) and sociology (organizational and economic sociology).
Publications
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Generalists vs. Specialists Then and Now: A Narrow and Quasi-Replication of Hsu (2006), Strategic Management Society 41st Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada 2021.
Xu, X.
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I Want to Break Free: Using Masked Defection to Escape Typecasts in the Movie Industry, Seminar Series, London Business School, Strategy & Entrepreneurship Department, Virtual, January 2022
Xu, X., Mazloomi, H., Alexy, O. & Aksoy-Yurdagul, D.
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Sitting It Out: Overcoming Illegitimacy Through Practices of Cultural Entrepreneurship at Uber, 82nd Academy of Management Meeting 2022, Seattle, USA August 2022.
Xu, X.
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Sitting It Out: Overcoming Illegitimacy Through Practices of Cultural Entrepreneurship at Uber, Seminar Series, University of St. Gallen, Institute for Management, St. Gallen, Switzerland, May 2022
Xu, X. & Alexy, O.
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Sitting It Out: Overcoming Illegitimacy Through Practices of Cultural Entrepreneurship at Uber. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2022(1).
Xu, Xian
