Published: 2014-06-25
ISBN: 978-91-7519-280-2
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
Service design as a new market category has emerged quite rapidly since the first pioneers; live|work in 2001 and Engine 2002 started offering service design commercially and claimed the label. Since then; a service design field has developed; which features institutions such as the Service Design Network; Master courses at universities; and academic conferences. Recently; the success of service design attracts management consultancies; which include service design as part of their core offering. This represents a challenge for the pioneers; as modifications of the practice might lead to ambiguous meanings and hence the category as a whole can suffer from devaluation by audiences. As a consequence; the entire category is likely to turn into a fad. In order to prevent this from happening; pioneers have several strategic options at their disposal. In the following; we propose a research design; which suggests the theory of ‘Authentic Adaptation’; pioneers might react in drawing from their heritage; while also adapting to the new context.
Abrahamson; E. & L. Rosenkopf. (1993). Institutional and Competitive Bandwagons: Using
Mathematical Modeling as a Tool to Explore Innovation Diffusion. Academy of
Management Review; 18; 487-517.
Abrahamson; E. & G. Fairchild. (1999). Management fashion: Lifecycles; triggers; and
collective learning processes. Administrative Science Quarterly; 44; 708-740.
Berger; P. L.; & T. Luckmann. (1991). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of
knowledge. (10). Penguin UK
Clemens; E. S. & J M. Cook. (1999). Politics and Institutionalism: Explaining Durability and
Change. Annual Review of Sociology; 25:26.
Creswell; J. W.; V. L. P. Clark; M. L. Gutmann & W. E. Hanson. (2003). Advanced mixed
methods research designs. In Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.)Handbook of mixed methods in
social and behavioral research (pp. 209-240). Thousand Oaks; CA: Sage.
DiMaggio; P. & W. W. Powell. (1983). The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism
and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American Sociological Review; 48; 147-160.
Emirbayer; M. (1997). Manifesto for a Relational Sociology; American Journal of Sociology; 103;
281-317.
Glynn; M. A. & R. A. Abzug. (1998). Isormorphism and competitive differentiation in the
organizational name game. In J. A. C. Baum (Ed.). Greenwich Advances in Strategic
Management: Disciplinary Roots of Strategic Management Research (pp. 105-128). CT: JAI Press.
Hannan; Michael T. & John Freeman. (1977). The Population Ecology of Organizations.
American Journal of Sociology; 82; 929-96.
Hirsch; Paul M. (1986). From ambushes to golden parachutes: corporate takeovers as an
instance of cultural framing and institutional integration. American Journal of Sociology; 91;
800-37.
Hogg; M.A. & Deborah Terry. (2000). Social Identity and self-categorisation processes in
organisational contexts. Academy of Management Review; 25(1); 121-140.
Kennedy; M. T. (2008). Getting counted: Markets; media; and reality. American Sociological
Review; 73; 270-295.
Kennedy; M.T.; J. Lo; & M. Lounsbury. (2010). Category currency: The changing value of
conformity as a function of ongoing meaning construction. In M. Lounsbury (Ed.);
Research in the Sociology of Organisations; Bingley; UK: Emerald Books.
Ketchen; D. J.; C. C. Snow; and V. L. Hoover. (2004). Research on competitive dynamics:
Recent accomplishments and future challenges. Journal of Management; 30(6); 779-804.
King; B. G.; E. S. Clemens; and M. Fry. (2011). Identity realization and organizational forms:
Differentiation and consolidation of identities among Arizona’s charter schools.
Organization Science; 22; 554-572.
Kirchbeger; E.-M (2013). Authentic Adaptation as a Way out? PowerPoint Presentation at Early
Stage PhD Review. Imperial College Business School; London; UK.
Meyer; J. W. and B. Rowan. (1977). Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as
Myth and Ceremony. American Sociological Review; 83; 340-363.
Lounsbury; M. and M. A. Glynn. (2001). Cultural Entrepreneurship: Stories; legitimacy and
the acquisition of resources. Strategic Management Journal; 22; 545-564.
Mische; A. (2011). Relational Sociology; Culture; and Agency. In J. Scott and P. Carrington (EDS.);
Handbook of Network Analysis (pp.80-97); New York: Sage.
Mohr; J. W. (1998). Measuring Meaning Structures. Annual Review of Sociology; 24; 345-370.
Navis; C. & M. A. Glynn. (2010). How New Market Categories Emerge: Temporal
Dynamics of Legitimacy; Identity; and Entrepreneurship in Satellite Radio; 1990–2005.
Administrative Science Quarterly; 55; 439-471.
Pontikes; E. G. (2012). Two Sides of the Same Coin: How Ambiguous Classification Affects
Multiple Audiences’ Evaluations. Administrative Science Quarterly; 57; 81-118.
Porac; J. F.; H. Thomas; F. Wilson; D. Paton; and A. Kanfer. (1995). Rivalry and the industry
model of Scottish knitwear producers. Administrative Science Quarterly; 40; 203-227.
Rogers; E. M. (1995). Diffusion of innovations. New York; The Free Press.
Segelstroem; F. (2013). Stakeholder Engagement for Service Design. Unpublished Thesis.
Stigliani; I. and B. Tether. (2012). Building a new field: How an emerging category becomes meaningful
and legitimate. Unpublished.
Suchman; M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy
of Management Review; (20); 571-610.
Tilly; C. (1998). Durable inequality. Berkeley; CA: University of California Press.
Tolbert; P. S. and L. G. Zucker. (1983). Institutional Sources of Change in the Formal
Structure of Organizations: The Diffusion of Civil Service Reform; 1880-1935.
Administrative Science Quarterly; 28; 22-39.
Weick; K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
White; H. C. (1981). Where Do Markets Come From? American Journal of Sociology; 87; 517-547.
Zuckerman; E. W. (1999). The categorical imperative: securities analysts and the illegitimacy
discount. American Journal of Sociology; 104; 1398-438.
