The Price of Admission: Organizational Deference as Strategic Behavior

58 Pages Posted: 1 Oct 2016 Last revised: 10 Nov 2016

See all articles by Julien Jourdan

Julien Jourdan

HEC Paris

Rodolphe Durand

HEC Paris - Strategy & Business Policy

Patricia Thornton

Duke University

Date Written: September 1, 2016

Abstract

Why would market organizations engage in symbolic and material acts conveying appreciation and respect to other organizations that confirm their inferior position in an established hierarchy? Deference, we argue, is the price outsider organizations pay to pass categorical and symbolic boundaries, and gain acceptance in contexts where insiders regard them as impure. Because not all organizations can or are willing to pay the price, deference varies according to positional, dispositional, and interactional characteristics. We examine and find support for the view of organizational deference as strategic behavior using empirical evidence on market finance organizations investing in film production in France over two decades. Our analysis expands research on non-conflictual interactions and symbolic boundaries in market settings.

Keywords: deference, symbolic boundaries, strategic management, organizations

Suggested Citation

Jourdan, Julien and Durand, Rodolphe and Thornton, Patricia, The Price of Admission: Organizational Deference as Strategic Behavior (September 1, 2016). AJS, Forthcoming, HEC Paris Research Paper No. SPE-2016-1174, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2845785

Julien Jourdan (Contact Author)

HEC Paris ( email )

1 rue de la Liberation
Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, 78351
France

Rodolphe Durand

HEC Paris - Strategy & Business Policy ( email )

Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, 78351
France

Patricia Thornton

Duke University ( email )

100 Fuqua Drive
Durham, NC 27708-0204
United States

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