How Assemblages Change When Theories Become Performative: The case of the Blue Ocean Strategy

Abstract

Assemblages are the actors, artefacts or practices that are intertwined with and co-produce theories. Despite being at the core of the performativity process, assemblages have been overlooked in recent performativity studies. Thus, this study examines how assemblages are changed by theories during performativity. It builds on the case of the historical development of the Blue Ocean Strategy: a management theory that proposes the creation of new market spaces, rather than competing within existing ones. The study shows a process model in which the theory changes the assemblages that change reality and enlarges its scope in turn. It offers implications both for performativity and for practice.

Theorizing Institutional Entrepreneuring: Arborescent and rhizomatic assembling

“…We provide such a grounding by drawing on assemblage theory, a unique social ontology first developed by Deleuze and Guattari (1987). Recently, there has been a surge of interest in assemblage theory within organization studies, discernible in areas such as performativity (Carton, 2020), organizational routines (D'Adderio & Pollock, 2014;Glaser, 2017), technology (Glaser, Pollock, & D'Adderio, 2021;Orlikowski & Scott, 2008), and institutional change (Välikangas & Carlsen, 2020). However, scholars have overlooked what we see as its most consequential contribution: the introduction of two ideal-typical modes of assembling actorhood-namely, arborescent and rhizomatic.…”

Turning Back the Rising Sea: Theory performativity in the shift from climate science to popular authority

“…Our first contribution expands on recent developments in the literature on theory performativity (Callon, 2017;Carton, 2020;Martí & Gond, 2018). Following the translation process of climate science into a local controversy allows us to unpack the constitution of power as it shapes theory performativity.…”

Financial Reporting as a Source of Innovation-Relevant Competitive Intelligence

“…Future work in the field also needs to take cognizance of alternative conceptualizations of business strategy. For example, Carton [52] (p. 4) explains that the blue ocean strategy "aims at breaking with the logic of the competitive strategy" so that "boundaries and industry structures are not given and can be reconstructed based on the actions and beliefs of industry players". Our work shows that intelligence derived from the financial reporting system can support the development of blue ocean strategy analytical frameworks.…”

“…For example, Gilad [21] (p. 1) observes that "popular literature is filled with definitions and images of competitive intelligence taken from the realm of the government and the military" so that the field becomes focused "on competitors ("the enemy" in military parlance) instead of the market as a whole-the entire competitive arena". Taken in conjunction with the broader concept of blue ocean strategy [52] and the proliferation of alliances [53], the message for researchers and practitioners at the interface of financial reporting and competitive intelligence is clear: work in this field needs to be fully cognizant of opportunities for financial reporting to contribute in a variety of non-traditional business strategies and within a wide range of organizational and industrial structures.…”