Where Does Competition Come From? The role of organization

Abstract

Although an ever-increasing number and types of organizations are expected to compete, the origins of competition have been a neglected topic. By assuming that competition simply emerges, organization theory currently lacks an understanding of when and why organizations compete. In this article we critically review and extend existing literatures on competition to offer an organizational theorization of the origins of competition. We argue that competition is the social construction of its four constitutive elements: actors, relationships, scarcity and desire. Furthermore, we show that three types of actors – those who compete, those who adjudicate the competition, and those who have an interest in creating competition – can construct competition independently or in concert. We also discuss different types of organized competition; the role of rankers, prize givers and other actors interested in creating competition; and competition as an unintended consequence of organization. Finally, we outline future research on competition and organization that follows from our conceptualization, along with some normative implications.

The growth of organisational professionals in tertiary educational institutions in New Zealand

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Design as redesign in the case of architectural competitions: the role of design visualisations and juries

“…Third, our study contributes to research on the organisation of competition. Arora-Jonsson, Brunsson, and Hasse (2020) argue that the overlap between competition and organisation is under-studied (p. 4). The architectural competition can be seen as an archetype of an organised competition and our case analysis illuminates this institution as it has evolved from an organisation based on anonymity to the present-day dialoguebased competition with face-to-face interactions between the client and competing design teams.…”

Moving Beyond Uber

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