Steven J. Kahl

• Professor (Associate) at Dartmouth College

Scholars have primarily focused on how language represents categories. We move beyond this conception to develop a discursive perspective of market categorization focused on how categories are constructed through communicative exchanges. The discursive perspective points to three under-researched mechanisms of category evolution: (1) the interactio...

This dialog examines the role that trade associations play in influencing the cognitive interpretations that develop within markets. It identifies how trade associations can enable cognition by providing a space for discourse as well as influence its outcome by playing an active role in the unfolding discourse. Taking account of trade associations...

This paper examines how occupational groups survive the introduction of a new technology and associated jurisdictional changes. We draw on a comparative historical analysis of two occupational associations'-systems men and production planners-efforts to frame their evolving tasks and relate to other occupations after the introduction of the compute...

This paper uses multi-level discourse analysis to advance strategic management research, focusing on the question of why firms fail in the face of radical technological change. Answering this question requires addressing how customers develop their interpretations and evaluation criteria of the new technology. This interpretive process occurs throu...

Market participants form conceptualizations of the products exchanged within product markets. Strategy scholars have begun to investigate how these product conceptual systems influence firm strategic behavior. Much of this work characterize these concepts as categories and theorize that the strategic implications derive from the potential penalties...

Recently, Helfat and Winter (2011) proposed the existence of dual-purpose capabilities that can be used for both operational and dynamic purposes. This paper provides an empirical documentation of dual-purpose capabilities through the examination of how one such capability-production planning-developed. The historical analysis reveals that much of...

This panel symposium brings together a set of prominent scholars to discuss recent theoretical developments at the intersection of industry evolution and categorical dynamics. Technology scholars have long studied industry evolution and technological designs. More recently, organizational theorists have begun to explore the role of categories in in...

Learning from negative outcomes is of fundamental interest to scholars. Yet most research in this area explores learning from actual outcomes. By contrast, we add to the literature by setting forth a theoretical framework that highlights learning from the anticipation of negative outcomes rather than actual outcomes. Using an inductive, multiple ca...

Services of different types have become increasingly important for product firms. While these firms mainly focus on products, managers and researchers lack a comprehensive framework to understand when to make significant investments in particular kinds of services. We identify three categories of product-related services from a product firm – smoot...

Services of different types have become increasingly important for product firms. While these firms mainly focus on products, managers and researchers lack a comprehensive framework to understand when to make significant investments in particular kinds of services. We identify three categories of product-related services from a product firm – smoot...

Schemas are a central concept in strategy and organization theory. Yet, despite the importance of schemas, little is known about how they emerge. Our in-depth historical analysis of how groups in the life insurance industry developed their schema for the computer from 1945–1975 addresses this gap. We identify three key processes—assimilation, decon...

Some product firms increasingly rely on service revenues as part of their business models. One possible explanation is that they turn to services to generate additional profits when their product industries mature and product revenues and profits decline. We explore this assumption by examining the role of services in the financial performance of f...

Purpose – The broader aim of this research is twofold. First, we aim to better understand how the business computer was conceptualized and used within U.S. industry. Second, this research investigates the role of social factors such as relational structure, institutional entrepreneurs, and position in the formation of conceptualizations of new tech...

Purpose – This chapter is intended to identify the actual and potential linkages between history and strategy research. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on examples from research at the intersection of history and strategy, we identify research topics that have received attention from a historical-strategy lens, and those that are thus far und...

Some product firms increasingly rely on service revenues as part of their business models. One possible explanation is that they turn to services to generate additional profits when their product industries mature and product revenues and profits decline. We explore this assumption by examining the role of services in the financial performance of f...