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Toward a Social Practice Theory of Relational Competing

Jarzabkowski, P. & Bednarek, R. (2018). Toward a Social Practice Theory of Relational Competing. Strategic Management Journal, 39(3), pp. 794-829. doi: 10.1002/smj.2724

Abstract

This paper brings together the competitive dynamics and strategy-aspractice literatures to investigate relational competition. Drawing on a global ethnography of the reinsurance market, we develop the concept of micro-competitions, which are the focus of competitors’ everyday competitive practices. We find variation in relational or rivalrous competition by individual competitors across the phases of a micro-competition, between competitors within a micro-competition, and across multiple micro-competitions. These variations arise from the interplay between the unfolding competitive arena and the implementation of each firm’s strategic portfolio. We develop a conceptual framework that makes four contributions to: relational competition; reconceptualizing action and response; elaborating on the awareness-motivation-capability framework within competitive dynamics; and the recursive dynamic by which implementing strategy inside firms shapes, and is shaped by, the competitive arena.

Publication Type: Article
Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Jarzabkowski, P. & Bednarek, R. (2018). Toward a Social Practice Theory of Relational Competing. Strategic Management Journal, 39(3), pp. 794-829, which is published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2724. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
H Social Sciences > HG Finance
Departments: Bayes Business School > Management
SWORD Depositor:
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