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Discursive strategies and radical technological change: Multilevel discourse analysis of the early computer (1947–1958)
Author(s) -
Kahl Steven J.,
Grodal Stine
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.2453
Subject(s) - ibm , discourse analysis , sociology , technological change , face (sociological concept) , process (computing) , marketing , epistemology , business , linguistics , computer science , social science , artificial intelligence , philosophy , materials science , nanotechnology , operating system
Research summary : This paper uses multilevel 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 through discussions with other market participants. Firms can influence customers' interpretations through the use of language and visual images—what we call “discursive strategies.” Firms can fail to navigate technological disruptions because their discursive strategies do not communicate effectively with customers. Yet, methodological limitations have restricted the study of discursive strategies. We draw on multilevel discourse analysis and apply this method to explain why IBM outperformed Remington Rand in the early insurance market for computers . Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.