סמינר בהתנהגות ארגונית

הסמינר ינתן ע"י ד"ר מיקי אייזנמן האוניברסיטה העברית

Abstract

The paper advances research on aesthetic innovation, the strategic use of aesthetic design attributes such as color and shape. It integrates the theoretical mechanisms underlying increased aesthetic innovation in the context of technologically stable industries. Specifically, the paper argues that aesthetic innovations are likely to be more prevalent in mature market settings. Further, aesthetic innovations are impactful when users have shared understandings about the meanings of aesthetic attributes. Such shared meanings are established when firms and cultural agents, such as journalists, describe firms’ design choices using emotional and sensual language which link these choices to various symbolic meanings. The paper examines these ideas by content analyzing pictures of personal computers as well as various texts about these machines. Results suggest that aesthetic innovations were more prominent when growth slowed in the Personal Computer industry. Further, results show that various types of firms engaged in aesthetic innovation. Also, the paper shows that cultural agents engage in the production of aesthetic discourse to a greater extent than firms and that this increased linguistic activity about aesthetic attributes occurs alongside reduced linguistic activity about institutionalized aspects of technology. As such, results articulate a field-level mechanism in which firms pursue aesthetic innovations and cultural agents work to create meanings that enable firms to realize the potential benefits of these innovations.