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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Strategic Management of Culturally Embedded Resources.

The Strategic Management of Culturally Embedded Resources.

Maurer, Ralph Emmett

Paperback

Accounting

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ISBN10: 1243563656
ISBN13: 9781243563651
Publisher: Proquest Umi Dissertation Pub
Pages: 156
Weight: 0.64
Height: 0.33 Width: 7.44 Depth: 9.69
Language: English
This dissertation examines how firms manage the use of resources that also function as cultural icons. These resources, which I term culturally embedded resources, traditionally are associated with competitive advantages such as improved market share, customer loyalty, and firm status. Firms that possess these resources, however, also are subject to considerable constraint that stems largely from the perceived need to maintain temporal continuity with past uses of the resource (e.g., new Mini automobiles must evoke past versions). Even while innovating, firms seek to preserve the cultural meaning and historical essence of the resource. We know very little, however, about the particular organizational processes by which this is accomplished. I address this gap through an inductive, qualitative, multi-case study of the development of feature films based on intellectual property originating in the comic book industry. Many comic book characters have a well-accepted iconic cultural status and are economically consequential resources, generating large licensing revenues in a variety of media. I chose feature films as my particular lens because films have the largest perceived effect (to the owning firms) on the long-term economic health of the characters. My data consist of ethnographic interviews with executives, directors, editors, producers, and writers, along with substantial archival material surrounding six film franchises (fifteen total films). My findings show how the multiple constituencies that are vested in the fate of the source material (e.g., fans, filmmakers, investors) gently push the films in different directions. I identify particular processes by which owning firms skillfully 'shepherd' resources through these competing influences and preserve their iconic status. When these processes are not employed, long-term negative impacts on the resource's financial viability can occur, even when short-term financial gains are achieved. These findings enhance our understanding of cultural industries, innovation under constraint, and the management of especially valuable and inimitable firm resources.

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