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Emory University  Goizueta Business School  Organization & Management : Term Chair

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Organizational Failure and Intraprofessional Status Loss

Category Signaling and Reputation

Resource Partitioning and the Organizational Dynamics of “Fringe Banking”

Challenger Groups, Commercial Organizations, and Policy Enactment: Local Lesbian/Gay Rights Ordinances in the United States from 1972 to 2008

Hybrids in Hollywood: a study of the production and performance of genre-spanning films

Giacomo Negro is a professor of organization and management at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. He holds a PhD in management from Bocconi University where he also received a Laurea degree in economics and business. He recently published the book Wine Markets: Genres and Identities. According to Fortune, in 2020, the global wine market was valued at nearly $349 billion dollars. By 2028, it’s expected to grow exponentially – topping $450 billion. Wine market identities and genres play a key role in shaping the industry. Giacomo joined The Goizueta Effect Podcast to discuss the core audiences that impact how producers make and sell wine – and how wine communities react to evolving trends, like mixing genres. He also shed light on how organic and biodynamic farming are changing the way wine is produced and evaluated.  What are Wine Genres and What Features Define Them? Wine has incredible diversity with hundreds of thousands of labels in the market introduced every year. Whether you are a producer or consumer, genres are useful in understanding and communicating about wine. They also affect how wines get interpreted, evaluated, and valued in the market – and serve as the building blocks of the collective market identities of producers.   Key genre-defining feature may include region, grape, vintage, producer, effervescence, and source materials, among others.   The Important Role of Terroir Terroir is the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate. Terroir can be a source of competitive advantage in the market to the extent that it identifies a unique place, both geographical and cultural, that is not possible to replicate or imitate. While locations are vital to the notion of terroir, the concept also includes the people that work in and inhabit these places and the history of the culture.   What are Market Identities of Wine and Why Do They Matter? Market identities are different from brands. The two concepts are interconnected, but separate. A brand is created by a producer or an agency, while a market identity is attributed to a producer by an audience. A brand is fungible and can be purchased and sold, whereas a market identity cannot. Market identities are a sociological concept that the audience controls.   Who are Key Audiences in the Wine Market? When referring to audience in the wine market, we are referring to those individuals and groups who screen and evaluate the products and services available. Several audiences have decisive influence including consumers, producers, and market intermediaries such as critics and retailers. State authorities also influence the market dictating rules of production.    The Important Role of Intermediaries With producers changing practices all the time in response to shifts in climatic conditions and technical developments, wine is constantly changing. Without a base, wine quality can only be accessed accurately through consumption.   Intermediaries have significant influence on these matters, especially for fine wine that requires more interpretation and more knowledge to be understood.  One role that critics play is gatekeeping by narrowing the field of wines from hundreds of thousands to the top picks. Critics are also able to better evaluate features such as terroir with complex social context that require expert knowledge to decode.   The Reaction of Communities to Shifting Wine Genres  In cognitive psychology, people like and value objects that fit in their conceptual distinctions. More typical objects are valued more positively than atypical ones which is dependent on cognitive fluency; an experience with an object or situation is fluent for someone if they have to exert little cognitive effort in understanding and interpreting that object or situation.  Similar to the outrage of certain fans when Bob Dylan began using an electric guitar, new wine genres or the mixing of genres can generate great uncertainty.   In Wine Markets: Genres and Identities, Giacomo Negro identifies a key difference between the success and failure of wine genres lies in the social structure of production and the resulting community solidarity among producers.   He argues that more homogeneous communities of producers develop greater social cohesion within them that helps establish a genre, which in turn organizes and galvanizes a producer's identity.  How Findings May Apply to Other Industries  In the book, Giacomo provides three examples of successful mobilization by winemakers around wine genres and one failure to create a powerful market identity. He shares findings can be applied to many social movements. Examples include the interplay between categories of chefs and cuisines, like molecular versus traditional gastronomy, fashion, including the tension between ethical fashion and traditional fashion, as well as artistic styles.   The Rise of Organic and Biodynamic Farming  In the regions Giacomo studied, in 1980, only one winery was biodynamic and one organic. By 2010, roughly half of the wineries in his study had joined one of these categories.   Organic farming is defined by the use of fertilizers solely of organic origins, such as compost manure and green manure, to improve the humus content of soils. Organic farming also emphasizes techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting, biological pest control, and mixed cropping. The fostering of insect predators is also encouraged. Legal standards regulate production methods for organic agriculture.   Biodynamic farming shares many features with the organic technique; however, this type of farming takes it a step further. It proposes a unified approach to agriculture related to the ecology of the farm and its association with planetary and cosmic rhythms.  Biodynamic farming includes a set of preparations to promote healthy soil and plant growth through prohibiting certain practices and mandating others. For many, the practices are colorful and mystical.   Should The Market Pay a Premium for Organic and Biodynamic Wine? In blind taste tests by critics, organic and biodynamic wines receive higher scores than traditionally produced wines, however, biodynamic wines do not outperform organic varieties.  Wines produced through non-conventional farming methods are sold at higher prices on average, but the price increase does not necessarily cover the cost increase. Thereby, non-conventional wineries often make less profits. The fact that they continue to work using these practices demonstrates their commitment to quality. It is also possible that they are working to drive repeat purchases and long-term relationships.   To learn more about Giacomo Negro and his work, visit goizueta.emory.edu/faculty/profiles/giacomo-negro.   To learn more about Goizueta Business School and how principled leaders are driving positive change in business and society, visit goizueta.emory.edu.

Emerging Trends in the $450 Billion Wine Industry

Consumers, producers, critics, and other market agents rely on socially constructed categories like 'craft' beers, houseware 'collectibles', and 'thriller' films for their understanding of products and producers in markets. Although organizational and sociological accounts often take such categories as given, researchers increasingly acknowledge that category emergence, development, and functioning represent key aspects of how markets work. Take, for example, the U.S. brewing industry, which has become segmented into mass versus specialty producers. Many beer lovers who appreciate the characteristics of a beer made by small, specialty breweries are not willing to buy an equivalent beer made by an integrated, major producer. Knowledge of what specialty beer has come to mean and represent to consumers as the product of an authentic, artisanal production process and delivery is crucial for our understanding of how this market and competitive dynamics within it have evolved. This volume focuses on how market categories shape processes of production and consumption and how these activities in turn shape category systems. This volume consists of original contributions to theory and empirical research by a diverse group of esteemed authors. Topics explored include how new categories emerge, become enacted and gain consensus, how categories are used by market agents (including as tools for interpretation, as mobilization frames, and as cognitive infrastructures for learning), and how category systems change over time. These topics are explored from a variety of perspectives: new institutional theory, organizational ecology, social movement theory, and socio-cognitive theories of markets. The breadth of perspectives in this volume attests to the importance of this topic to sociological studies of market processes.

Categories in Markets: Origins and Evolution (Research in the Sociology of Organizations)

Giacomo Negro joined the Goizueta Business School faculty in 2008. He previously taught at the Durham Business School (UK) and Bocconi University (Italy), and was a visiting scholar at various institutions including Stanford University and UCLA. Negro holds a PhD in management from Bocconi University, where he also received a Laurea degree in economics and business.

Organization Theory

Economic Sociology

Cultural and Creative Industries

How Gossip Helped Propel Miley Cyrus to the Top of the Charts

Commentary: Chicago is right to study whether gay-owned businesses should get contract set-asides

Understanding the scholarly inquiry of Giacomo Negro

Do Prestigious Law Degrees Really Matter?

The unintended side effects of a Grammy nomination

Meet the Black Entrepreneurs Carving a Path In the Distillery Community

New research explores the impact of gay-owned businesses on anti-discrimination laws.

How Do Local Businesses Affect Social Policy?

Politically oriented organizations, such as those advocating equal rights for lesbians and gays, have long been credited with effecting changes in public policy that reduce discrimination. But what about the role of “ordinary” commercial organizations, such as dry cleaners or insurance agencies or clothing stores, that are affiliated with a “challenger” group that has limited recognition in a political system? A recent article by Giacomo Negro, associate professor of organization and management; Glenn Carroll (Stanford); and Fabrizio Perretti (Bocconi) examines such organizations, which are often overlooked in the study of policy outcomes. The researchers find that “politically mundane” commercial enterprises linked to lesbians and gays can contribute distinctly to local enactment of nondiscriminatory policies. The researchers attribute this to the bridges created between these businesses and the larger community, and to the normalcy and legitimacy signaled by their familiar organizational forms. They find that the more diverse in nature these commercial organizations are, the greater their potential to bring about nondiscriminatory policies. But this potential is diminished, they note, in communities where political organizations, particularly those engaging in contentious action, have a larger presence. The authors conclude that commercial organizations are an important complement to political action and can helpfully challenge discrimination while enhancing community connections and awareness. 

Going about business . . . and helping change

When you change your perspective you can change business for the better. Join us on Goizueta Effect to hear from leading faculty at the Goizueta Business School on the latest trends, research, and innovations in business, and find out how you can achieve more, do more, and create more in today’s ever-changing marketplace.

Goizueta Effect

shake-it-off-do-grammywinning-pop-artists-take-more-creative-risks-than-their-runnersup-

Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Organization & Management and Professor of Sociology (by courtesy); Associate Dean for Culture & Community

 Taylor Swift has had a career marked by an evolution in sound and style. Swift emerged into the industry a country star and was later rebranded a pop icon. She’s gone on to explore alternative rock and indie folk sounds.

 Research by Giacomo Negro, professor of Organization & Management and professor of Sociology (by courtesy), suggests Grammy award wins may be credited as the catalyst for these changes.

Swift, who holds 11 Grammy awards, won her first in 2010, taking home Album of the Year for country album “Fearless,” then again for her first exclusively pop album “1989” and again in 2021 for her indie folk album “Folklore.” Each time she earned another Grammy, she tried something new.

Swift is not the only one. After winning Album of the Year in 1988 for classic arena rock album “The Joshua Tree,” U2 released “Achtung Baby,” an album that dabbled with kraut rock and electronic music.

Similarly, Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” won them Album of the Year in 1978, after which, they released their double album “Tusk,” an experimental record that incorporated punk-rock.

Does Missing out on a Grammy Win Make Artists Timid? Negro’s research shows Grammy award winners tend to release albums that are more distinct from the work of other artists, whereas Grammy nominees who do not win create music that is more similar to other artists than they had prior to their nomination.

Negro co-authored the research with Balázs Kovács from Yale University and Glenn Carroll from Stanford University–a culmination of more than five years of work.

 Negro says he has always been interested in cultural production, and he set out to study the patterns of differentiation in the music market. He chose the Grammys because these symbolic awards provide a situation similar to a natural experiment that is hard to find in real life or without a controlled environment. The Grammys are also unique because they share the names of both the award winners and the nominees, presenting a comparison among candidates of similar quality.

To explore this question, Negro obtained data from four main sources: Grammy Awards Academy, online music database AllMusic, Spotify, and Billboard. From the academy information, he collected data for the Grammy nominated artists and winners from 1959 to 2018 in four “general” categories: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year,and Best New Artist.

From AllMusic, they collected data based on the Grammy information that included artist name, recording name, year of release, record labels the artists released the music with, the production team they worked with, and the stylistic tags attached to each recording.

Spotify holds a repository of popular songs; from here, they sourced data on the songs’ sonic features, which are the objective parameters of the music that qualify how the music sounds and is measured by algorithms, including tempo, genre, and key.

Looking at the Billboard charts for the 2000s, they found the most albums that sold the most copies.

“We combined all of this information coming from different sources, which was a challenge and an endeavor by itself, to attach information related to styles, sonic features, performance on the chart, and performance with the awards,” Negro says.

They compared albums of Grammy winners with the albums of the nominees, then compared these with albums from a group of artists in the general market matched on a series of characteristics (such as genre and length of recording career).
 The researchers found that after artists win a Grammy, they become more experimental with their work, whereas the runners-up make music that is stylistically more conventional. This latter result was unexpected.  Negro argues that there is value to be seen in the Grammys–even though it may be criticized for being too commercial or questioned for its relevance–because it has an impact on the music market and the careers of artists who are nominated and awarded.

“These prizes celebrate creativity and innovation but may have unintended consequences in terms of their artists’ behavior,” he adds. “If more people become more conventional because of not receiving an award, one implication for cultural production is that awards have mixed impact. They benefit winners because they afford them more autonomy and, perhaps, confidence to explore new ideas, but they don’t necessarily benefit innovation in the field overall because more artists are just becoming more conventional.”

He offers that, conversely, there may be a positive impact for artists who were not nominated at all. These artists may try to imitate the winners and try different things in the future.

From this, it is clear that there is a benefit to mention who wins an award, but he says it is inconclusive whether there is a benefit to sharing the names of shortlisted candidates.

What are the Greater Cultural Implications? “It’s interesting to observe how cultural production is sensitive to symbolic awards,” Negro says. “We tend to think that artists mainly follow their muse or their inspiration, but they respond to the stimuli around them.”

Negro speculates that the results found in this study might apply to other industries in which producers or artists can combine different elements of styles to create their products, such as book publishing, visual arts, film, or television.

He adds, these results may apply more generally to other markets and professional settings, in which employers create programs of rewards for employees. A bestowal of such awards may empower winners to continue with their behaviors, while discouraging those who were not recognized for their efforts, leading them to return to more typical behaviors.

 Negro is interested in following up this research by looking at the general impact of all Grammy Awards–not just the general ones–to see if specialized awards have a similar impact. He is also curious to investigate the patterns of collaboration between artists, and if stylistic changes are related to changes in the people artists work with.

When Business Meets Research, What Can Students Take Away? Negro says this research also yielded findings that his team did not expect, as in the difference between winners and non-winning nominees. Where they thought they may see similarities, they, instead, saw differences, reiterating the importance of questioning how industries operate.

To inquisitive students he advises, “Keep your eyes open and be curious about understanding why or how things work the way they do. Then, be persistent because it can take a long time to bring your idea to fruition.”
 Interested in knowing more or connecting with Giacomo Negro - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview or time today.


'Shake it Off' - Do Grammy-Winning Pop Artists Take More Creative Risks Than Their Runners-Up? 

expert-opinion-real-fur-its-just-not-in-vogue-anymore

Back in 1994, animal rights organization PETA launched what would become one of the most iconic campaigns of the decade – and beyond. “I’d rather go naked than wear fur,” sparked a slew of headlines internationally and won support from celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, Gillian Anderson, Pamela Anderson, and others; many of whom agreed to pose nude or semi-naked in support of the anti-fur movement. Three decades on, in February 2020, PETA announced it was retiring the campaign, saying it was “no longer necessary” and citing the “demise of the trade.” Evidence suggests they are right.

 Since the early noughties, the use of fur among the world’s foremost luxury fashion houses has steadily declined. The production of mink and other pelts–an industry valued at $1.8 billion in the late 80s–has declined in America by around 45 percent in the last 20 years, according to the Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, high-end fashion brands like Gucci, Vivienne Westwood, and Stella McCartney have pledged to go fur-free, with Fendi, Saint Laurent, and others set to follow suit in 2022.

Fur has never been less fashionable. But can activism alone claim victory in the fight for more ethical fashion practices? Emory’s Giacomo Negro, professor of Organization & Management and professor of sociology (by courtesy), has released new research that suggests another major factor played a key role in the process that led to the abandonment of fur; and it’s none other than perennial style bible, Vogue.

When Vogue Speaks, People Listen We know that the use of fur has been dropping off steadily on the supply side, on the part of producers and manufacturers themselves, in the last two decades. What we didn’t know was how much of this was down to pressure from PETA and other highly-visible activism. Or whether there might be other forces at play–industry intermediaries that have a gatekeeping function, such as the fashion press, exerting a more subtle but just as powerful influence on the producers of fur. - Giacomo Negro, professor of Organization & Management   Hypothesizing this to be the case, Negro teamed up with INSEAD’s Frederic Godart and Greta Hsu of the University of California. First off, they had to determine the most important and global of fashion’s gatekeepers.

“There are other publications, but Vogue is undoubtedly a significant force in fashion. The magazine has long occupied a unique position that is neither an insider nor an outsider in the sense that its editors are intimately connected to the top designers and decision-makers in the industry; simultaneously, it’s an external, independent publication with global reach and singularly powerful influence on fashion’s views and tastes.”

If Vogue were to take a certain view of the use of fur in clothing over time, would fashion houses take note and follow suit, the researchers wondered? To test this, Negro et al put together a largescale dataset integrating data from more than 18 years of Vogue’s runway reports: features covering fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London, and New York between Spring 2000 and Fall 2018. The set included 670 fashion houses hosting at least two runway shows in this period, focusing on women’s prêt-à-porter designs.

Next, the researchers ran an analysis across the texts published by Vogue after each show. They coded words relating to the moral and ethical dimensions of fur use.

“When Vogue publishes a report, you don’t just get a review of the collections,” says Negro. “You also get the magazine’s opinion and appraisal of the clothing.” Fur Ethics and the Decline of a Centuries-Old Industry  Parsing the attention to fur ethics expressed in these reports and looking at the frequency of the appearance of fur on runways over time, he and his colleagues found something striking: a clear, quantitative correlation between the magazine’s coverage of fur ethics and a drop off in its use by fashion houses, starting in 2011.

“From around 2009, Vogue starts referencing the ethical and social concerns around fur and this continues through to 2014.  In 2011, you begin to see a steady decline that follows in the use and appearance of fur on catwalks in the major fashion capitals of the world.”  But could this simply be credited to an increase in activism at the same time? Unlikely, says Negro. He and his colleagues also looked at data on media coverage of anti-fur events in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. and failed to establish any meaningful correlation with Vogue’s editorial position over the same period.

“What seems most plausible is that as an influential industry gatekeeper, Vogue was driving a change in views on fur ethics and fur use, alongside its own changing position on the ethics of fur,” says Negro. And it’s interesting to remember that fashion, like other creative industries, tends to operate in accordance with its own set of rules and its ‘artistic freedom.’ When activists targeted Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fall Show of 2009, he simply announced that he loved fur and would continue using it. However, when Vogue starts weighing in with an opinion, that’s when designers start following suit. - Giacomo Negro, professor of Organization & Management  Which isn’t to say that activism did not have a critical role, he adds. In leading and reshaping the conversation around fur over the last three decades, PETA and others have brought the key issues to the attention of the world’s media like no other, says Godart: “Our findings also suggest that specific forms of anti-fur activism such as advertising campaigns, and legal maneuvers, became effective in influencing fashion houses’ decisions to move away from fur when amplified by Vogue’s references to moral concerns around fur use.”

For any business or industry looking to navigate changing perceptions, tastes, or sentiments, gatekeeper entities–intermediaries like experts, media publications, and others–can provide useful signals that can help strategic decision-making, say Negro, Godart, and Hsu. Though in the age of social media, it may become that much more difficult to distinguish signals from noise. Proactive organizations might do well to identify and engage with social movements and gatekeepers ahead of change, they say, rather than bide their time until pressure forces their hand.

 Interested in learning more?  Then let us help with your questions or coverage.

Giacomo Negro is a professor of Organization & Management and Professor of Sociology at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Simply click on his icon now to connect and arrange an interview.


Expert Opinion: Real Fur? It’s Just Not in Vogue Anymore!

is-sitting-safely-in-the-middle-the-best-place-for-small-business-owners-to-be-in-times-of-protest-and-political-quarry

As the persistent turmoil of protests grips America on an almost daily basis, people are becoming more aware of issues, getting engaged and taking sides.  Be it around the dinner table debating, marching in the streets or even arguing on a national news panel – topics like Black Lives Matter, masks during COVID, the upcoming election or a host of other hot-topic issues are all part of the American conversation these days.

It’s easy and even healthy for people to debate the issues – but for a business to pick a side on a controversial topic, it’s a much different picture.

One recent example was Nike’s support of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.  However, Nike also had the resources to bolster their support.  They had a multi-million-dollar ad budget, a public relations machine generating hours of earned media – and the company was, for the most part playing to its core audience.  Though there was push-back, Nike was rewarded with increased sales and its stock surged.

 For almost a decade now, Chick-fil-A has also boldly taken a stance with its opinion on gay marriage. The restaurant chain has faced mountains of negative press and protests, but the fast-food giant’s bottom lined never suffered. It still sees sales over 10 billion a year.

 For Nike and Chik-Fil-A and their deep pockets to wade into the fray with an opinion – it’s one thing, but for a small business to share how it feels, there’s a matter of weighing risk versus reward no matter how important the topic might be.

  
“It may well be that it’s harder for entrepreneurs to create a viable business model for their venture in a more polarized context, says Giacomo Negro, a Professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. “If your business is more hybrid—if you’re supportive of a cause without being overtly affiliated with it—then it could be harder to engage other customers or clients who are uncomfortable doing business with a firm that is even vaguely linked to a specific social group or movement. Similarly, the core supporters of the cause can look at the same organization as not authentically engaged with them.” His findings certainly suggest that existing in a “gray zone,” where you take neither one side or the other, is a hard place for organizations to thrive in times of social change.

“If protest activates the cultural boundary surrounding a group’s identity, then increasing protest participation will threaten the viability of precisely those organizations trying to engage inside and outside audiences,” Negro said. “At the same time, bridging inside and outside audiences also conveys a confusing identity and a more limited commitment to pursuing goals relevant to either audience.” With a global pandemic impacting all aspects of national and local economies – small businesses are under pressure to sustain and survive like never before. And if you are a journalist looking to cover the state of small businesses in America and whether or not small business has a role to play in protests and politics in America – then let our experts help with your coverage.

 Giacomo Negro is a Professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and is an expert in the area of economic sociology. His resent research study research study, “Which Side Are You On? The Divergent Effects of Protest Participation on Organizations Affiliated with Identity Groups’ focuses on this very subject.

 
Professor Negro is available to speak with media about this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.



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