| 1. |
- Arora-Jonsson, Stefan, Professor, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
-
A new understanding of competition
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Competition. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780191924460 - 9780192898012 ; , s. 1-25
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Competition is currently found in many, if not most, social domains, such as the economy, politics, public services, sports, culture, higher education, and science. But competition is not endemic to any of these fields. Rather, it has been constructed by those involved or by observers. We ask what competition is and how it can be introduced into a new context. Critically reflecting on insights from economics, management studies and sociology, we define competition as a combined social construction of four factors: actorhood, relationships among actors, scarcity, and desire. We shed light on asymmetric constructions of competition among different actors. Our definition leaves open the effect of competition on behaviour: competition may lead competitors to avoid interaction with each other or to cooperate; it may motivate people to try harder or it may demotivate them. Finally, we discuss issues for further research that follow from our understanding of competition.
|
|
| 2. |
- Arora-Jonsson, Stefan, Professor, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
-
Competition unbundled : taking stock and looking forward
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Competition. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780192898012 - 9780191924460 ; , s. 221-236
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this final chapter, we discuss how the preceding chapters illuminate some fundamental questions about competition. How is it constructed? How are the behaviours resulting from competition managed? What are the consequences of competition? How can competition be removed? And, how do these factors vary with the good people compete for? Our aim is to provide an outline of a social science research programme on competition that is long overdue. A central message of the book is that competition seems ubiquitous but that it should not be taken for granted or be naturalized as an inevitable aspect of human existence. Its emergence, maintenance, and change are often the result of intention and purposive efforts, and a central challenge for social science is to learn more about these developments.
|
|
| 3. |
- Arora-Jonsson, Stefan, Professor, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
-
The Construction of Competition in Public Research Funding Systems
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Handbook of Public Funding of Research. - Cheltenham; Northampton : Edward Elgar Publishing. - 9781800883079 - 9781800883086 ; , s. 172-184
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Competition is a core feature of public research systems. Previous literature has mainly focused on the consequences of competition for research funding in such systems. These consequences are important, but the literature has largely assumed that competition for funding is inevitable in public research systems. This assumption masks the extent to which competition is a constructed phenomenon requiring explanation. When and why is there competition for research funding in public systems? In this chapter, our aim is to develop new knowledge about the ways that various allocations of funding are or are not constructed as competition for funding. We utilise recent theorising to analyse competition for research funding as a phenomenon that eventually comes about through organising efforts. Our chapter revitalises previous literature, and offers policy implications and future inquiry avenues that highlight the importance of understanding how competition for funding is constructed, and potentially revoked, in public research systems.
|
|
| 4. |
- Arora-Jonsson, Stefan, Professor, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
-
The Origins of Competition : institution and organization
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Competition. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780192898012 - 9780191924460 ; , s. 61-76
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Institutional conditions and organizational efforts are key for understanding how and why the elements constituting competition come about. Several contemporary institutions favour the construction of competition. States, organizations, and individuals are increasingly being seen as actors that are able to compete with each other, and globalization and other recent institutional developments have increased the number of relationships that they can construct. An impressive economic development during the last century has not prevented a continued sense of scarcity and new desires have emerged, not least the desire for status positions. Fourth parties organize social life in ways that create competition by intention or unintentionally. Organizers of contests in politics, markets, sports and many other sectors construct actors, relationships, and scarcity for something desired. Similar efforts have been an essential part of many recent reforms of organizations and markets. The increasing number of prizes and rankings in almost any area of life produces scarcity and is likely to create new desires for goods that per definition are scarce.
|
|
| 5. |
- Arora-Jonsson, Stefan, Professor, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
-
Where Does Competition Come From? : The role of organization
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Organization Theory. - : Sage Publications. - 2631-7877. ; 1:1, s. 1-24
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although an ever-increasing number and types of organizations are expected to compete, the origins of competition have been a neglected topic. By assuming that competition simply emerges, organization theory currently lacks an understanding of when and why organizations compete. In this article we critically review and extend existing literatures on competition to offer an organizational theorization of the origins of competition. We argue that competition is the social construction of its four constitutive elements: actors, relationships, scarcity and desire. Furthermore, we show that three types of actors – those who compete, those who adjudicate the competition, and those who have an interest in creating competition – can construct competition independently or in concert. We also discuss different types of organized competition; the role of rankers, prize givers and other actors interested in creating competition; and competition as an unintended consequence of organization. Finally, we outline future research on competition and organization that follows from our conceptualization, along with some normative implications.
|
|
| 6. |
-
Competition : What it is and Why it Happens
- 2021
-
Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The spread of competition into all areas of society is one of the master trends of modern society. Yet, social scientists have played a surprisingly modest role in the analysis of its implications as the discussion of competition has largely been confined to the narrow context of economic markets. This book opens up competition for the study of social scientists. The central message of the book is that competition seems ubiquitous but it should not be taken for granted or be naturalized as an inevitable aspect of human existence. Its emergence, maintenance, and change are based on institutions and organizational efforts, and a central challenge for social science is to learn more about these processes and their outcomes. With the use of a novel definition of competition, more fundamental questions can be addressed than merely whether or not competition works. How is competition constructed—and by whom? Which institutional and organizational foundations need to be considered? Which behaviours result from competition? What are its consequences? Can competition be removed? And, how do these factors vary with the object of competition—be it money, attention, status, or other scarce and desired objects? The chapters in the book investigate these and more questions in studies of competition among and within schools, universities, multinational corporations, auditors, waste-disposal firms, and fashion designers and users. The chapters are written by scholars from several social science fields: management, organization studies, sociology, anthropology, and education.
|
|
