Danny Miller

Bio: Danny Miller is an academic researcher from HEC Montréal. The author has contributed to research in topics: Consumption (economics) & Agency (sociology). The author has an hindex of 133, co-authored 512 publications receiving 71238 citations. Previous affiliations of Danny Miller include University of New Mexico & McGill University.

The simplicity of competitive repertoires : An empirical analysis

Abstract: This research explores the notion of competitive simplicity: a tendency of some firms to concentrate intensely on just a few central activities. Our focus here is the simplicity inherent in the repertoire of concrete, market-oriented actions used by companies to compete: these actions include product introductions, pricing or advertising decisions, and changes in market scope. The simplicity of a competitive repertoire can be assessed by its range of actions and its degree of concentration on one or a few dominant types of actions. We argue that competitive simplicity is largely a function of organizational and environmental properties that attenuate managerial search or restrict knowledge of competitive alternatives. These properties include good performance, munificent, homogeneous or certain markets, a lack of breadth in competitive experiences, and the complacency that may accompany age and size. Paradoxically, although good past performance may contribute to simplicity, simplicity can hurt subsequent performance, especially during periods of uncertainty and growth. Many of these ideas were borne out in a study of the major carriers of the post-deregulation domestic airline industry.

The Icarus paradox : how exceptional companies bring about their own downfall : new lessons in the dynamics of corporate success, decline, and renewal

Abstract: Just as the fabled Icarus of Greek mythology was able to fly so high, so close to the sun, that his wax wings melted and he plunged into the sea, this same paradox can apply to outstanding companies - their very success seduces them into the excesses that cause their downfall. "The Icarus Paradox" is a breathtaking account of what creates stellar business success, and at the same time, sows the seeds of corporate failure. After researching over 200 companies, Miller discovered that success imperils an organization through the momentum it creates and he has coined a new language to describe the rise and fall of major corporations. Craftsmen such as Ford and Texas Instruments have become concerned only with the products they have created, totally oblivious to the markets they have lost. Pioneers such as Wang and Apple have become escapists, so caught up in searching for breakthroughs that they create often brilliant yet commercially useless products.

How the World Changed Social Media

Abstract: How the World Changed Social Media is the first book in Why We Post, a book series that investigates the findings of nine anthropologists who each spent 15 months living in communities across the world. This book offers a comparative analysis summarising the results of the research and exploring the impact of social media on politics and gender, education and commerce. What is the result of the increased emphasis on visual communication? Are we becoming more individual or more social? Why is public social media so conservative? Why does equality online fail to shift inequality offline? How did memes become the moral police of the internet? Supported by an introduction to the project’s academic framework and theoretical terms that help to account for the findings, the book argues that the only way to appreciate and understand something as intimate and ubiquitous as social media is to be immersed in the lives of the people who post. Only then can we discover how people all around the world have already transformed social media in such unexpected ways and assess the consequences.

Acknowledging consumption : a review of new studies

Abstract: Consumption as the vanguard of history - a polemic by way of an introduction, D. Miller studies in the new consumer behaviour, R. Belk the sociology of consumption, C. Campbell from political economy to consumption, B. Fine consumption within historical studies, P. Glennie geographies of consumption, P. Jackson and N. Thrift psychological approaches to consumption - varieties of research past, present and future, P. Lunt consumption stuides as the transformation of anthropology, D. Miller theories of consumption in media studies, D. Morley.

The neurotic organization

Abstract: Introduction: Tracing Problems from Organizational to Individual Levels. ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS. Neurotic Styles and Organizational Dysfunctioning. Shared Fantasies and Group Processes. Confused Interpersonal Relationships. Destrucive Superior/Subordinate Interactions. Life-Cycle Crises and Individual Career Satisfaction. OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE. Identifying Defense Mechanisms and Sources of Resistance. Helping Managers Gain Insight to Facilitate Change. Steps in Diagnosing, Overcoming, and Preventing Problems. Organizational Therapy in Action: A Case Study. Conclusion: Working for Change--Cautions and Recommendations.

Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance

Abstract: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE introduces a whole new way of understanding what a firm does. Porter's groundbreaking concept of the value chain disaggregates a company into 'activities', or the discrete functions or processes that represent the elemental building blocks of competitive advantage. Now an essential part of international business thinking, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE takes strategy from broad vision to an internally consistent configuration of activities. Its powerful framework provides the tools to understand the drivers of cost and a company's relative cost position. Porter's value chain enables managers to isolate the underlying sources of buyer value that will command a premium price, and the reasons why one product or service substitutes for another. He shows how competitive advantage lies not only in activities themselves but in the way activities relate to each other, to supplier activities, and to customer activities. That the phrases 'competitive advantage' and 'sustainable competitive advantage' have become commonplace is testimony to the power of Porter's ideas. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE has guided countless companies, business school students, and scholars in understanding the roots of competition. Porter's work captures the extraordinary complexity of competition in a way that makes strategy both concrete and actionable.

Upper Echelons: The Organization as a Reflection of Its Top Managers

Abstract: Theorists in various fields have discussed characteristics of top managers. This paper attempts to synthesize these previously fragmented literatures around a more general “upper echelons perspective.” The theory states that organizational outcomes—strategic choices and performance levels—are partially predicted by managerial background characteristics. Propositions and methodological suggestions are included.

Clarifying the Entrepreneurial Orientation Construct and Linking It To Performance

Abstract: The primary purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and to propose a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between EO and firm performance. We first explore and refine the dimensions of EO and discuss the usefulness of viewing a firm's EO as a multidimensional construct. Then, drawing on examples from the EO-related contingencies literature, we suggest alternative models (moderating effects, mediating effects, independent effects, interaction effects) for testing the EO-performance relationship.

Social Identity Theory and the Organization

Abstract: It is argued that (a) social identification is a perception of oneness with a group of persons; (b) social identification stems from the categorization of individuals, the distinctiveness and prestige of the group, the salience of outgroups, and the factors that traditionally are associated with group formation; and (c) social identification leads to activities that are congruent with the identity, support for institutions that embody the identity, stereotypical perceptions of self and others, and outcomes that traditionally are associated with group formation, and it reinforces the antecedents of identification. This perspective is applied to organizational socialization, role conflict, and intergroup relations.