Communicative Capitalism, Corporate Purpose, and a New Theory of the Firm
Timothy Kuhn
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Introduction 1
- 1New Forms of Value Generation Under Communicative Capitalism 24
- 2Why an Alternative Theory of the Firm? 43
- 3Assembling an Analytical Apparatus: CCO Encounters Deleuzian New Materialism 58
- 4A Communicative Theory of the Firm 85
- 5Boundarying: Inclusion and Exclusion in Dynamic Capability (Re)Development 119
- 6Branding: Hindering Heterarchy in a Startup Accelerator 146
- 7Binding: Collective Atomization and B Corps 170
- 8A New Future for the Theory of the Firm 194
Figures
- 3.1Google Ngram viewer of appearance of ‘Deleuze’ in books published between 1990 and 2019 83
- 4.1Contributors to, and consequences of, authoritative texts in the Communicative Theory of the Firm 107
- 6.1The left side of AmpVille’s main meeting room, from the back 152
- 6.2The right side of AmpVille’s meeting room 153
- 6.3A Generic Business Model Canvas, from Strategyzer 157
- 7.1The B LabTM model of large-scale systems change 175
- 7.2The B LabTM call to alter the role of business in society 176
Table
- 6.1Boltanski and Thévenot’s orders of worth, as articulated by Thévenot et al (2000) 148
I’ve had quite a bit of help in assembling and assessing this argument over the past decade or so. The intellectual collaborators are many; I’d like to recognize and thank them before delving into the book itself. First is Karen Lee Ashcraft, my Colorado colleague, friend, and inciter of bold intellectual imaginativeness. Also the best person with whom to practice immaturity and snarkiness in stuffy academic settings. Not far behind are two people who read, and commented on, the entire manuscript: Veronica Dawson and Matt Koschmann. I know that must have been painful and time-consuming, but it improved the argument significantly.
And then there are those who contributed to this book, often without even knowing they were contributing. In conversations or other writing projects together, I owe a significant debt of intellectual gratitude to François Cooren, Dennis Mumby, Gail Fairhurst, Dennis Schoeneborn, Bryan Taylor, Linda Putnam, Paul Leonardi, Joëlle Cruz, Joel Iverson, Jody Jahn, Bob McPhee, Consuelo Vásquez, Stan Deetz, Steve Corman, Scott Poole, Shiv Ganesh, and the late Jim Taylor. You shaped my thought here – sometimes as a sounding board, sometimes as an exemplar, and sometimes as a coach – and I appreciate it. And while I’d love to be able to shift the blame for errors and shortcomings (and there are undoubtedly many in the pages to follow) to these people, all inadequacies and deficiencies are mine alone.
The greatest appreciation, however, I reserve for the greatest parts of my life: Sophia, Ella, and Sam. None of this would have been possible without your love, encouragement, tolerance, and curiosity.
I also enjoyed the privilege of presenting this book’s contents in many venues, where I tried out the material (and learned what didn’t work). There were quite a few papers presented at the Academy of Management, National Communication Association, and International Communication Association conferences, along with a Professional Development Workshop J-C Spender and I co-organized at the 2014 Academy of Management meetings. In addition to sessions at the University of Colorado Boulder, kind colleagues also invited me to present some of this work at Fudan University (China), the University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Economics and Business,
And special gratitude to Paul Stevens, the Bristol University Press editor I first met way back in 2019 and who expressed endless enthusiasm for this project, even during the significant challenges I (and the world) encountered between then and now. Ellen Pearce, who replaced Paul, was equally fantastic and supportive, and Isobel Green’s work as senior editorial assistant has been exceptional.
Finally, a note about the book’s cover image. At first glance, it’s obvious that this is a geometric pattern assembled into a large building (or a large building covered by an almost innumerable set of hexagons), the sort that marks the presence of a powerful corporation. Perhaps it’s a company’s headquarters, the construction and ongoing maintenance of which required/requires many more corporate entities. The curved wall of seemingly endless hexagons signals that there’s an entity here, one that practices rational planning and systematic design. It’s also potentially imposing, the façade appearing impenetrable and intimidating – but it’s also clearly a façade. Those are all associations people have with the dominant firms on our social scene, and the common conception of What Corporations Want mentioned previously (that their dogged-yet-sometimes-noxious pursuit of those profits is as unyielding as this image). But if you look just above the title box, you’ll see some greenery, only slightly visible. Indeed, I missed it the first time I saw this. There’s hope for corporations and their wanting to ‘become other.’