Author Abstract
In this qualitative study of the Swiss watch industry from 1970 to 2008, I examine the factors that influence the re-emergence of market demand for a legacy technology in a mature institutional field. Drawing on 141 interviews with individuals (including senior executives, watchmakers, retailers, analysts, collectors, and historians), I offer analysis to illustrate that re-emergence is both a viable theoretical and empirical phenomenon. I present various institutionalization processes, inflection points, and focal constructs associated with a field's emergence, decline, and eventual re-emergence. This paper also exposes an unlikely relationship between institutional entrepreneurs and the institutional guardians, who each serve as a counterbalance to the other: entrepreneurs introduce innovations that ultimately drive field-level changes necessary for survival, while at the same time institutional guardians ensure that companies preserve key norms and values associated with mechanical watchmaking.
Paper Information
- Full Working Paper Text
- Working Paper Publication Date: July 2015
- HBS Working Paper Number:
- Faculty Unit(s): Organizational Behavior
