Category Reconstruction and Organizational Aesthetics
The Case of Hatcho Miso
##article.authors##
- Tang, Wai Yeung The University of Melbourne, Department of Management and Marketing
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Keita Kato
Saitama University, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
https://researchmap.jp/keitakato01
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51094/jxiv.817Keywords:
organizational aesthetics, contestation, category reconstruction, product category, Geographical Indication (GI), Hatcho misoAbstract
Previous literature has focused on the roles of categories in facilitating exchange and establishing legitimacy for organizations. With organizational aesthetics gaining attention across multiple disciplines, we propose that categories also serve as an expressive tool for organizations to demonstrate, communicate and promote their organizational aesthetics. By investigating the reconstruction process within category, insights generated allow the illumination of value prioritization and decision-making mechanisms of multiple organizations. The contestation observed in the study also underscores the possibility of coexisting organizational aesthetics.
This paper introduces the context of Hatcho miso, a type of miso pastes with outstanding production history in Okazaki, Aichi. The introduction of the Geographical Indication (GI) system prompted significant changes in the Hatcho miso category, influenced by multiple market actors. Through the contestation, organizational aesthetics of competing actors are uncovered, and we demonstrate how researchers could capture organizational aesthetics through the process of category reconstruction.
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Submitted: 2024-07-15 09:37:01 UTC
Published: 2024-07-25 01:39:08 UTC
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Tang, Wai Yeung
Keita Kato
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