Optimally Distinct? Understanding the motivation and ability of organizations to pursue optimal distinctiveness (or not)

Abstract

The question of how distinctive organizations should strive to be, compared to peers, has seen a resurgence of attention. A central focus in this stream of work has been on identifying optimal distinctiveness—distinctiveness that yields superior performance relative to peers. The resulting recommendation has been that organizations should strive to pursue such optimal distinctiveness. In this paper, we argue that organizations are neither equally motivated nor equally able to pursue optimal distinctiveness and explore the implications of variation in such motivation and ability. We focus on two questions, centered on (1) better understanding the extent to which organizations pursue optimal distinctiveness, for which we offer possible arguments based on four combinations of motivation and ability, and (2) the conditions that shape organizations’ ability and motivation to optimize their distinctiveness. We then offer a number of methodological suggestions that would support further inquiries into these questions and close by delineating a renewed research agenda for optimal distinctiveness.