Publications
Publications
- 2022
- HBS Working Paper Series
Institutional Emplacement and the Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores
By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe
Abstract
This study reveals how actors leverage physical place as an asset to facilitate organizational
adaptation and industry evolution. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S.
independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline how dispersed organizational
actors responded to the rise of Amazon.com, an online retailer that threatened to displace
traditional brick-and-mortar retail. While many analysts predicted that Amazon’s emergence
would incite a “retail apocalypse,” independent bookstores proved to be far more resilient than
expected. We introduce institutional emplacement—a collective process by which actors infuse
value into physical “spaces,” thereby transforming them into sacralized “places”—as a novel
mechanism of industry evolution. Several practices are associated with this mechanism, including
architecting the physical design and use of space, anchoring to the local community, and
articulating the sacred meaning of place. Together, this study offers a counterbalance to narratives of virtual ascendancy and shows how physical place can be marshalled for organizational adaptation in mature industries.
Keywords
Industry Growth; Small Business; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry; United States
Citation
Raffaelli, Ryan, and Ryann Noe. "Institutional Emplacement and the Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-033, December 2022.