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Cluster Formation as a Representation of the Category Space: A Two-Level Theoretical Model Tested Within the Context of the Lebanese Newspaper Industry (1851-1974)

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  • Najib A. Mozahem

Abstract

Researchers in organizational ecology have started to pay more attention to audience perceptions. Legitimacy, for example, is no longer modeled as the number of organizations in a population. It is now thought to be dependent on how audience members perceive these organizations. It is believed that audiences penalize organizations that span categories because they cannot make much sense of them. This article will argue that category spanning dynamics follow the pattern proposed by the resource partitioning theory, thereby questioning the legitimacy of the claim that category spanning is detrimental to organization survival. Instead, the article develops a two-level model which distinguishes between category spanning and cluster spanning. The article will argue that cluster spanning, and not category spanning, increases the mortality hazard of organizations during all time periods. The theory is then tested within the context of the Lebanese newspaper industry (1851-1974). The result of both cluster analysis and survival analysis supports the two-level model.

Suggested Citation

  • Najib A. Mozahem, 2017. "Cluster Formation as a Representation of the Category Space: A Two-Level Theoretical Model Tested Within the Context of the Lebanese Newspaper Industry (1851-1974)," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440176, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:7:y:2017:i:2:p:2158244017699036
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244017699036
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    References listed on IDEAS

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