Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual Competition
In this article we argue that organizational research on competition has left the relation between organizations and consumers largely unaddressed. While marketing scholars have explored how individual organizations try to manipulate the relation with specific groups of consumers, less has been said...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Organizational Sociology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/joso-2024-0006 |
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| author | Westergren Jakob Schunnesson Jonathan |
| author_facet | Westergren Jakob Schunnesson Jonathan |
| author_sort | Westergren Jakob |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article we argue that organizational research on competition has left the relation between organizations and consumers largely unaddressed. While marketing scholars have explored how individual organizations try to manipulate the relation with specific groups of consumers, less has been said about how competing organizations collectively form and influence their relation with consumers. This is especially the case in contexts of public services provision, such as education. To explore this relation, we examine how upper secondary schools in a quasi-market fictionalize their offerings to influence students’ desire. By analyzing 117 school descriptions from Stockholm’s (Sweden) upper secondary school market, we identify four ideal types of fictionalized offerings: The Doorman, The Role Model, The Butler, and The Gardener. These fictionalizations perpetuate two consumer fictions, namely desirable futures and identity realization. Through these fictions, prospective students are invited to realize their supposedly incomplete selves. Our research contributes to the organizational study of competition by showing that schools respond to competition by reinforcing a consumption rationality, potentially shaping students’ desire for certain educational qualities. Additionally, we contribute to critical educational research by questioning the assumption that competition fosters innovation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6e81c1ea03c74022a246e4a5a338bb71 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2752-2997 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Organizational Sociology |
| spelling | doaj-art-6e81c1ea03c74022a246e4a5a338bb712025-08-20T03:29:47ZengDe GruyterJournal of Organizational Sociology2752-29972025-05-013226729910.1515/joso-2024-0006Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual CompetitionWestergren Jakob0Schunnesson Jonathan1Department of Business Studies, 8097Uppsala University, Uppsala,SwedenDepartment of Management and Organization, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, SwedenIn this article we argue that organizational research on competition has left the relation between organizations and consumers largely unaddressed. While marketing scholars have explored how individual organizations try to manipulate the relation with specific groups of consumers, less has been said about how competing organizations collectively form and influence their relation with consumers. This is especially the case in contexts of public services provision, such as education. To explore this relation, we examine how upper secondary schools in a quasi-market fictionalize their offerings to influence students’ desire. By analyzing 117 school descriptions from Stockholm’s (Sweden) upper secondary school market, we identify four ideal types of fictionalized offerings: The Doorman, The Role Model, The Butler, and The Gardener. These fictionalizations perpetuate two consumer fictions, namely desirable futures and identity realization. Through these fictions, prospective students are invited to realize their supposedly incomplete selves. Our research contributes to the organizational study of competition by showing that schools respond to competition by reinforcing a consumption rationality, potentially shaping students’ desire for certain educational qualities. Additionally, we contribute to critical educational research by questioning the assumption that competition fosters innovation.https://doi.org/10.1515/joso-2024-0006fictionalizationjens beckertupper secondary educationcompetitionconsumption |
| spellingShingle | Westergren Jakob Schunnesson Jonathan Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual Competition Journal of Organizational Sociology fictionalization jens beckert upper secondary education competition consumption |
| title | Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual Competition |
| title_full | Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual Competition |
| title_fullStr | Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual Competition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual Competition |
| title_short | Guaranteeing Desirable Futures: What Schools Offer to Prospective Students When in Mutual Competition |
| title_sort | guaranteeing desirable futures what schools offer to prospective students when in mutual competition |
| topic | fictionalization jens beckert upper secondary education competition consumption |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/joso-2024-0006 |
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