The exemplar enigma: New venture image formation in an emergent organizational category

We examine the process of organizational image formation for new ventures entering an emerging organizational category. An emerging organizational category is usually initiated by a pioneering venture that adopts a new organizational form. If that venture garners early recognition, it serves as an exemplar, attracting other ventures to enter the emerging category. Those ventures then have to formulate an image that both accounts for and competes with that of the category exemplar. This article describes how ventures form their images in the face of this tension. We examine this tension using qualitative data from eight new U.S. venture accelerators entering the emergent venture accelerator category, which revealed that image formation in an emerging organizational category involves three basic considerations: (1) emulation, (2) experimentation, and (3) divergence. Through emulation, organizations observe and rely on the exemplar in order to capture legitimacy. Through experimentation, organizations consider who they are beyond the exemplar and how they might change. Through divergence, organizations definitively claim and establish a unique image. From this, a conceptual framework is proposed in which organizational and contextual factors influence image formation actions and decisions.