Abstract
ABSTRACT The literatures on market categories and temporal work pay limited attention to the agentic role of intermediaries in nascent market categories. Through an inductive analysis of quantum computing, we explore how management consultancies perform temporal work in such settings. We find that management consultancies construct a market for knowledge by engaging in three types of temporal work. First, they bring the future market category into present existence and thus make it an object for action. Second, they construct ultimate uncertainty and ambiguity and therefore a need for external knowledge. Third, they create a sense of urgency for immediate market engagement. Our findings shed light on the active intermediating role of management consultancies in nascent market categories, allowing them to capitalise on novel markets very early on.
Highlights
Market categories are shared socio-cultural sets of meanings that guide assessments of the similarity of firms and products belonging to a category or attempting to enter it (Kennedy and Fiss 2013; Khaire and Wadhwani 2010)
Based on an inductive study of the role of management consultants in quantum computing, we identify three forms of temporal work in which consultants engage during market category emergence: bringing the future market category into present existence, which makes it a relevant object for action; constructing ultimate unpredictability, thereby creating a need for audiences to obtain external knowledge; and creating a sense of urgency regarding market engagement in order to immediately engage audiences with the new market
Our findings contribute to the literature on market category emergence by showing how consultants acting as market intermediaries actively shape emerging market categories
Summary
Market categories are shared socio-cultural sets of meanings that guide assessments of the similarity of firms and products belonging to a category or attempting to enter it (Kennedy and Fiss 2013; Khaire and Wadhwani 2010). Based on an inductive study of the role of management consultants in quantum computing, we identify three forms of temporal work in which consultants engage during market category emergence: bringing the future market category into present existence, which makes it a relevant object for action; constructing ultimate unpredictability, thereby creating a need for audiences to obtain external knowledge; and creating a sense of urgency regarding market engagement in order to immediately engage audiences with the new market. Management consultancies may be somewhat peripheral in the emerging category with respect to their knowledge and development activities, they are active participants in category construction; they shape its social and symbolic boundaries by authoring reports and organising events (Grodal 2018) Due to their future-orientated narratives and growth forecasts, they play a major role in shaping the expectations and understandings of category members regarding the right timing for engagement. We set out to answer the following question: How do consultants engage in temporal work during market category emergence?
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