Locus in focus: locus inflection episodes unfolding through the dynamics of competition

Purpose My aim is to advance competitive dynamics scholarship by presenting and developing the notion of locus inflection episodes. Such episodes refer to situations featuring changes that specifically generate shifts in the levels at which various actors aggregate as competitors. Design/methodology/approach I ground my theorizing in reanalyzes of two published studies, selected from management literature located beyond competitive dynamics scholarship. These two studies were originally not centered on locus inflection episodes, but the studies feature illustrative instances of such episodes. Findings My reanalyzes highlight two salient situations when the strategic repertoires of actions and responses deployed by competing firms create or dissolve various organizational forms that produce shifts in aggregation levels, thus generating locus inflection episodes. These situations include the creation as well as the dissolution of meta-organizations. Throughout the two situations, organizers of competition play an important role as actors that do not compete, but that nonetheless affect how competition unfolds by sparking inflection episodes. Originality/value Competitive dynamics scholars have primarily examined what firms do throughout the process of competition (i.e. its “how”). But they have largely disregarded that what firms do when deploying strategic repertoires may include the creation or dissolution of various organizational forms, and that this creation or dissolution can shift the aggregation levels at which competition unfolds. Such shifts are captured by the notion of locus inflection episodes, and competitive dynamics scholars could utilize it to approach the locus of competition (i.e. its “who” and “where”) as a changeable aspect throughout the process of competition.