The Organizational Ontology of Person-Institutions

This commentary responds to the theorization of individuals as institutions, arguing that person-institutions are an outcome of person-brands. We contend that the ontology of person-brands impedes their full institutionalization due to inherent fallibility, instability and the ongoing management required to maintain their public image. By leveraging marketing theory on the ontology of person-brands, we offer organizational scholars tools to assess what we term ‘institutional potential’ – a person’s ability to overcome the fallibility of their personhood to achieve institutionalization. Using Taylor Swift as our focal case, we demonstrate how instability, contention of values and meaning-making and non-transcendence beyond personhood challenge the taken-for-grantedness required for institutional sedimentation. Our insights lead to a research agenda that emphasizes longitudinal dynamics of person-institution formation and a broader taxonomy of person institutions.