The cannibal’s mandate: Rhetorical enactment and the self-cannibalization paradox in the generative AI era

Morgan Blangeois () and Norbert Lebrument ()
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Morgan Blangeois: CleRMa - Clermont Recherche Management - ESC Clermont-Ferrand - École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) - Clermont-Ferrand - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne
Norbert Lebrument: CleRMa - Clermont Recherche Management - ESC Clermont-Ferrand - École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) - Clermont-Ferrand - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, IAE - UCA - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Clermont-Auvergne - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne

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Abstract: This article investigates how leading Digital Service Companies (DSCs) navigate the self-cannibalization paradox posed by generative AI (GenAI). This paradox creates a contradiction where firms must adopt a technology that erodes their effort-based business model to remain competitive. Grounded in paradox theory, we analyse this tension using a longitudinal dataset of 124 earnings call transcripts (2019–2024). Through a mixed-method design combining topic modelling and qualitative coding, we theorize how firms discursively enact dynamic capabilities—sensing, seizing, and transforming—to manage this threat. We identify a dual-front public narrative focused on client innovation and internal mastery. This rhetorical performance functions as a mechanism for symbolic management, allowing leaders to project control while deferring a direct confrontation with the paradox. This study contributes to strategy research by theorizing the discursive management of a technology-induced paradox and offering a scalable methodology to analyse this performative layer of adaptation.

Keywords: Digital service companies; Generative artificial intelligence; Self-cannibalization paradox; Dynamic capabilities; Strategic discourse; Business model innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-12
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Published in Strategic Business Research, 2026, 2 (1), pp.100025. ⟨10.1016/j.sbr.2025.100025⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-05519349

DOI: 10.1016/j.sbr.2025.100025

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