Creative organizations: Reaching a favorable competitive positioning in the creative market

Bérubé, Julie and Jacques-Bernard Gauthier

Cuadernos de Economia de la Cultura, 2026, issue 12, 101-124

Abstract: Creative organizations face persistent tensions between creativity and business imperatives. The way these tensions are managed determines their viability in the creative market. This study examines the competitive positioning of creative organizations - emerging from strategic choices - as a compromise between creativity and business. We conducted an instrumental multiple-case study of 11 Canadian advertising agencies and 35 semi-structured interviews. To map their competitive positions, we employed multiple correspondence analysis. Findings suggest that agencies where creative workers are responsible for the entire creative process, rather than limited to production tasks, achieve a stronger competitive position in the creative market. This research contributes to advancing knowledge in the field of creative organization management by exploring the strategies that enable organizations to navigate the tension between creative work and business imperatives. This research provides actionable insights for creative organizations seeking to enhance their strategic positioning.

Keywords: Creative industries; tension; competitive positioning; creative market; case study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/CEC/article/view/29657 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:etp:journl:013

DOI: 10.12795/CEC.2026.i12.06

Access Statistics for this article

Cuadernos de Economia de la Cultura is currently edited by Jesus Heredia-Carroza

More articles in Cuadernos de Economia de la Cultura from Editorial Universidad de Sevilla
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Rafael de Vera Fernandez ().