Embedded in unrest: The paradox of embeddedness in the wake of nascent 
social movements

About the Research

Urban riots, as nascent social movements, create significant challenges for firms by disrupting local communities and impacting firm performance and survival. In this paper, we investigate how community embeddedness—defined as the socio-demographic and cultural alignment between a firm and its local community—moderates the relationship between riot intensity and firm outcomes. Using data from firms in riot-impacted and non-impacted cities following the 2005 urban riots in the Paris area, we find that community embeddedness positively moderates the negative effect of riot intensity on short-term performance. However, in the long term, greater community embeddedness is associated with a higher risk of firm failure in high-intensity riot contexts. Our results, therefore, provide evidence of a paradox of embeddedness for firms deeply impacted by the riots—where deeper integration with the local community provides short-term benefits but leads to long-term vulnerabilities— which highlights the complexities firms face when balancing local ties and adaptability in volatile environments.

About Romain Boulongne

Romain is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at IESE. He holds a Ph.D. in Management from HEC Paris, a Master of Science in Management and Organizational Dynamics from the University of Paris, and a Graduate Degree in Political Science from Sciences Po Lille. During his time at HEC, Romain also spent one year as a Visiting Doctoral Student in the Economic Sociology Group at MIT Sloan.
His work explores how diverse audiences—customers, investors, employees, and others—perceive organizations and product offerings, and how firms can strategically influence these processes to improve evaluations, foster stakeholder coordination and firm performance. Moreover, Romain’s research examines how involving distinct stakeholders directly in a firm’s core activities and governance can enhance value creation both within and beyond the firm’s boundaries. By employing a combination of theory-driven approaches, experimental methods, and large-scale empirical data, his work provides insights into the cognitive mechanisms stakeholders use to evaluate and respond to firms, especially those challenging conventional market norms or operating at the intersection of social impact and commercial activities. His work highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement, stakeholder governance and the importance of categories in fostering market acceptance for innovative and socially impactful firms and products.
His work has been published in Organization Science, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Research in the Sociology of Organizations amongst others.

Date: Thursday 9 January, 2025

Time: 12:45-14:15 CEST

Venue: Room Roland Calori (B3), (Zoom link provided to registered attendees)

Should you want to attend, please register at https://forms.gle/rYxqPmw7cZsCrsHU8