Firms

This chapter extends the analysis of novelty from the individual level to a more organizational perspective. No doubt the advantage of newness played a big part in scripting how individuals were viewed and treated, but equally important were the ways in which novelty moderated how organizations identified and wanted to be seen. In exploring the ways in which this organizational identity was presented and negotiated, the chapter reveals the building blocks for another counter-intuitive finding — that it was domestic law firms, rather than local offices of international firms, where women professionals seemed to flourish. It shows that this unique structural premise forces them to use two distinct logics of emergence. First, firms use a differentiation logic to distinguish themselves from traditional firms that foreign clients are likely to see as “traditional” and kinship based — and therefore not modern and sophisticated enough. Second, they use a mimicking logic that mirrors global processes to aggressively signal compatibility and likeness with their global peers.