1026: Exceptional Performers (17482)

This study tracks firm excellence in the wild by exploring the phenomenon of exceptional firm performance, focusing on outliers that achieve 'escape velocity' and transcend typical growth metrics. Utilizing a mix of qualitative and quantitative data-driven approaches, we examine organizational, regional, and industry factors that contribute to a firm's exceptional status. Our methodology involves collecting data on 14.9 million observations and 1,458,915 firms in the United Kingdom during 2001-2017 and probing the drivers of outlier firms. We adopt an abductive reasoning process, guided by previous findings on firm acceleration and growth, to explore potential factors influencing outlier emergence. This flexible approach enables us to delve into the dynamics of outlier development and formulate policy recommendations. To this end, our study examines the role of context in outlier emergence by focusing on factors that influence a firm's likelihood of becoming an exceptional outlier, and demonstrating that exceptional performers can emerge at multiple levels, including the firm, industry, and ecosystem regional levels. Taken together, what we find expands our understanding of exceptional performers, shedding light on the mechanisms within a firm and its organizational context that generate such exceptional outcomes.

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