The Rise of the Celebrity Employee: How Permeable Organizational Boundaries Unlock Celebrity

The notion of celebrity permeates every aspect of society. Yet, despite its prevalence, organizational research on celebrity is severely limited. In a qualitative investigation, we develop grounded theory pertaining to the development and impact of celebrity employees. Our investigation uncovered employees who obtained celebrity (i.e., glamorous or notorious prestige) as a function of, but not subsumed by, their association with an employer. Working in an organization with a permeable organizational boundary allowed employees to traverse several pathways towards celebrity, with some obtaining high levels of celebrity. Those at the pinnacle of celebrity basked in adulation of both their fans and other employees looking up at them, all while performing their jobs well and bringing value to the organization. On the other hand, they felt depleted by it, finding the demands of fostering and maintaining numerous relationships external to the organization to be disruptive and draining. Through this study, we beg...