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The cannibal’s mandate: Rhetorical enactment and the self-cannibalization paradox in the generative AI era

Author

Listed:
  • Morgan Blangeois

    (CleRMa - Clermont Recherche Management - ESC Clermont-Ferrand - École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) - Clermont-Ferrand - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)

  • Norbert Lebrument

    (CleRMa - Clermont Recherche Management - ESC Clermont-Ferrand - École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) - Clermont-Ferrand - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, IAE - UCA - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Clermont-Auvergne - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)

Abstract

This article investigates how leading Digital Service Companies (DSCs) navigate the self-cannibalization paradox posed by generative AI (GenAI). This paradox creates a contradiction where firms must adopt a technology that erodes their effort-based business model to remain competitive. Grounded in paradox theory, we analyse this tension using a longitudinal dataset of 124 earnings call transcripts (2019–2024). Through a mixed-method design combining topic modelling and qualitative coding, we theorize how firms discursively enact dynamic capabilities—sensing, seizing, and transforming—to manage this threat. We identify a dual-front public narrative focused on client innovation and internal mastery. This rhetorical performance functions as a mechanism for symbolic management, allowing leaders to project control while deferring a direct confrontation with the paradox. This study contributes to strategy research by theorizing the discursive management of a technology-induced paradox and offering a scalable methodology to analyse this performative layer of adaptation.

Suggested Citation

  • Morgan Blangeois & Norbert Lebrument, 2026. "The cannibal’s mandate: Rhetorical enactment and the self-cannibalization paradox in the generative AI era," Post-Print halshs-05519349, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-05519349
    DOI: 10.1016/j.sbr.2025.100025
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