What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Much effort goes into building markets as a tool for economic and social development, often overlooking that in too many places social exclusion and poverty prevent many, especially women, from participating in and accessing markets. Building on data from rural Bangladesh and analyzing the work of a prominent intermediary organization, we uncover institutional voids as the source of market exclusion and identify two sets of activities – redefining market architecture and legitimating new actors – as critical for building ‘inclusive' markets. We expose voids as ‘analytical spaces' and illustrate how they result from conflict and contradiction among institutional ‘bits and pieces' from local political, community, and religious spheres. Our findings put forward a perspective on market building that highlights the ‘on the ground' dynamics and attends to the ‘institutions at play', to their consequences, and to a more diverse set of ‘inhabitants' of institutions.

Building Inclusive Markets in Rural Bangladesh : How Intermediaries Work Institutional Voids

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to present a sampling method using virtual networks to study "hard-to-reach" populations. In the ambit of social research, the use of new technologies is still questioned because the selection bias is an obstacle to carry on scientific research on the Internet. In this regard, the authors' hypothesis is that the use of social networking sites (Web 2.0) can be effective for the study of "hard-to-reach" populations. The main advantages of this technique are that it can expand the geographical scope and facilitates the identification of individuals with barriers to access. Therefore, the use of virtual networks in non-probabilistic samples can increase the sample size and its representativeness. Design/methodology/approach - To test this hypothesis, a virtual method was designed using Facebook to identify Argentinean immigrant entrepreneurs in Spain (214 cases). A characteristic of this population is that some individuals are administratively invisible in national statistics because they have double nationality (non-EU and EU). The use of virtual sampling was combined with an online questionnaire as a complementary tool for Web 2.0 research in behavioural sciences. Findings - The number of cases detected by Facebook and the virtual response rate is higher than traditional snowball technique. The explanation is that people increase their level of confidence because the researcher shows his personal information (Facebook's profile) and also participates in their groups of interest (Facebook's groups). Moreover, the online questionnaires administration allows the quality of the information to be controlled and avoids duplication of cases. Originality/value - The present article is the first that uses Facebook as an instrument to study immigrants. Therefore its adoption represents a great challenge in the social research field because there are many barriers of access and search. It also proposes a novel mix of traditional methodologies updated with the use of new virtual possibilities of studying hard to reach populations, especially in areas of social research where the contributions of these methods are less developed.

Social research 2.0: virtual snowball sampling method using Facebook

This article presents the first narrative analysis of the areas of research that have developed within the destination marketing field since its commencement in 1973. Given the broad extent of the field, and the absence of any previous reviews in four decades, a key challenge is in providing a focus for such a disparate body of knowledge. The review is structured around one principal question: ‘To what extent is the Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) responsible for the competitiveness of the destination’? In pursuit of this underlying question, we address a number of themes including nomenclature and the DMO, the evolution of the destination marketing literature, competitiveness as the DMO reason d’etre, and DMO effectiveness including issues of branding and positioning, and future research themes in the field.

Destination marketing organizations and destination marketing : a narrative analysis of the literature

This paper looks at the implications of various maritime emissions reductions policies for maritime logistics. There can be important trade-offs that have to be made between the environmental benefits associated with such measures as reduction in steaming speed and change in the number of vessels in the fleet, and more conventional logistics attributes such as in-transit inventory holdings.

Balancing the economic and environmental performance of maritime transportation (vol 15, pg 458, 2010)

Customer segmentation for marinas: Evaluating marinas as destinations

Embedding social innovation process into the institutional context: Voids or supports

Purpose




This study aims to contribute to the scholarly fields of supply chain management (SCM) and service-dominant logic (SDL) by conducting a systematic literature review on business-to-business (B2B) marketing and SCM studies.




Design/methodology/approach




After the collection and refinement of 127 articles on SDL and SCM interface, descriptive and thematic analyses were applied to discover the current situation and the existing research streams in the literature.




Findings




The SDL-SCM literature focuses on five main research streams which are value co-creation and value-in-use, integration and relationship management, resource sharing, servitization and service supply chains. Each of them are explored in depth, and future research opportunities are proposed.




Research limitations/implications




The research is limited with the selected articles. Future scholarly attention to the intersection between SDL and SCM will enhance the knowledge on these fields.




Originality/value




The study contributes to both of these fields by summarizing the existing scholarly research and proposing research opportunities for scholars. It is one of the first efforts to systematically review the interface between SCM and SDL.

Service-dominant logic and supply chain management: a systematic literature review

Although it offers 1 both economic and environmental advantages particularly for long-distances, intermodal transport is still not utilized effectively, and it is challenged by many barriers to its utilization. On the other hand, the transport sector is influenced by recent trends, such as digitalization, Industry 4.0 and many technological innovations are introduced, aiming to transform the way of doing business. Therefore, understanding digitalization's potential to solve the transport sector's struggle for a higher degree of integration between different modes in intermodal transport is important. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential of different digital tools in mitigating barriers for increased utilization of intermodal transport. Semi-structured interviews and a policy Delphi study combined with a brainstorming session are conducted to classify various barriers for intermodal transport under certain categories and to understand if and how selected digital tools could help to mitigate these barriers. Findings indicate that the multi-actor nature of intermodal transport networks results in varying perceptions related with digital tools and technologies. This variance acts as a hindrance for digitalization within the conservative context of transportation industry and its cost-based competition structure. Adoption by market leaders, demand from intermodal transport buyers, vertical integration in intermodal transport chains are potential mitigation factors for elimination of barriers to digitalization in intermodal transportation.

Can digitalization mitigate barriers to intermodal transport? An exploratory study

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Ceren Altuntas Vural

Papers

Customer segmentation for marinas: Evaluating marinas as destinations

Embedding social innovation process into the institutional context: Voids or supports

Service-dominant logic and supply chain management: a systematic literature review

Can digitalization mitigate barriers to intermodal transport? An exploratory study

Sustainable Demand Chain Management: An Alternative Perspective for Sustainability in the Supply Chain☆