Organizational learning II: Theory, method and practice

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)

In recent years, economic geographers have seized on the concepts of `path dependence' and `lock-in' as key ingredients in constructing an evolutionary approach to their subject. However, they have tended to invoke these notions without proper examination of the ongoing discussion and debate devoted to them within evolutionary economics and elsewhere. Our aim in this paper, therefore, is, first, to highlight some of the unresolved issues that surround these concepts, and, second, to explore their usefulness for understanding the evolution of the economic landscape and the process of regional development. We argue that in many important aspects, path dependence and `lock-in' are place-dependent processes, and as such require geographical explanation. However, the precise meaning of regional `lock-in', we contend, is unclear, and little is known about why it is that some regional economies become locked into development paths that lose dynamism, whilst other regional economies seem able to avoid this danger and in effect are able to `reinvent' themselves through successive new paths or phases of development. The issue of regional path creation is thus equally important, but has been rarely discussed. We conclude that whilst path dependence is an important feature of the economic landscape, the concept requires further elaboration if it is to function as a core notion in an evolutionary economic geography.

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Path dependence and regional economic evolution

Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis

Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington Are Dashed in Oakland; Or Why It's Amazing That Federal Programs Work at All . By Jeffrey L. Pressman and Aaron B. Wildavsky. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. Pp. xviii, 182. $7.50.)

The transposition of European Union (EU) law into national law is a significant part of the EU policy process However, political scientists have not devoted to it the attention that it deserves Here, transposition is construed as part of the wider process of policy implementation Drawing on implementation theory from the field of public policy, the article outlines three sets of factors (institutional, political, and substantive) that affect transposition Second, the article examines the manner in which eight member states transpose EU legislation, and identifies a European style of transposition An institutionalist approach is employed to argue that this style is not the result of a process of convergence Rather, it stems from the capacity of institutions to adapt to novel situations by means of their own standard operating procedures and institutional repertoires It concludes by highlighting (a) the partial nature of efforts at EU level to improve transposition, themselves impaired by the politics of the policy process and (b) some ideas regarding future research

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The Transposition of EU Law: ‘Post-Decisional Politics’ and Institutional Autonomy

This article analyses the manner in which the Parliaments of France, the UK and Greece have reacted to the process of European integration. It is argued that their reactions display an incremental logic marked by slow, small and marginal changes based on existing institutional repertoires. In all three cases Parliaments have used familiar mechanisms and procedures which they have modified only marginally. This reaction was path dependent, i.e. it was consistent with long-established patterns reflecting the subordinate position of these Parliaments within national polities.

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Incrementalism and Path Dependence: European Integration and Institutional Change in National Parliaments

Book synopsis: This innovative and lively book draws upon recent and ongoing research on the EU policy process and utilizes theoretical concepts from both international relations and public policy studies. The contributors are some of the best-known writers on European politics and policy making. Their contributions offer accessible and stimulating introductions to the key institutions of the EU, providing the reader with a detailed knowledge of how policy is made and implemented.

Implementing EU public policy

Greece is frequently characterized as a laggard in the implementation of EU policy. This article examines the key characteristics of the Greek central government and links them to patterns of policy implementation. However, governments, like all organizations, have the capacity to learn. Thus, implementation patterns change over time. Observations and inferences from experience matched by the acquisition of new techniques and critical events help to improve the implementation of EU public policy. This is demonstrated bymeans of a case study (public procurement policy).

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Learning and steering: changing implementation patterns and the Greek central government

Introduction - Dionyssis G. Dimitrakopoulos PART I: THE COMMISSION AS AN ORGANISATION 1. The Prodi Era: Fresh start or free fall? - John Peterson 2. An historic accomplishment? The Prodi commission and administrative reform - Hussein Kassim 3. Organisational cuiture and the Kinnock white paper - Michelle Cini 4. Administrative reform as political control: Lessons from DG VIII, 1958 - 1975 - Veronique Dimier PART II: THE COMMISSION AS AN ACTOR 5. EU member states and the Prodi commission - Hussein Kassim and Anand Menon 6. The European Commission's powers in shaping European policies - Susanne K. Schmidt 7. The commission-council tandem in the foreign policy arena - Fraser Cameron and David Spence 8. The European Commission between the acquis communautaire and enlargement - Irene Bellier PART III: CONCLUSION 9. Governing without government? - Dionyssis G. Dimitrakopoulos and Argyris G. Passas

Dionyssis G. Dimitrakopoulos

Papers

The Transposition of EU Law: ‘Post-Decisional Politics’ and Institutional Autonomy

Incrementalism and Path Dependence: European Integration and Institutional Change in National Parliaments

Implementing EU public policy

Learning and steering: changing implementation patterns and the Greek central government

The changing European Commission