The Social Psychology of Organizations.

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)

Public Management Reform. A Comparative Analysis

Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice

Public Management Reform. A Comparative Analysis - Into the Age of Austeriy

Most countries that have adopted the public–private partnership (PPP) model as a means of implementing infrastructure projects have launched dedicated supporting units to guide policy development and stimulate project implementation. This paper draws on the theoretical notion of PPP-enabling fields to carry out a comparative analysis of the roles and functions of PPP-supporting units across 19 European countries with varying PPP experiences. We distinguish four categories of national support of PPPs, from skeptical systems of zero support to full-fledged PPP systems. Furthermore, we take initial steps to analyze the possible link between national differences in institutionalized PPP support and the amount of implemented PPP projects. Finally, pathways for further research on PPP-supporting units are discussed.

National Varieties of Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs): A Comparative Analysis of PPP-Supporting Units in 19 European Countries

https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/247455374/1_s2.0_S0263786321000065_main.pdf

Asymmetric legitimacy perception across megaproject stakeholders: The case of the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link

Although the concept of public-private partnership has been adopted in most countries in the world, relatively little attention has been paid to the ways PPP has been implemented and how the national political, legislative and administrative context affect the success of public-private partnerships. This paper compares the PPP experience of the three post-communist countries - the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland - with that of Finland. It shows that although PPP was equally alien to the countries' political and administrative systems, Finland has managed to implement PPPs without any serious problems while in the three transitive countries the same process produced numerous major failures and controversies. Several factors behind this contrast are identified including political and institutional stability, different nature of regulatory frameworks and established managerial practices. In the end, important lessons are drawn from the cases for both the most developed and transitive countries implementing PPPs.

Implementation of transport infrastructure PPPs in the Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and Slovakia - a comparative analysis on national contexts

With the financial crisis having casted doubt on many standard business models a search for adaptations began. Infrastructure investments around the world have produced rather mixed results. Previous research identified the main success/failure factors. At the same time, stakeholders’ perception of risks has evolved having unforeseen implications. Our findings indicate that in order to bring risks under control and to secure a wider value creation, a new open system design needs to be applied in the process of planning, funding and managing complex transport infrastructure schemes.

/pdf/making-partnerships-work-integrative-open-system-design-for-1c0w3fvji9.pdf

Petr Witz

Papers

National Varieties of Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs): A Comparative Analysis of PPP-Supporting Units in 19 European Countries

Asymmetric legitimacy perception across megaproject stakeholders: The case of the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link

Implementation of transport infrastructure PPPs in the Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and Slovakia - a comparative analysis on national contexts

Making partnerships work: integrative open system design for a new generation of complex infrastructure schemes

Transport PPP east of the Elbe: Destined to succeed or doomed to fail?