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)

Начала политической экономии и податного обложения = The principles of political economy and taxation

There has been a plethora of published research related to total quality management (TQM) in the last few decades. However, very few studies focused on cataloging critical factors of TQM. One of the objectives of this literature review was to investigate the state of TQM by examining and listing various TQM factors identified based on survey studies conducted in different countries and published in a variety of journals over the past decade. An examination of 76 survey studies that used an integrated approach to TQM showed that the TQM factors could be grouped under 25 categories. An analysis of the 347 survey based research articles published between 1989 and 2000 using these 25 factors as a framework revealed the most frequently covered TQM factors in the literature. Another goal of the paper was to analyse the objectives of these articles by year and type of journal they were published in to determine the trends in TQM survey based studies and recommend future direction for research. The analysis showed that the objectives of the 347 studies could be grouped under six categories.

An investigation of the total quality management survey based research published between 1989 and 2000: A literature review

Beyond formal R&D: Taking advantage of other sources of innovation in low- and medium-technology industries

International trade. Statistics

The role of supply chain orientation in achieving supply chain sustainability

Advanced manufacturing technology adoption—the German experience

Agile practices and performance: Examining the role of psychological empowerment

There has been little empirical research that examines the position and role of quality management in strategic manufacturing decision-making. The Australian wine industry was chosen for this research because it has a major focus on quality in process and product. The research found that quality assurance and control rank as the second most important area of manufacturing process decision-making, after plant and equipment. It also found that quality is the most important competitive priority for wine producers, followed by product cost. Quality, plant and equipment and product cost were found to be strongly related and together formed the basis for domestic and international competition in this industry. An ANOVA was used to determine that there were no significant differences in the importance of quality for different organizational characteristics (p< 0.05) and a factor analysis determined that quality control and assurance are related to production planning and control in terms of their strategic posit...

The role of quality management in manufacturing strategy: Experiences from the Australian wine industry

There has been little research focused on identifying the position and role of capacity management in strategic manufacturing decision making. This research presents the findings of a major investigation into strategic capacity management in the Australian wine industry. The research found that advanced processing technology is being used as part of a strategy for increasing capacity in this industry. It was also found that supply dependability and product cost/price were the most important competitive priorities for wine production, after product quality. All three of these were found to be directly influenced by the level of capacity management. The importance of capacity management varied, depending on the category of wine producer (32 different categories were identified). It was also determined that the strategic position of capacity management in the manufacturing decision making process is linked to production planning and control, quality control and assurance and plant and equipment.

Stuart Orr

Papers

The role of supply chain orientation in achieving supply chain sustainability

Advanced manufacturing technology adoption—the German experience

Agile practices and performance: Examining the role of psychological empowerment

The role of quality management in manufacturing strategy: Experiences from the Australian wine industry

The Role of Capacity Management in Manufacturing Strategy: Experiences from the Australian Wine Industry