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Showing papers by "Walter W. Powell published in 2009"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article analyzed how professional values and practices influence the character of nonprofit organizations, with data from a random sample of 501 (c)(3) operating charities in the San Francisco Bay Area collected between 2003 and 2004.
Abstract: This paper analyzes how professional values and practices influence the character of nonprofit organizations, with data from a random sample of 501 (c)(3) operating charities in the San Francisco Bay Area collected between 2003 and 2004. Expanded professionalism in the nonprofit world involves not only paid, full-time careers and credentialed expertise but also the integration of professional ideals into the everyday world of charitable work. We develop key indicators of professionalism and measure organizational rationalization as expressed in the use of strategic planning, independent financial audits, quantitative program evaluation, and consultants. As hypothesized, charities operated by paid personnel and full-time management show higher levels of rationalization. While traditional professionals (doctors, lawyers, and the clergy) do not differ significantly from executives with no credentialed background in eschewing business-like practices, managerial professionals champion such efforts actively, as...

708 citations


Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the joint effects of geographic propinquity and network position on organizational innovation using negative binomial count models of patenting activity for U.S.-based life science firms in industrial districts and regional clusters across a 12-year time period, 1988-1999.
Abstract: Industrial districts and regional clusters depend on the networks that arise from reciprocal linkages among co-located organizations, while physical proximity among firms can alter the nature of information and resource flows through networks. We consider the joint effects of geographic propinquity and network position on organizational innovation using negative binomial count models of patenting activity for U.S.-based life science firms in industrial districts and regional clusters across a 12-year time period, 1988-1999. We find evidence that regional agglomeration and network centrality exert complementary, but contingent, influences on organizational innovation. Results show that in the high velocity, research-intensive field of biotechnology, geographic and network positions have both independent and contingent effects on organizational innovation. The influence of centrality in local, physically co-located partner networks depends on the extent to which firms are also embedded in a global network comprising physically distant partners. Such global centrality, however, alters how proximity to two important classes of organization - other biotechnology firms and public sector research organizations, such as universities, research institutes, and teaching hospitals - influences innovation. Regional agglomeration shapes the character of information and resource flows through networks, while much of what makes industrial clusters region-like involves the structure of their internal networks. We conclude that network effects persist both independently and interdependently with geographic variables, and regional characteristics influence the degree to which centrality enhances innovation.

480 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the joint effects of geographic propinquity and network position on organizational innovation using negative binomial count models of patenting activity for U.S.-based life science firms in industrial districts and regional clusters across a 12-year time period, 1988-1999.
Abstract: Industrial districts and regional clusters depend on the networks that arise from reciprocal linkages among co-located organizations, while physical proximity among firms can alter the nature of information and resource flows through networks. We consider the joint effects of geographic propinquity and network position on organizational innovation using negative binomial count models of patenting activity for U.S.-based life science firms in industrial districts and regional clusters across a 12-year time period, 1988–1999. We find evidence that regional agglomeration and network centrality exert complementary, but contingent, influences on organizational innovation. Results show that in the high-velocity, research-intensive field of biotechnology, geographic and network positions have both independent and contingent effects on organizational innovation. The influence of centrality in local, physically co-located partner networks depends on the extent to which firms are also embedded in a global network c...

442 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a longitudinal analysis of more than 300 U.S. biotechnology firms between 1988 and 1999 suggests that scientists serve more than just a research function in knowledge-intensive industries.

55 citations


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: Weber et al. as mentioned in this paper show that the Burokratie als organisatorische Verkorperung is ein so wirkungsvolles und machtiges Mittel zur Kontrolle von Mannern und Frauen, das der einmal in Gang gesetzte Buro-kratisierungsprozes unumkehrbar sei.
Abstract: In seiner Untersuchung „Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus“ warnte Max Weber vor der Eigendynamik, die der durch Askese geleitete rationale Geist entfaltet habe, und behauptete, das die rationale Ordnung unter kapitalistischen Bedingungen zu einem stahlharten Gehause geworden sei, in dem die Menschheit — von der Moglichkeit prophetischer Wiederbelebung einmal abgesehen — eingeschlossen sei, „bis der letzte Zentner fossilen Brennstoffs vergluht ist“ (Weber 1952: 181f.). Im Rahmen seiner Herrschaftssoziologie nahm Weber dieses Thema erneut auf und behauptete, das die Burokratie als organisatorische Verkorperung dieses rationalen Geistes ein so wirkungsvolles und machtiges Mittel zur Kontrolle von Mannern und Frauen sei, das der einmal in Gang gesetzte Burokratisierungsprozes unumkehrbar sei (Weber 1968). Das Bild eines stahlharten Gehauses blieb angesichts der zunehmenden Beschleunigung des Burokratisierungsprozesses standiger Begleiter der Gesellschaftswissenschaftler, doch obwohl sich die Burokratie in den achtzig Jahren seit Webers Arbeiten unablassig ausgebreitet hat, gehen wir davon aus, das nun eine andere Kraft die organisationale Rationalisierung vorantreibt.

38 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: The current embrace of rankings may reflect a new Taylorism, as metrics have the capacity to not only reorder the social institutions they are purported to assess, but also provide a patina of objectivity, especially for the uninitiated as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Contemporary life is replete with all manner of rankings, metrics, and benchmarks (Power, 1997; Espeland & Stevens, 1998). From J.D. Power evaluations of cars to Zagat restaurant reviews to US News and World Report ratings of colleges and universities, modern life seems to be deep in the grip of assessment and evaluation. In the early decades of the twentieth century, the introduction of scientific management transformed the workplace, altering relations between labor and capital, and embedding control over the nature and pace of work into the technical organization of production (Edwards, 1979; Shenhav, 1995). In a similar fashion, the current embrace of rankings may reflect a new “Taylorism,” as metrics have the capacity to not only reorder the social institutions they are purported to assess, but also provide a patina of objectivity, especially for the uninitiated.

31 citations