Walter W. Powell

Bio: Walter W. Powell is an academic researcher from Stanford University. The author has contributed to research in topics: New institutionalism & Organizational analysis. The author has an hindex of 56, co-authored 120 publications receiving 82637 citations. Previous affiliations of Walter W. Powell include University of Michigan & University of Arizona.

Public Research and Industrial Innovation: A Comparison of US and European Innovation Systems in the Life Sciences

Abstract: Public research systems in the United States and Europe are often compared with respect to their divergent levels of involvement in the private economy. The U.S. research system, with its mix of both public and private institutions, has long played a significant role in conducting research that contributes to technological development and industrial performance (Geiger, 1988; Rosenberg and Nelson, 1994). Historically, this 'knowledge plus' orientation, in which high quality public and academic research tends to be driven by 'joint goals of understanding and use' (Stokes, 1997, p. 15) was contrasted to the European scene, where universities were believed to contribute more to knowledge for its own sake and to the preservation of distinctive national cultures (Ben David, 1977).

A sociologist looks at crowds: Innovation or invention?

Abstract: Crowd-based organizational models are purported to be more open and participatory than traditional organizational forms. But are they novel inventions or permutations of forms that have existed previously? This essay examines the wide array of innovations pursued under the umbrella label of crowd phenomena and asks whether they have altered traditional ways of organizing. The ramifications of crowds for both workers and consumers are also discussed. Central features of crowd organizing include spot transactions, short-term relations, demand-based pricing, heterogeneous demand, and reputations established through feedback mechanisms. Security and formality appear to have been replaced by openness and precariousness. The essay concludes with a call for further study of the contents of crowd-generated products and services.

Carrières et contradictions en sciences de la vie : réponses du corps académique aux transformations de la connaissance et de ses utilisations

Abstract: Resume Sur la base d'une enquete empirique aupres de chercheurs de deux campus universitaires, les auteurs proposent de rendre compte de l'influence des evolutions des sciences de la vie sur les carrieres et les pratiques academiques. La preoccupation croissante des universitaires a l'egard de la commercialisation de la recherche est a l'origine de lignes de clivage inedites et de nouveaux criteres de reconnaissance. Ces evolutions sont le produit d'opportunites de financement, d'une transformation des missions structurant les politiques des universites et de l'essor de nouvelles technologies de recherche qui favorisent le rapprochement entre la recherche fondamentale et le developpement de produits issus de son application. Grâce a l'analyse approfondie d'entretiens, les auteurs mettent en evidence l'emergence de modeles de comportements des universitaires face aux opportunites commerciales qui se multiplient dans le domaine des sciences de la vie.

Conflict and consensus : a festschrift in honor of Lewis A. Coser

Abstract: active defense, a history of warfare, balance of terror, modern defense prospects, and the development of weapon technology. The anthology is concluded by a historical review of traditional Western and particularly Christian criteria for justice in war. This book does not only address itself to Catholics. It may favorably be read by anyone who wants complementary views concerning the somewhat biased proposals put forward by the so-called Palme Committee (named after the present Swedish prime minister, Olof Palme).

Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches

Abstract: This article synthesizes the large but diverse literature on organizational legitimacy, highlighting similarities and disparities among the leading strategic and institutional approaches. The analysis identifies three primary forms of legitimacy: pragmatic, based on audience self-interest; moral, based on normative approval: and cognitive, based on comprehensibility and taken-for-grantedness. The article then examines strategies for gaining, maintaining, and repairing legitimacy of each type, suggesting both the promises and the pitfalls of such instrumental manipulations.

Dynamic capabilities, what are they?

Abstract: This paper focuses on dynamic capabilities and, more generally, the resource-based view of the firm. We argue that dynamic capabilities are a set of specific and identifiable processes such as product development, strategic decision making, and alliancing. They are neither vague nor tautological. Although dynamic capabilities are idiosyncratic in their details and path dependent in their emergence, they have significant commonalities across firms (popularly termed ‘best practice’). This suggests that they are more homogeneous, fungible, equifinal, and substitutable than is usually assumed. In moderately dynamic markets, dynamic capabilities resemble the traditional conception of routines. They are detailed, analytic, stable processes with predictable outcomes. In contrast, in high-velocity markets, they are simple, highly experiential and fragile processes with unpredictable outcomes. Finally, well-known learning mechanisms guide the evolution of dynamic capabilities. In moderately dynamic markets, the evolutionary emphasis is on variation. In high-velocity markets, it is on selection. At the level of RBV, we conclude that traditional RBV misidentifies the locus of long-term competitive advantage in dynamic markets, overemphasizes the strategic logic of leverage, and reaches a boundary condition in high-velocity markets. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage

Abstract: In this article we offer a view that suggests that a firm's critical resources may span firm boundaries and may be embedded in interfirm resources and routines. We argue that an increasingly important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage is the relationship between firms and identify four potential sources of interorganizational competitive advantage: (1) relation-specific assets, (2) knowledge-sharing routines, (3) complementary resources/capabilities, and (4) effective governance. We examine each of these potential sources of rent in detail, identifying key subprocesses, and also discuss the isolating mechanisms that serve to preserve relational rents. Finally, we discuss how the relational view may offer normative prescriptions for firm-level strategies that contradict the prescriptions offered by those with a resource-based view or industry structure view.

“Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital”

Abstract: After briefly explaining why social capital (civil society) is important to democracy, Putnam devotes the bulk of this chapter to demonstrating social capital’s decline in the United States across the last quarter century. (See Putnam 1995 for a similar but more detailed argument.) While he acknowledges that the significance of a few countertrends is difficult to assess without further study, Putnam concludes that crucial factors such as social trust are eroding rapidly in the United States. He offers some possible explanations for this erosion and concludes by outlining the work needed to consider these possibilities more fully.

Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of who and What Really Counts

Abstract: Stakeholder theory has been a popular heuristic for describing the management environment for years, but it has not attained full theoretical status. Our aim in this article is to contribute to a theory of stakeholder identification and salience based on stakeholders possessing one or more of three relationship attributes: power, legitimacy, and urgency. By combining these attributes, we generate a typology of stakeholders, propositions concerning their salience to managers of the firm, and research and management implications.