Showing papers in "Organization Studies in 2013"
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the evolution of institutional work as a scholarly conversation within organization studies, focusing in particular on where they fit into the current scholarly conversation and how they move us in important new directions.
Abstract: The study of institutional work has emerged as a dynamic research domain within organization studies. In this essay, we situate the papers published in the Special Issue. We first review the evolution of institutional work as a scholarly conversation within organization studies. We then introduce the papers in the Special Issue, focusing in particular on where they fit into the current scholarly conversation and how they move us in important new directions. Finally, we discuss a set of neglected issues that deserve further attention.
423 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore some of the forms of institutional work that organizations perform as they participate externally in the processes that drive change in the institutional logic that characterizes their field, and as they respond internally to the shift as it occurs.
Abstract: In this article, we explore some of the forms of institutional work that organizations perform as they participate externally in the processes that drive change in the institutional logic that characterizes their field, and as they respond internally to the shift as it occurs. More specifically, we present the results of an in-depth case study of Intel Corporation, a firm that was implicated in a fundamental shift in the institutional logic of its field in the late 1980s and 1990s as the field moved from a traditional supply chain logic dominated by computer assemblers to a new platform logic following very different organizing principles. Through the qualitative analysis of 72 interviews with Intel employees, complemented by extensive archival data from 1980 to 2000, we identify two forms of institutional work that Intel performed externally – external practice work and legitimacy work – and two forms of work that they carried out internally – internal practice work and identity work – as the organization worked to simultaneously influence the shift in logic that was occurring and to deal with the ramifications of the shift.
263 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report the results of a longitudinal case study depicting the relationship between internal and external legitimacy at Orion, an emergent creative professional firm, and address the following questions: How do different types of legitimacy emerge, and how do they interact to shape organizational evolution.
Abstract: We report the results of a longitudinal case study depicting the relationship between internal and external legitimacy at Orion, an emergent creative professional firm. We address the following questions: How do different types of legitimacy emerge, and how do they interact to shape organizational evolution? Introducing a staged process model, we demonstrate that organizational legitimacy is a product of action, which is continually reproduced and reconstructed by members of an organization in concert with external legitimation activities. Internal and external legitimacy evolve through a process of emergence, validation, diffusion and consensus, sometimes recursively repeating the cycle when imbalances result in conflict and friction.
252 citations
TL;DR: It is found that an orchestrator builds the capacity to assemble a network over time through the accumulation of resources and specialized expertise, however, as the network develops, an orchestra faces an evolving set of dilemmas arising from the need to demonstrate value for various members and audiences.
Abstract: Using longitudinal qualitative and network data capturing five years of evolution of an interorganizational network, this paper explores network orchestration – the process of assembling and developing an interorganizational network. In particular, we analyze shifts in the network orchestrator’s actions and the network’s structure and composition. We find that an orchestrator builds the capacity to assemble a network over time through the accumulation of resources and specialized expertise. However, as the network develops, an orchestrator faces an evolving set of dilemmas arising from the need to demonstrate value for various members and audiences. To resolve these dilemmas, orchestrators may shift their actions, moving from initially encouraging serendipitous encounters between network members (“blind dates”) to increasingly selecting members and more closely influencing their interactions (“arranging marriages”). We discuss implications of our findings for a processual understanding of orchestrated net...
198 citations
TL;DR: In this article, women continue to be underrepresented in senior positions in universities and their relative absence from the top jobs in management and business schools remains a cause for concern, and the aim of this study is to extend understanding of this situation by drawing on the feminist psychoanalytical post-structuralist theories of Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva.
Abstract: Women continue to be under-represented in senior positions in universities and their relative absence from the top jobs in management and business schools remains a cause for concern. The aim of this study is to extend understanding of this situation by drawing on the feminist psychoanalytical post-structuralist theories of Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva. The theoretical frame proposed engages with debates over language, discourse and the body and allows development of a theory of the disembodied symbolic order explaining women’s continued marginalization and devaluation in academe. This is achieved through analysis of empirical findings of the experiences of women faculty in nine management and business schools in England. The study demonstrates how male norms and woman’s absence from symbolic representations disables their participation in equivalent terms in the institutions studied, and how women often both collude with and resist their own marginalization in academia.
192 citations
TL;DR: The relationships between social movements and civil society on the one hand and the corporate world on the other hand are often shaped by conflict over the domination of economic, cultural and social life as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The relationships between social movements and civil society on the one hand, and the corporate world on the other hand, are often shaped by conflict over the domination of economic, cultural and social life. How this conflict plays out, in current as well as in historical times and places, is the central question that unites the papers in this special issue. In this essay, we review the differences and points of contact between the study of social movements, civil society and corporations, and offer an agenda for future research at this intersection that also frames the papers in the special issue. We suggest that three research areas are becoming increasingly important: the blurring of the three empirical domains and corresponding opportunities for theoretical integration, the institutional and cultural embeddedness of strategic interaction processes between agents, and the consequences of contestation and collaboration. The papers in this special issue are introduced in how they speak to these questions.
189 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that under certain conditions, output related performance measurement and pay-for-performance produce negative outcomes in public service, and they suggest as alternatives to the dominant output related pay for performance systems selection and socialization, exploratory use of output performance measures, and awards.
Abstract: Under certain conditions, output related performance measurement and pay-for-performance produce negative outcomes. We argue that in public service, these negative effects are stronger than in the private sector. We combine Behavioural Economics and Management Control Theory to determine under which conditions this is the case. We suggest as alternatives to the dominant output related pay-for-performance systems selection and socialization, exploratory use of output performance measures, and awards.
187 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical framework is developed to elaborate the interdependencies between actions, contexts and institutional logics, which is subject to relational analysis in order to explain the structural conditioning that shapes particular socio-historical contexts, the potential 'action options' contained within these contexts and the processes through which actors draw upon these.
Abstract: This paper builds on recent contributions to understanding conditions of institutional complexity by developing a theoretical framework to elaborate the interdependencies between actions, contexts and institutional logics. Our aim is to refine existing explanations of how actors inhabit complex institutional settings. Drawing on a critical realist ontology, we treat agency and structure as analytically distinct phenomena to advance our understanding of conditioned action. This is subject to relational analysis in order to explain the structural conditioning that shapes particular socio-historical contexts, the potential ‘action options’ contained within these contexts and the processes through which actors draw upon these. This reading of institutional reproduction and transformation allows us to reassess the ‘paradox of embedded agency’ by advancing understanding of the historically grounded and multilevel nature of structures and agency in institutional processes. Our approach offers conceptual refinements, a new sensitizing framework and methodological insights to guide studies of the ways actors inhabit complex institutional settings.
174 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make the case that there are four distinct forms of organizational values: espoused, attributed, shared and aspirational, and they use these forms to reveal the dynamic nature of organizational value by delineating the evolution of gaps and overlaps between them.
Abstract: We make the case that there are four distinct forms of organizational values – espoused, attributed, shared and aspirational. These partial, but related, forms encompass variation in temporal orientation and levels of analysis. We use these forms to reveal the dynamic nature of organizational values by delineating the evolution of gaps and overlaps between them. We set out a series of propositions, originating from institutional, organizational and managerial sources to explain the nature of movement between these distinct forms of values and the potential implications for organizational behaviour and performance. Finally, we consider the possibilities of this fine-grained analysis of the organizational values concept for future research.
161 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the interaction between cognition, emotions, and safety culture in the context of a field study on learning from errors in the Italian Air Force was considered, and it was found that errors often stem from sequential action chains that are concealed in habitual behavior and that become visible only when unforeseen circumstances occur.
Abstract: Learning from errors is essential to ensuring organizational safety and improving levels of performance. We consider the interaction between cognition, emotions, and safety culture in the context of a field study on learning from errors in the Italian Air Force. We find that errors often stem from sequential action chains that are concealed in habitual behavior and that become visible only when unforeseen circumstances occur. Furthermore, cognitive appraisal of risky situations triggers emotions of variable intensity that, when rationalized retrospectively, promote the internalization of lessons learned. Finally, cognitive and emotional experiences of errors are grounded in the broader safety culture of an organization, which provides a supportive context for error reporting and encourages the sharing of information and knowledge about error experiences. The analysis further suggests that cognition, emotion, and safety culture interact through sensemaking processes that inform the construction of errors a...
159 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the organization of higher education and research set-ups with a strong lens and identify the interdependencies existing between how they position themselves with respect to quality dimensions and internal organizational measures.
Abstract: Quality judgements in terms of academic standards of excellence required by external stakeholders such as labour markets and steering hierarchies obviously exert strong pressure on universities. Do they generate an ‘iron cage’ effect, imposing a passive and uniform conformity on global standards? The paper examines the organization of higher education and research set-ups with a strong lens. What does academic quality actually mean when observed in the field? How do universities and their subunits – professional schools, colleges, etc. – actually achieve what they call quality? A methodological and analytical framework is tested. Three sociological concepts – diversity, recognition and local order – make it possible to build four ideal types applicable to comparative inquiry. Such a typology identifies the interdependencies existing between how they position themselves with respect to quality dimensions and internal organizational measures. The paper contributes to a broader organizational study agenda: how do local orders face and deal with market and hierarchy dynamics in a global world of apparently increasing standardization under pressure from soft power. It questions the effect of the ‘iron cage’ hypothesis. It lists a series of changing patterns or dynamics between types of universities in terms of quality sensitivity, fabrication and content. Diversity and standardization in fact coexist.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop the concept of meeting arena as a hybrid of three forms of social order: organization, institution, and network, and argue that the complex figuration of meeting arenas constitutes an infrastructure that synchronizes the dispersed activities of movement actors in time and space.
Abstract: In recent years, social movement scholars have shown increasing interest in the internal lives of social movements, but this turn from “social movements as actors” to “social movements as spaces” has not yet led to a conceptual apparatus that addresses the key role of face-to-face meetings, especially in the inter-organizational domain of mesomobilization. Building on the concept of “partial organization”, the paper develops the concept of “meeting arena” as a hybrid of three forms of social order: organization, institution, and network. It is argued that the complex figuration of meeting arenas in a social movement or protest mobilization constitutes an infrastructure that synchronizes the dispersed activities of movement actors in time and space. This infrastructure is not an entirely emergent phenomenon but is also the result of conscious decisions by organizers. Heuristic, methodological, and theoretical implications of this novel perspective on social movements are discussed, highlighting especially ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare Unity Temple by Frank Lloyd Wright, a building that challenged the accepted practices of ecclesiastical design in the architectural profession, with the most prominent churches during the same period.
Abstract: Institutional theorists focus on practices that spread because they conform with and build on established cultural assumptions and resources. Novel practices, however, not only fail to conform to, but also challenge the dominant institutional order. We seek to understand the process by which novel practices move from entrepreneurial anomaly to consecrated exemplar within a field. We contrast Unity Temple by Frank Lloyd Wright—a building that challenged the accepted practices of ecclesiastical design in the architectural profession—with the most prominent churches during the same period. We find two distinct legitimation processes—institutional evangelism where creators express their identity and generate novel practices versus adaptive emulation where adopters focus on prestigious others and emulate their established practices. We reveal that actors engaged in institutional evangelism and adaptive emulation, employing institutional work and leveraging ideas, materials and identities to effect, transform, ...
TL;DR: In this article, a longitudinal case study illustrates how Italian professions resisted the decisive intervention of the Italian Government to coercively reform the professional service sector and reconstituted institutional arrangements that had been severely disrupted.
Abstract: This paper contributes to extending institutional theory by theorizing institutional maintenance as a process of repair and empirically examining repair work in a professional setting. Our in-depth, longitudinal case study illustrates how Italian professions—led by two professional associations—rebuffed the decisive intervention of the Italian Government to coercively reform the professional service sector and reconstituted institutional arrangements that had been severely disrupted. The paper advances theory on the resilience of institutions by showing that maintenance repair work enables powerful incumbents to reverse change and re-establish the status quo.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse the relationship between identity work and internal legitimacy and show that some forms of identity work are also a form of internal legitimacy work, and how this identity talk constructs organizations as more (or less) legitimate.
Abstract: We analyse the relationships between identity work and internal legitimacy. Based on an in-depth case study of prisoners in Helsinki Prison, we focus on how their identity work affirmed and contested three kinds of institutional legitimacy – pragmatic, moral and cognitive. The research contribution we make is to show that some forms of identity work are also a form of internal legitimacy work, and how this identity talk constructs organizations as more (or less) legitimate. This is important because it demonstrates that identity work is an intrinsic (though often overlooked) aspect of processes of organizing.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors revisited the Burrell and Morgan model for classifying organization theory through meta-theoretical analysis of the major intellectual movement to emerge in recent decades, post-structuralism and more broadly post-modernism.
Abstract: The Burrell and Morgan model for classifying organization theory is revisited through meta-theoretical analysis of the major intellectual movement to emerge in recent decades, post-structuralism and more broadly postmodernism. Proposing a retrospective paradigm for this movement, we suggest that its research can be characterized as ontologically relativist, epistemologically relationist and methodologically reflexive; this also represents research that can be termed deconstructionist in its view of human nature. When this paradigm is explored further, in terms of Burrell and Morgan’s assumptions for the ‘nature of society’, two analytical domains emerge – normative post-structural and critical post-structural. Assessing the types of research developed within them, and focusing on actor-network theory in particular, we describe how post-structural and postmodern thinking can be classified within, rather than outside, or after, the Burrell and Morgan model. Consequently we demonstrate not only that organiza...
TL;DR: This paper explored types of institutional work through which actors first maintain domination and grant acquiescence to oppression and, second, target oppressive systems through acts of resistance, focusing on key elements that existing studies on institutional work have neglected.
Abstract: In recent years there has been an outburst of studies aiming to advance our understanding of how actors do work to create, maintain and disrupt institutions. Drawing on work on the Holocaust, a largely neglected event in organization theory, we explore types of institutional work through which actors first maintain domination and grant acquiescence to oppression and, second, target oppressive systems through acts of resistance. This approach offers an opportunity to study a familiar set of processes and phenomena on fresh terms and to focus on key elements that existing studies on institutional work have neglected.
TL;DR: In this article, a market mediation strategy is designed to encourage firms to shift towards more eco-friendly supply practices, by creating business opportunities for them, based on the assumption that firms will see new business opportunities, which will prompt them to adopt more ecofriendly practices.
Abstract: Social movement theory has recently paid a lot of attention to the diversity of strategies used by social movements to pressurize companies, and has spawned an abundant literature on the combined perspective of social movement studies and market organization studies. This paper adopts a rather different perspective, drawing on market theories from the economic sociology of evaluation to assess a specific strategy developed by a number of groups within the environmental social movement, which relies on the market’s capacity to mediate their claims. The literature has widely considered why some environmental social movement organizations (SMOs) choose to address consumers, even though it is not in their tradition to do so and even though their objective is not directly related to consumption issues. I seek to contribute to this debate by analysing the ‘how’ rather than the ‘why’, by highlighting a specific social movement strategy which is mediated by market mechanisms. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of a strategy consisting of attempts to change the most prevalent valuation criteria within the market by introducing principles of worth that rely on products’ environmental performance. This involves activist organizations suggesting new product valuation criteria, and then seeking to convince firms that consumers’ preferences are changing.Their assumption is that firms will see new business opportunities, which will prompt them to adopt more eco-friendly practices. This market mediation strategy is designed to encourage firms to shift towards more eco-friendly supply practices, by creating business opportunities for them. It shows how SMOs, in order to directly shape consumers’ preferences, urge them to introduce eco-friendly principles of worth into their valuation of products by providing them with market devices to help in their purchasing choices. By applying these strategies, SMOs seek to shape the market and create business opportunities for firms. Their intention is to make companies see the value of changing some of their practices by introducing new eco-friendly features in their products, because consumers have been convinced by SMOs of the value of such features.
SMOs must then pursue two important objectives: one is to shape consumers’ preferences for that kind of valuation category on the market by convincing them of their responsibilities and their role as agents of change; and the other is to convince companies that a real shift in consumers’ preferences is taking place in the market, so that they see it as an interesting opportunity to benefit from the SMOs’ shaping of the market.
TL;DR: In this paper, a process theory of interactions between local, national and international actors within transnational advocacy networks is developed based on the case of a resistance movement against a planned bauxite mine on tribal land in India.
Abstract: Traditional models of transnational advocacy networks (TANs) and stakeholder management do not capture the nuance and dynamics of (counter-)organizing processes around anti-corporate mobilization. Based on the case of a resistance movement against a planned bauxite mine on tribal land in India, we develop a process theory of interactions between local, national and international actors within transnational advocacy networks. These encounters are not always friendly and are often characterized by conflict between actors with disparate goals and interests. We highlight the importance of national advocacy networks (NANs) in anti-corporate social movements and describe the conflicts and disruptions that result from ignoring them. Our findings also point to the role of corporate counter-mobilization strategies in shaping resistance movements. Our narrative revolves around a particular focal actor in the anti-mining campaign: a young tribal man who emerged as a passionate spokesperson for the movement, but later became a supporter of the controversial mine. Our findings contribute to a richer understanding of the processes underlying transnational and national anti-corporate mobilization.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the role of critical emotional incidents and emotional engagement practices in multi-stakeholder trust-building in a multi-organizational multi-player partnership.
Abstract: This paper explores trust-building in multi-stakeholder partnerships. Through an analysis of the development of one multi-stakeholder partnership between a multinational corporation, two levels of government, and local indigenous peoples, we found that trust-building is a dynamic process in which emotionality plays a key role. Critical emotional incidents can unexpectedly punctuate the partnership process, serving as turning points in the development of trust. We also found that the practices used by the partners to navigate these incidents transformed negative emotions into positive ones. We theorize on the role that critical emotional incidents and emotional engagement practices play in multi-stakeholder partnerships.
TL;DR: In this paper, the Sartrean metaphor of stickiness is used to reveal the kinetic elite's experiences of "non-places" which are ephemeral, interchangeable and monotonous spaces of mobility.
Abstract: A ‘mobilities turn’ has taken place in the social sciences, which is finding its way into organization studies. As research highlights how work and organization are mobile and spatially dispersed, metaphors of liquidity, flows, fluidity and nomads have become significant. This article seeks to contribute to the mobilities turn by introducing the Sartrean metaphor of stickiness. In contrast to the currently dominant movement metaphors, this metaphor brings into focus ambiguities and frictions and overcomes problematic connotations of nomadism and sedentarism. The paper draws on the metaphor of stickiness to reveal the kinetic elite’s – the group of highly mobile elite workers – experiences of ‘non-places’ (Auge, 1995), which are ephemeral, interchangeable and monotonous spaces of mobility. Qualitative data gathered at two management consultancy firms show how the stickiness of being on the move can give rise to experiences of ambiguity, disorientation and loss: the lures of glamour, escape and liberation f...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on an important but hitherto neglected aspect of alliance capability by investigating how partnering firms may learn how to better manage their dyadic R&D collaborations.
Abstract: Previous research has maintained that the capacity to manage alliances is a distinct capability, defined as the ability to identify, negotiate, manage, monitor and terminate collaborations. This paper focuses on an important but hitherto neglected aspect of alliance capability by investigating how partnering firms may learn how to better manage their dyadic R&D collaborations. In particular, we seek to test the Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) model of dynamic knowledge creation by establishing a link between the facilitation of four knowledge conversion processes – socialization, externalization, combination and internalization – and an improved capability to manage inter-organizational R&D processes. We specify and extend the model by identifying and testing several critical interactions between these knowledge conversion processes. Relying on data from 105 R&D partnerships in the global telecommunications industry, we suggest that the failure to support one of these knowledge conversion processes has the pot...
TL;DR: In this article, a critical practice of questioning and problematizing moral orders and moral rules-in-use in which subjects (re)define their relations to self and others is defined.
Abstract: This paper contributes to the development of a practice-based understanding of ethics. Ethics is here conceived as a critical practice of questioning and problematizing moral orders and moral rules-in-use in which subjects (re)define their relations to self and others. Situating this conception of ethics in the context of practice theory, we draw upon ideas of responsible decision-making (Derrida) and truth-telling (Foucault) to examine Daniel Ellsberg’s leaking of the "Pentagon Papers" as illustrative of ethics as critical practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the role of technology and meaning in the institutional work of newsmakers by analyzing ethnographic data from an Italian business newspaper undertaking a project integrating the print and online newsrooms, showing how technology makes certain actions possible and even proposes action for the journalists, in their enactment of the institution of business news.
Abstract: In this article we investigate the role of technology and meaning in the institutional work of newsmakers. By analysing ethnographic data from an Italian business newspaper undertaking a project integrating the print and online newsrooms, we show how technology makes certain actions possible – and even proposes action – for the journalists, in their enactment of the institution of business news. Drawing on Callon’s notion of agencement and Battilana and D’Aunno’s conceptualization of human agency in institutional work, our analysis shows that action is taken in the interaction between humans and non-humans, and changes in technology might trigger institutional work. The institutional work of journalists is performed by means of both old and new technologies; if new technologies trigger institutional work by proposing new actions that need to be made meaningful by the journalists, old technology functions as a ‘law book’, where the institution of business news is inscribed. The journalists then use this ‘l...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that there has been surprisingly little cross-fertilization between organization theory and public policy studies, and suggest some general strategies to promote cross fertilisation between two apparently related fields of inquiry.
Abstract: I argue that organization theory and public policy studies, two field that share many common origins, have had surprisingly little cross-fertilization and that this state of affairs is both injurious and correctable. This paper (1) considers the costs and the foregone opportunities resulting from this mutual intellectual disregard, (2) presents an illustrative case to show the possibility of cross-fertilizing public policy and organization studies, and (3) suggests some general strategies to promote cross-fertilization between these two apparently related fields of inquiry. I provide a detailed illustration of the cross-fertilization of public policy and organization studies by recounting the history of “dimensional publicness theory,” a theory lens that, uncommonly, has been employed by both organization theorists and public policy scholars. I conclude with suggestions for promoting cross-fertilization between public policy studies and organization theory.
TL;DR: This paper used the replicator-interactor framework to understand the evolution of organizations and found that core Darwinian principles, resulting from abstract ontological communality rather than analogy, apply to social evolution.
Abstract: The terms ‘evolution’ and ‘coevolution’ are widely used in organization studies but rarely defined. Often it is unclear whether they refer to single entities or populations. When specific evolutionary processes are suggested, the labelling is often misleading. For example, in the debate over the roles of individual adaptation and competitive selection, the ‘selectionist’ position of Michael Hannan and John Freeman, which emphasizes the role of selection and stress the limits of individual firm adaptability, is often described as ‘Darwinian’ whereas opposing views that emphasize adaptability are described as ‘Lamarckian’. But these labels are not strictly dichotomous. Scholars have shown that core Darwinian principles, resulting from abstract ontological communality rather than analogy, apply to social evolution. This opens up a research agenda using the principles of generalized Darwinism and the replicator–interactor framework to help understand the evolution of organizations. Some illustrations of the c...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine three negotiation processes taking place around International Framework Agreements on global labour standards and reveal three types of (proto-) institutional outcomes produced by these processes: institutional creation, modification and stagnation.
Abstract: Although institutional work has recently attracted considerable attention from organization research, there is a surprising neglect of inter-organizational negotiations as a form of institutional work. This neglect is astonishing, since negotiations provide a unique opportunity both to study institutional change in settings characterized by diverging institutional logics and to illustrate how institutional constraints and strategic agency are linked in interaction processes. Based on a combination of the literature on institutional work and the theory of strategic negotiations, we examine in detail three illuminating negotiation processes taking place around International Framework Agreements on global labour standards. This examination reveals three types of (proto-)institutional outcomes produced by these processes: institutional creation, modification and stagnation. Whereas institutional creation and modification, albeit differing in quality, show how integrative negotiation practices of global unions...
TL;DR: The authors explored how the strategic naming of products might enhance audience attention despite the liabilities associated with category spanning, and found that names that simply signal familiarity are not potent enough to offset the illegitimacy discount.
Abstract: How can organizations spanning institutionalized categories mitigate against the possibility of reduced attention by audiences? While there has been a good deal of research on the illegitimacy discount of category spanning, scant attention has been paid to how organizations might strategically address this potential problem. In this paper, we explore how the strategic naming of products might enhance audience attention despite the liabilities associated with category spanning. Drawing on a sample of films released in the United States market between 1982 and 2007, we analyze different naming strategies and show that names that simply signal familiarity are not potent enough to offset the illegitimacy discount, while names imbued with known reputations serve as a symbolic device that enhances audience attention to genre-spanning films.
TL;DR: This article argued that institutional entrepreneurship is not an individual-bounded endeavor, at the hands of isolated individuals, but a group-based one, and that social individuals inhabiting groups which motivate, inspire, and enable their engagement.
Abstract: This paper contributes to the emerging literature on inhabited institutions. It argues that institutional entrepreneurship, as most social action, is not an individual-bounded endeavor, at the hands of isolated individuals, but a group-bounded one, at the hands of social individuals inhabiting groups which motivate, inspire, and enable their engagement. The inhabited group-bounded conceptualization offered helps to overcome voluntaristic biases and atemporalism plaguing much micro research on institutional entrepreneurship. The paper builds on a qualitative case study of the emergence of commercial microfinance in Bolivia.
TL;DR: This article examined the private school field in Toronto, Canada and found that there is a high degree of heterogeneity within one sub-field, small rogue private schools, and that organizations at the margins of fields are able to evade pressures for conformity and how a heterogeneous organizational field can also be comprised of clusters of homogeneity.
Abstract: My research suggests that organizational fields are patchy and uneven. This patchiness allows organizations at the margins of fields to sidestep pressures for conformity. As a case study, this paper examines the private school field in Toronto, Canada. Data come from interviews and site visits at 60 Toronto private schools. My findings suggest that Toronto’s private school field is segmented, incorporating diverse private school forms, including elite, religious, and ‘rogue’ (non-elite, non-religious) schools. Within one subfield – small rogue private schools – a high degree of heterogeneity exists. These findings suggest a nuanced conception of institutional fields, with more attention to organizational agency, multiple field logics and diversity among organizational forms. This paper examines how organizations at the margins of fields are able to evade pressures for conformity, and how a heterogeneous organizational field can also be comprised of clusters of homogeneity.