The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)
01 Jan 2008-
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them, and describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative.
Abstract: 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.
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01 Jan 2018
Abstract: .......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................................. xi 1. LUTHERAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN A SECULAR AGE ..................................... 1 Research Question ..................................................................................................... 3 Importance of the Research Question ............................................................... 5 Related Questions .............................................................................................. 6 Historical Background .............................................................................................. 6 Literatures and Theoretical Lenses .......................................................................... 8 Adaptive Leadership Challenge ........................................................................ 8 Identity and Mission ........................................................................................ 10 Biblical and Theological Lenses ............................................................................ 12 Biblical Lenses ................................................................................................. 12 Theological Lenses .......................................................................................... 14 Missional Leadership ....................................................................................... 14 Missional Ecclesiology .................................................................................... 17 Contextual Theology ....................................................................................... 18 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 18 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 19 2. HISTORY ......................................................................................................................... 20 The Reformation and Higher Education ................................................................ 22 Higher Education in the New World ...................................................................... 28 Colonial Lutheran Higher Education .............................................................. 30 Lutheran Higher Education after the Revolution ........................................... 36 War and Rebirth ............................................................................................... 42 Conclusion: Secularization or Reformation? ................................................. 46 3. ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP AND CHALLENGES ..................................................... 53 Adaptive Leadership Challenges ............................................................................ 53 Adaptive Challenges for Higher Education ........................................................... 54 Shifting Demographics .................................................................................... 56 Rising Costs and Tuition Discounting ............................................................ 57 vii Faculty and Fundraising .................................................................................. 59 Increased Competition with Public Schools................................................... 60 Continuing Disruptions ................................................................................... 61 Institutional Debt, Decreased Funding, and the Disappearance of Full Pay Students ............................................................................................................ 61 Disruption and Disillusionment ...................................................................... 63 Additional Factors............................................................................................ 65 Faith and Learning ........................................................................................... 66 Adaptive Leadership ............................................................................................... 68 Identity and Mission ........................................................................................ 69 Espoused versus Perceived Identity and Mission .......................................... 70 Model I Thinking ............................................................................................. 71 Model II Thinking ............................................................................................ 72 Mental Models and Double Loop Learning ................................................... 73 Defining Identity and Mission ................................................................................ 75 The Secularization Theory .............................................................................. 76 Isomorphism ..................................................................................................... 78 Reconsidering the Secularization Theory....................................................... 80 Religion Returns to Campus ........................................................................... 81 The Subjectivity of Identity............................................................................. 83 Fragmented Identities and Experiential Satisfaction ..................................... 84 Identity in Tension ........................................................................................... 86 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 87 4. ADAPTIVE THEOLOGICAL CHALLENGES ........................................................... 89 Keeping God in the Conversation .......................................................................... 91 Pluralism ........................................................................................................... 96 Clarifying Religious Identity and Mission ..................................................... 98 Rediscovering the Trinity ..................................................................................... 101 The Nature of the Triune God ....................................................................... 105 The Western View ......................................................................................... 105 The Eastern View: Perichoresis .................................................................... 108 Towards a Missiological Ecclesiology ................................................................ 113 Contextual Theology ............................................................................................. 120 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 124 5. METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................... 126 Review of Research Question............................................................................... 126 Research Methodology ......................................................................................... 127 Biblical and Theological Rationale for Methodology ................................. 129 The Triune God: Unity and Diversity........................................................... 130 Mixed Methods Research: Biblical Support ................................................ 131 Case Studies: The Letters to the Churches in Revelation ........................... 132 Research Design .................................................................................................... 133 viii Population ....................................................................................................... 135 Instruments ..................................................................................................... 139 Data Analysis ................................................................................................. 140 IRB Standards ................................................................................................ 141 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 141 6. RESULTS ....................................................................................................................... 143 Phase #1: Qualitative Coding of Mission and Identity Statements .................... 143 Interpretations of Qualitative Phase #1 ........................................................ 148 Phase #2: Quantitative Results ............................................................................. 151 Quantitative Research Results ...................................................................... 155 Independent Variables ................................................................................... 155 Intervening Variables..................................................................................... 156 Dependent Variable: Publications ................................................................ 157 Dependent Variable: Admissions Materials ................................................. 160 Dependent Variable: Website ....................................................................... 163 Dependent Variable: Public Statements from Leaders ................................ 165 Dependent Variable: Campus Visits ............................................................. 168 Dependent Variable: Other Forms of Communication...
23 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the Libyan government's policies for the provision of funding to higher education and reveal that the operations of Libyan public universities are not only contingent upon government funding but also on the exploitation of universities' resources.
Abstract: Higher education plays an important role in economic growth, job creation and export performance. It also has implications for research and knowledge creation. However, there is a notable lack of studies conducted in MENA, and other Arab countries. In particular, there is a dearth of research in the context of Libya, which has been witnessed the massive transformation that in terms of its political, economic, and institutional environment; and, there is a need to explore and understand the current applied system of higher education funding.
Therefore, this study aims to investigate the Libyan government’s policies for the provision of funding to higher education. In addition, this study investigates and explores the obstacles and challenges experienced by the higher education sector in recent years. Furthermore, the study identifies the government policies, institutions and other factors influencing the decisions regarding the financial allocations to public universities.
This study adopts a qualitative approach to collect data using semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The data was analysed using the thematic analysis technique following the length guidelines of Braun and Clarke (2006).
The findings suggest that the operations of Libyan public universities are not only contingent upon government funding but also on the exploitation of universities’ resources. Besides, the findings reveal that there are certain factors behind the low levels of universities’ resources, such as legislation, government restrictions, lack of government encouragement and seriousness for universities to improve their income. The study also identifies various motivational factors behind government funding decisions. Furthermore, the findings confirm that, for universities and government agencies alike, economic (that is, resources available, government priorities, and instability of economic and political status in Libya), social (tribal as well as personal influence) and political factors (i.e., political clout, government and legislations restrictions) influence the distribution of resources.
23 citations
Dissertation•
01 Dec 2017
TL;DR: In this article, a revue exhaustive and critique de la litterature sur les demarches responsables is presented, focusing on the effect of the intervention of l'Etat dans les pays mediterraneens, and the promotion of la demarche responsable.
Abstract: L’objet de cette these est de contribuer a l’etude du role de l’intervention de l’Etat dans les pays mediterraneens, et ce dans la promotion de la demarche responsable. Ce travail doctoral fournit une revue generale de l’etude du role des facteurs environnementaux dans le cadre du developpement qualifie durable, il evoque, entre autres, les changements intervenus au niveau de la perception de la politique RSE, dans la region mediterraneenne. Dans l’etude que nous menons sur la RSE, nous focalisons notre recherche sur les demarches responsables aussi bien volontaires que celles menees obligatoirement, suite a des contraintes institutionnelles, et les soumettons a comparaison. Ce faisant, nous nous penchons en particulier sur la maniere dont le concept RSE a ete fortement relie a la notion de la durabilite environnementale. La premiere partie de ce travail presente une revue exhaustive et critique de la litterature sur les demarches responsables. Au niveau de la deuxieme partie, essentiellement factuelle, nous cadrons les fondements empiriques et institutionnels d’un modele de la croissance verte. L’estimation et la validation sont presentees au niveau de dernier chapitre. Les resultats obtenus nous amenent a affirmer, qu’en premier lieu, la RSE affecte positivement la qualite de l’environnement. En deuxieme lieu, des demarches differentes se juxtaposent pour proposer des scenarios de la performance environnementale a l’echelle de la Mediterranee. En troisieme lieu, il ressort que l’intervention contraignante de l’Etat fait perdre a la RSE son efficacite, a quoi s’ajoute l’impact - sur la RSE - de la disparite au niveau institutionnel et la difference du niveau de developpement d’un pays a l’autre. En dernier lieu, nous pensons que l’interaction entre la volonte et l’obligation de mener des actions responsables pourrait etre a l’origine d’une perfection en termes de durabilite ecologique au niveau des pays riverains de la Mediterranee
23 citations
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a review of the literature in this area: Introduction, Introduction 1 1.1 Chapter Overview 1 2 1.xxv Chapter One: Introduction 1
Abstract: xxv Chapter One: Introduction 1 1.1 Chapter Overview 1
23 citations
References
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TL;DR: This article synthesize the large but diverse literature on organizational legitimacy, highlighting similarities and disparities among the leading strategic and institutional approaches, and identify three primary forms of legitimacy: pragmatic, based on audience self-interest; moral, based upon normative approval; and cognitive, according to comprehensibility and taken-for-grantedness.
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.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of stakeholder identification and saliency based on stakeholders possessing one or more of three relationship attributes (power, legitimacy, and urgency) is proposed, and a typology of stakeholders, propositions concerning their saliency to managers of the firm, and research and management implications.
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.
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TL;DR: The authors applied the convergent insights of institutional and resource dependence perspectives to the prediction of strategic responses to institutional processes, and proposed a typology of strategies that vary in active organizational resistance from passive conformity to proactive manipulation.
Abstract: This article applies the convergent insights of institutional and resource dependence perspectives to the prediction of strategic responses to institutional processes. The article offers a typology of strategic responses that vary in active organizational resistance from passive conformity to proactive manipulation. Ten institutional factors are hypothesized to predict the occurrence of the alternative proposed strategies and the degree of organizational conformity or resistance to institutional pressures.
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TL;DR: This article conducted a meta-analysis of 52 studies and found that corporate virtue in the form of social responsibility and, to a lesser extent, environmental responsibility is likely to pay off, although the operationalizations of CSP and CFP also moderate the positive association.
Abstract: Most theorizing on the relationship between corporate social/environmental performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) assumes that the current evidence is too fractured or too variable to draw any generalizable conclusions. With this integrative, quantitative study, we intend to show that the mainstream claim that we have little generalizable knowledge about CSP and CFP is built on shaky grounds. Providing a methodologically more rigorous review than previous efforts, we conduct a meta-analysis of 52 studies (which represent the population of prior quantitative inquiry) yielding a total sample size of 33,878 observations. The meta-analytic findings suggest that corporate virtue in the form of social responsibility and, to a lesser extent, environmental responsibility is likely to pay off, although the operationalizations of CSP and CFP also moderate the positive association. For example, CSP appears to be more highly correlated with accounting-based measures of CFP than with market-based ...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider structural inertia in organizational populations as an outcome of an ecological-evolutionary process and define structural inertia as a correspondence between a class of organizations and their environments.
Abstract: Considers structural inertia in organizational populations as an outcome of an ecological-evolutionary process. Structural inertia is considered to be a consequence of selection as opposed to a precondition. The focus of this analysis is on the timing of organizational change. Structural inertia is defined to be a correspondence between a class of organizations and their environments. Reliably producing collective action and accounting rationally for their activities are identified as important organizational competencies. This reliability and accountability are achieved when the organization has the capacity to reproduce structure with high fidelity. Organizations are composed of various hierarchical layers that vary in their ability to respond and change. Organizational goals, forms of authority, core technology, and marketing strategy are the four organizational properties used to classify organizations in the proposed theory. Older organizations are found to have more inertia than younger ones. The effect of size on inertia is more difficult to determine. The variance in inertia with respect to the complexity of organizational arrangements is also explored. (SRD)
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