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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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined three types of sources for each of the above categories of banks: social and environmental reporting, the conformity or not with the principles of the social and solidarity-based economy and the different types of financial activities as reflected in their balance sheet and concluded that more ethical behaviour leads to both economic performance and social gains which increase wealth for all partners.
Abstract: Purpose – The aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis has accelerated a pre‐existing process of ethical approach in the banking industry. Today, all banks claim to be socially, environmentally and economically committed with the philosophy of sustainable finance. The purpose of this paper is to show that, beyond the outward similarities, there are three different types of banking approach, each reflecting a distinct business model: banks whose ethical/social approach is mainly based on what they say, represented by universal banks; banks whose ethical/social approach is based on what they are, essentially the co‐operative banks; banks whose ethical/social approach is based on what they do, the so‐called ethical banks. Design/methodology/approach – The paper bases its argument on the German banking industry, which is a big European country with a fairly diversified banking sector. The paper examines three types of sources for each of the above‐mentioned categories of banks: the social and environmental reporting, the conformity or not with the principles of the social and solidarity‐based economy and the different types of financial activities as reflected in their balance sheet. Findings – The paper concludes that more ethical behaviour leads to both economic performance and social gains which increase wealth for all partners. Research limitations/implications – The proposed methodology could be extended to other European banking systems to discuss their implications as regards corporate social responsibility. Practical implications – This contribution will help the reader to evaluate banking communication as regards corporate social responsibility in their daily activity. Originality/value – This research will give an insight based on the documents published by banking institutions to measure their implication on corporate social responsibility.
21 citations
24 Jun 2020
TL;DR: The role of the voluntary sector in the delivery of an NHS Multispecialty Community Provider (MCP) pilot project in the area of Erewash, England is explored in this article.
Abstract: This thesis explores the role of the voluntary sector in the delivery of an NHS Multispecialty Community Provider (MCP) pilot project in the area of Erewash, England. It draws on engaged research, informed by ethnographic and action research traditions through which a broad range of data were gathered in order to present a detailed picture of the project in practice. In doing so it contributes both to the academic literature and to the work of practitioners and policy makers.
Firstly, it identifies the tensions inherent in the voluntary sector’s role as ‘transmission belt’ organisations, providing empirical evidence of this role in practice and building on Albareda’s (2018) original conception. In addition, it suggests the pressure to work in this way risks damaging the sector’s relationship with both service users and communities. Secondly, the thesis explores the ways that trust, power, and control interact in collaborative contexts, utilising Bachman’s (2001) notion of different ‘traditions’ to suggest that the voluntary and public sectors reflect different ways of working that are interactions of ‘personal’ and ‘system’ trust and power. These different traditions surface tensions that make collaboration difficult. Thirdly, the thesis identifies the complex leadership dynamics at play in collaborative contexts and the dominance of NHS hierarchical aspects, particularly in relation to clinical professionalism. Despite this, the thesis builds on Huxham and Vangen’s (2000a) notion of ‘making things happen’ to identify the positive and proactive leadership role the voluntary sector can enact in practice. However, it cautions that, as both directive and facilitative forms of leadership are needed in collaborative contexts, an increased focus on public sector-initiated collaborations could paradoxically make the sector less collaborative.
The thesis offers suggestions for both policy and practice, as well as identifying potential ways to take the research forward in the future.
21 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: In this article, a longitudinal study of adult returners in one of the designated areas of course development was undertaken to ascertain the factors which ultimately make for successful outcomes for those concerned, and it was hoped that it might be possible to throw some light upon the factors that make for the successful implementation of policy more generally.
Abstract: An 'Open College' system derives from a policy designed to redress educational inequalities among the inner city adult population. It is a development in the post-school sector of education which brings together different types of institutions in a quasi-federal structure. Its aim is to develop course provision for adult returners which will facilitate their progression to higher education, further education and/or into employment. Whether or not a policy achieves what the policy-makers intended, it is hypothesised, depends on the way in which it is perceived by the key people within the organisation and the action which they take to effect its implementation. Successful outcomes are dependent on there being "commitment, communication and capacity" at each level of the operation. A case study is an appropriate means of examining the relative importance of the various factors. It involves in-depth interviews with the policy-makers (the politicians and administrators), the policy-implementers (the central co-ordinators and principals in the institutions) and the policy-deliverers (the co-ordinators and tutors in the institutions). To ascertain the factors which ultimately make for successful outcomes for those concerned, a longitudinal study of adult students in one of the designated areas of course development was undertaken. An eclectic theoretical research model is adopted, because no one perspective is thought to be appropriate at all levels of the processes of policy formulation and implementation. Attention is paid to the political, social and economic context of London and Britain in the 1980s. The micro study in a macro framework also facilitates generalisation. In establishing what factors make for successful outcomes for a policy concerned with equal opportunitiees in education in a deprived inner city area, it is hoped that it might be possible to throw some light upon the factors which make for the successful implementation of policy more generally.
21 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: Armstrong et al. as discussed by the authors conducted an in-depth case study of NATO advisors and their perceived influence in Afghanistan (2009-2012) and explored the two-part question, how do foreign security actors (ministerial advisors and security force trainers, advisors, and commanders) attempt to influence their host-nation partners and what are their perceptions of these approaches on changes in local capacity, values, and security governance norms.
Abstract: This dissertation is an in-depth case study of NATO advisors and their perceived influence in Afghanistan (2009-2012). It explores the two-part question, how do foreign security actors (ministerial advisors and security force trainers, advisors, and commanders) attempt to influence their host-nation partners and what are their perceptions of these approaches on changes in local capacity, values, and security governance norms? I argue that security sector reform (SSR) programs in fragile states lack an explicit theory of change that specifies how reform occurs. From this view, I theorize internationally led SSR as “guided institutional transfer,” grounded in rationalist and social constructivist explanations of convergence, diffusion, and socialization processes. Responding to calls for greater depth and emphasis on interactions and institutional change in SSR research, I examine NATO’s efforts in Afghanistan as an extreme case of SSR in which external-internal interactions were the highest. A stratified, purposive sample of 68 military and civilian elites (24 ministerial advisors, 27 embedded field advisors and commanders, and 17 experts and external observers) participated in a confidential, semi-structured interview. Content analysis of interviews and supporting documentation reveal that participants perceived modest impact on capacity development in both the Afghan security ministries and security forces; however, they perceived limited normative impact on both organizational and individual levels. Second, participants who used heavy-handed or transactional approaches rarely saw positive or enduring outcomes with their counterparts. Third, legitimacy-based approaches that elicited partner engagement were perceived as more effective than power-based approaches (e.g., demands, incentives), though the techniques participants favored (e.g., persuasion, guided discovery learning) varied by level and context. Fourth, in addition to Afghan political and cultural constraints, NATO’s campaign strategy, accelerated timeline, and high resource inflow created perverse incentives for some advisors and leaders to pressure or induce their counterparts in the spirit of progress. Finally, advisors with the unique ability to develop close relationships were more likely to promote capacity transfer and, elicit curiosity and dialogue on security governance norms (e.g., civilian control, ethical leadership). THE PROSPECTS OF INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFER: A WITHIN-CASE STUDY OF NATO ADVISOR INFLUENCE ACROSS THE AFGHAN SECURITY MINISTRIES AND NATIONAL SECURITY FORCES, 2009-2012 By Nicholas J. Armstrong B.S. United States Military Academy, 2000 M.P.A. Maxwell School of Syracuse University, 2008
20 citations
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: The business model results suggest that the clear, historical distinctions between the strategic groups in the industry are becoming blurred, and that a winning hybrid may emerge, as well as proposing a method for constructing future business models based on airline behavior.
Abstract: The deregulated scheduled passenger airline industry is in a constant state of motion as managers continually adapt their business models to meet the challenging market environment. Such adaptation has led to a variety of airlines populating the industry; from the birth of low-cost carriers to the transformation of state-owned behemoths to lean and successful carriers. These dynamics challenge airline managers to continuously acclimate their business models and to understand industry evolution. This doctoral dissertation addresses the issue of industry evolution and attempts to propose future airline business models based on airline behavior. The intention is to improve understanding of industry evolution, propose a method for constructing future business models, and aid airline management in future strategic decisions. Three central themes are raised in the research: business model heterogeneity and its impact on airline performance, innovation and imitation as a justification for business model heterogeneity, and future business models grounded on airline innovation and imitation. Each theme forms the basis for the project’s three analyses. The research is categorized according to the customary industrial segmentation of full-service carriers, low-cost carriers, and regional carriers. The findings show that business model heterogeneity is evident at varying degrees in the industry, and that there is a positive relationship between the level adherence to a strategic group’s traditional business model and financial performance. This indicates that airlines that abide by their strategic group’s traditional business model perform better than those that differentiate themselves form the traditional business model. The low-cost carrier group is the most heterogeneous while the full-service carrier group is the most homogenous, which one may attribute to the historical emergence of these two groups. Results from a global survey distributed to airline CEOs show that business model differentiation is predicated on both innovation and imitation. The research shows that all airlines innovate, however business model changes based on this phenomenon may only afford an airline an advantage for a limited time period as imitation is prolific in the industry. Airline behavior indicates that airlines that populate the periphery of their strategic group are more prone to imitate other strategic groups. In addition, it is shown that airlines that closely adhere to their strategic group’s traditional business model are more likely to imitate airlines populating their own strategic group. The final analysis is based on the presence of innovation and imitation in the industry and incorporates these concepts in algebraic analyses which determine the unique combinations that continuously lead to a positive operating margin. The business model results suggest that the clear, historical distinctions between the strategic groups in the industry are becoming blurred, and that a winning hybrid may emerge.
20 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.
13,229 citations
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.
10,630 citations
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.
7,595 citations
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 ...
6,493 citations
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)
6,425 citations