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The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

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.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors of as discussed by the authors argue that the increasing prevalence of these measures cannot be fully explained without attention to dynamics of symbolic social distinction in the country, and they ground family business governance in its social context by considering it in light of three important forms of distinction: in-group and cosmopolitan connections, conspicuous industriousness and enactment of modern values, and the adoption of governance as a form of family lineage.
Abstract: While the institutionalization of some of Colombia’s largest family-owned businesses is often explained with reference to the global economic liberalization of the 1990s and the need for smooth intergenerational transference of property and management, this article connects the increasing popularity of these specialized managerial measures to long-standing structures of social hierarchy and group formation in the country. Drawing on twenty months of ethnographic research among members of industrial elite business-owning families, I argue that the increasing prevalence of these measures cannot be fully explained without attention to dynamics of symbolic social distinction in the country. I ground family business governance in its social context by considering it in light of three important forms of distinction: in-group and cosmopolitan connections, conspicuous industriousness and enactment of “modern” values, and the adoption of governance as a form of family lineage.

12 citations

Posted Content
01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take a step back and answer the question of whether, how, and under what conditions novelty is related to usefulness, and provide new insights into the conditions under which creativity emerges, yielding new insights as to why some novel offerings see widespread use whereas other ostensibly similar offerings linger in obscurity.
Abstract: Concerns that sophisticated algorithms and autonomous machines are replacing human labor have driven a recent interest in creativity as a key factor in maintaining innovation and economic growth. Within management and entrepreneurship research, the dominant definition of creativity is that it entails the generation of ideas or products that are both novel and useful. Novelty—being new, unique, or different, relative to central practices or views—and usefulness—being appropriate, correct, or valuable to the task at hand—are therefore each seen as necessary conditions for something to be classified as creative. In spite of its importance, a major obstacle to the study of creativity has been the translation of this simple two-criterion conceptual definition into an operational one to be utilized in empirical study. This dissertation aims to take a step back and answer the question of whether, how, and under what conditions novelty is related to usefulness. Following recent advances in the study of creativity it emphasizes that, although creativity may be jointly composed of the novelty and usefulness, these are distinct concepts that should best be considered as such. This dissertation contributes to research on creativity, management, and entrepreneurship by providing new insights into the conditions under which creativity emerges—yielding new insights as to why some novel offerings see widespread use whereas other ostensibly similar offerings linger in obscurity. This dissertation consists of four essays that address the overarching research question from a variety of theoretical lenses, and each essay is centered on a setting where creativity is of particular importance: university students who are close to starting knowledge-intensive and skilled work, the creative industries, and academia.

12 citations

01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study the origins of institutional change through the dichotomy of cognitive versus material and argue that changes in materiality affect our habitualized activities depending on how these changes are produced.
Abstract: In this dissertation, I study the origins of institutional change. In organizational institutionalism institutional change is seen as being triggered either by exogenous shocks or by endogenous factors. I propose to see the origins of change instead through the dichotomy of cognitive versus material. One rationale for this is that, when addressing more broadly dispersed societal practices, the distinction between endogenous and exogenous loses its meaning. Another reason is that without taking materiality into account in a more comprehensive manner, institutional theory is toothless against the vast material fluxes that human activity, patterned as established practices, produces and consumes. Human activity is transforming the very basis of its foundation: raw material sources, ecosystems and even the climate of the planet. Not only does human activity have an impact on the planet, but the materiality in which we live, has its impact on our activity. I argue that changes in materiality affect our habitualized activities depending on how these changes are produced. This setting requires a more comprehensive relating of material and cognitive processes, something that I attempt to elucidate in this dissertation. I ground my conceptual development in the German sociology of knowledge, foremost in the writings of Alfred Schutz and Thomas Luckmann. Established practices related to fossil fuels are central with regard to the adverse impacts of human activity. I study arguably the most successful attempt to deviate from these patterns: Proalcool. This ambitious Brazilian biofuel program was launched in 1975. Although alcohol was generally argued to be the definitive Brazilian solution and alcohol cars dominated the scene in the 1980s, by the end of the 1990s the program had lost its legitimacy and was seen as baggage to be done away with. I reconstruct the evolution of the program from 1975 to 2000 as a detailed narrative based on some 4000 news articles published in a major newspaper in Brazil, Folha de Sao Paulo. I analyze the reasons behind the major transformations and the attempts to transform the program. As a result of the empirical analysis, I propose a new concept, a new type of disruption. This “accumulative disruption” will help us to better understand our societies. In my view, the bulk of material changes in our contemporary world is, by nature, accumulative, as it is a result of established practices consuming and producing materiality in various forms. As established practices gain legitimacy through the process of being reproduced, so too do the material fluxes that these practices beget gain legitimacy. For this, even though accumulation transforms our material environment, it is apperceived as being natural rather than disruptive. Overall, institutionalization should be seen not only as a ubiquitous process by which meanings become reified, but also as a process in which material fluxes and material accumulation are inherent.; Tassa vaitoskirjassa tutkin institutionaalisen muutoksen alkulahteita.…

12 citations

Dissertation
09 May 2016
TL;DR: In this article, the Danish Red Cross, Grand Challenges Canada, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Ontario Veterinary College and Ontario Veterinary Training Institute (OTTI) were involved in the Grand Challenge.
Abstract: University of Guelph, Danish Red Cross, Grand Challenges Canada, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Ontario Veterinary College

12 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: In this paper, Merriam et al. discuss the effect of cross-case similarities across cases and conclude that they can be classified into two categories: cross-instance similarities and inter-instance correlations.
Abstract: ions across cases” (Merriam, 2009, p. 204).

12 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
Christine Oliver1
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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