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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Dissertation•
05 Nov 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focused on how entrepreneurs learn about international business opportunities and explored the factors that affect the way they do it, and found that prior knowledge was the most significant factor, affecting the ways entrepreneurs learned about business opportunities, while the cognitive style was found to moderate the strength of the relationships between prior knowledge and the learning strategies.
Abstract: This study focuses on how entrepreneurs learn about international business opportunities and explores the factors that affect the way they do it.The main conclusion of the literature review was that current international entrepreneurship research is still under development and the topic of international entrepreneurial learning about business opportunities yet to receive widespread attention. In addition, entrepreneurs utilise different ways to learn about the opportunities. However, there is a lack of coherence among scholars on what learning strategies are exactly, how many of them exist, and how they should be defined and categorised (Kakkonen, 2010).The research strategy of this study is based on the mixed methods approach. The design is a two-phase, sequential mixed methods study, utilising a qualitative, followed by a quantitative phase (Creswell et al., 2003). The qualitative phase was split into two parts: QUAL1 and QUAL2. Each qualitative phase includes the analysis of interviews and focus group discussions (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). In the quantitative phase, a web-based questionnaire was the chosen data collection tool (Cobanoglu et al., 2001; Sills and Song, 2002). The study was conducted on a sample of 178 high-tech entrepreneurs in Israel.The results show that international entrepreneurs learn strategically about business opportunities. They utilise different ways, means, and mechanisms to assist in the identification process of entrepreneurial opportunities. These processes can be considered as learning processes, and the way they are enacted can be termed as 'learning strategies'. Based on the findings of the qualitative phases (QUAL1, QUAL2) and prior studies, six learning strategies were identified as relevant to the process of opportunity identification. Furthermore, the quantitative phase showed that business ownership experience and entrepreneurial self-efficacy have a significant influence on prior knowledge on international arena. In addition, prior knowledge was found as the most significant factor, affecting the ways entrepreneurs learn about business opportunities, while the cognitive style was found to moderate the strength of the relationships between prior knowledge and the learning strategies. Social networking ties also had an impact on the ways entrepreneurs learn, however this influence is diverse, and its statistical significance depends on the specific learning strategy. The importance and contribution of the proposed study can be defined as follows: Firstly, the study can help to reveal the underlying logic of opportunity identification as a learning process. Secondly, combining different frameworks into a new conceptual model as has been done in this study, may establish a new outlook, and contribute to the progress of research into entrepreneurship. Thirdly, International entrepreneurs can also benefit from these elements by acknowledging that they have a battery of learning strategies, which are relevant to the opportunity identification process, and most importantly, they can be taught how to learn about an idea throughout the process of opportunity identification.
12 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: Empirical research on hospital change published between 1980 and 1999 in the health services research, social science, and business literatures is reviewed to highlight the potential pitfalls that hospitals may encounter in their effort to remain viable.
Abstract: Organizational change has become the norm rather than the exception among U.S. hospitals. Downsizing, service diversification, and affiliation with healthcare systems are but a few notable examples. In this paper, we review the rationale and consequences of organizational change in U.S. hospitals. Our focus is on organizational change that occurs in hospital ownership, authority structure, administrative arrangements, operational capacity, products/service areas, and scope and composition of services. Specifically, three areas of organizational change are selected for in-depth review and comparison: (1) the development of new multi-institutional arrangements; (2) change in traditional ownership and management configurations; and (3) diversification in organizational products/services and consolidation of organizational scale. Empirical articles on hospital organizational change published between 1980-1999 in health services research, social science, and business journals are included in our review. We show that existing empirical findings are inconclusive regarding the financial and survival outcomes of organizational change in hospitals. Furthermore, we summarize the strengths and weaknesses of current hospital change research, and provides specific suggestions for future research in this area.
12 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a theoretical framework of the systems of innovation perspective by adopting an actor-based perspective, and analyze the Swedish system of innovation at the interplay between two rationales: a territorial rationale and a functional rationale.
Abstract: In 1987 a book by Chris Freeman with the title “Technology policy and economic performance. Lessons from Japan” was published. This book turned out to be the birth certificate of the systems of innovation perspective which came to enjoy a tremendous popularity the next three decades. The topic of this thesis is within the field of systems of innovation. This approach is extensively used today and the systems of innovation is an extensive field of studies; there is a growing interest and a well-established group of researchers deal with the concept and set the research agenda. Despite the great interest and the extensive work so far, the concept is challenged by noteworthy conceptual and methodological ambiguities and limitations.The aim of this thesis is to advance a theoretical framework of the systems of innovation perspective by adopting an actor-based perspective. From a theoretical perspective, the dissertation pinpoints the system of innovation at the interplay between two rationales: a territorial rationale and a functional rationale. The intention of this theoretical framework is to shed light upon the variety of actors operating within a system of innovation. Based on different logics or rationalities, actors understand and behave differently which has an impact on the behaviour and performance of the system. The assumption is that the different rationalities influence the innovation process, and how activities are organized and carried out. In the empirical backdrop of the thesis, the Swedish system of innovation is analysed in terms of how innovation policy discourse and practice have developed over time. The territorial based system of innovation is analysed through three instances: VINNOVA, the Swedish National Innovation Strategy and the Innovation Council, all considered to be relevant in understanding the embeddedness of ideas on innovation within Swedish politics and practice. The functional based system of innovation is addressed through the role of the large firm Ericsson in the systems of innovation. Ericsson has been chosen as an actor in a system of innovation, and therefore attention is paid to the interplay with the territorial actors, such as the state and universities. Several conflicts of interests characterize the relation between Ericsson on the one hand and the university and government on the other. The interplay between the two types of systems of innovation is further concretized in the analysis of the Mobile Heights case, an innovation cluster programme. Three main analytical conclusions have been emerged from the empirical research, discussed in terms of policy makers, policy implementers and practitioners pinpointing to a fairly loose system where different interests, networks and practices can only be partially and temporarily aligned.
12 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jun 2017
12 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a framework to facilitate BIM knowledge and skills integration into the construction related academic departments in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia, where qualitative data was collected through interviews of thirteen practicing professionals, whilst the quantitative data was gathered using online questionnaire survey distributed to four hundred and eighty seven educators of HEIs.
Abstract: Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a new project delivery process in the construction industry that has a growing need for competent workforce and its production. The literature confirms that, only a small fraction of stakeholders in the construction industry in Malaysia are aware of BIM, and are willing to adopt its culture, despite its relevance and benefits. This is due to non-availability of adequate BIM competent workforce for employment in the industry. In order to have a constant supply of adequate BIM workforce for the construction industry, knowledge and skills on BIM must be integrated into higher education academic programs. Hence, the study developed a framework to facilitate BIM knowledge and skills integration into the construction related academic departments in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia. The methodology adopted was a mixed method approach, where qualitative data was collected through interviews of thirteen practicing professionals, whilst the quantitative data was gathered using online questionnaire survey distributed to four hundred and eighty seven educators of HEIs. Sixty three educators from six public universities and three private universities responded to the online survey. Thematic content analysis was adopted to analyse the qualitative data using MAXQDA-12, while descriptive analysis was used to analyse the quantitative data. Furthermore, the study confirmed the workmanship is a crucial problem besides the lack of BIM knowledge and skills being the most critical ones. The study made use of the summation of findings to develop a BIM Education Integration Framework (BIMEIF) for BIM to be integrated into higher education. This framework consists of four stages that run through three developmental phases and the whole process is iterated. BIMEIF has been validated by thirteen experts in BIM knowledge and skills to ascertain the applicability of the framework. The validation result positively showed that the experts are in agreement that the framework is applicable as a guide for the integration of BIM into higher education academic programs in Malaysia. The framework would enhance the collaboration between academic and industry for BIM competence workforce development. As a conclusion, BIM is a technology as well as a process that facilitates collaboration, share of information, remove rework, and reduction of cost and time overruns. These are expected to stimulate Malaysia’s construction industry towards global standards and best practices.
12 citations
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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