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•
01 Jan 1994TL;DR: In this paper, a natural resource-based view of the firm is proposed, which is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development, and each of these strategies are advanced for each of them regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.
Abstract: Historically, management theory has ignored the constraints imposed by the biophysical (natural) environment. Building upon resource-based theory, this article attempts to fill this void by proposing a natural-resource-based view of the firm—a theory of competitive advantage based upon the firm's relationship to the natural environment. It is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. Propositions are advanced for each of these strategies regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.
902 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reconceptualize the firm-level construct absorptive capacity as a learning dyad-level measure, relative absorptive capacities, and test the model using a sample of pharmaceutical-biotechnology R&D alliances.
Abstract: Much of the prior research on interorganizational learning has focused on the role of absorptive capacity, a firm's ability to value, assimilate, and utilize new external knowledge. However, this definition of the construct suggests that a firm has an equal capacity to learn from all other organizations. We reconceptualize the firm-level construct absorptive capacity as a learning dyad-level construct, relative absorptive capacity. One firm's ability to learn from another firm is argued to depend on the similarity of both firms' (1) knowledge bases, (2) organizational structures and compensation policies, and (3) dominant logics. We then test the model using a sample of pharmaceutical–biotechnology R&D alliances. As predicted, the similarity of the partners' basic knowledge, lower management formalization, research centralization, compensation practices, and research communities were positively related to interorganizational learning. The relative absorptive capacity measures are also shown to have greater explanatory power than the established measure of absorptive capacity, R&D spending. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
335 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: This paper employs a difference-in-differences approach to compare premove versus postmove citation rates for the recruits' prior patents and corresponding matched-pair control patents and generates results that are robust to a more stringently matched control sample.
Abstract: When firms recruit inventors, they acquire not only the use of their skills but also enhanced access to their stock of ideas. But do hiring firms actually increase their use of the new recruits' prior inventions? Our estimates suggest they do, quite significantly in fact, by approximately 202% on average. However, this does not necessarily reflect widespread "learning-by-hiring." In fact, we estimate that a recruit's exploitation of her own prior ideas accounts for almost half of the above effect. Furthermore, although one might expect the recruit's role to diminish rapidly as her tacit knowledge diffuses across her new firm, our estimates indicate that her importance is surprisingly persistent over time. We base these findings on an empirical strategy that exploits the variation over time in hiring firms' citations to the recruits' pre-move patents. Specifically, we employ a difference-in-differences approach to compare pre-move versus post-move citation rates for the recruits' prior patents and the corresponding matched-pair control patents. Our methodology has three benefits compared to previous studies that also examine the link between labor mobility and knowledge flow: 1) it does not suffer from the upward bias inherent in the conventional cross-sectional comparison, 2) it generates results that are robust to a more stringently matched control sample, and 3) it enables a temporal examination of knowledge flow patterns.
322 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between CSR and government and highlight the varied role that the governments can play in order to promote CSR in the context of the wider national governance systems.
Abstract: Abstract This paper explores the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and government. CSR is often viewed as self-regulation, devoid of government. We attribute the scholarly neglect of the variety of CSR-government relations to the inadequate attention paid to the important differences in the way in which CSR has ‘travelled’ (or diffused), and has been mediated by the national governance systems, and the insufficient emphasis given to the role of the government (or government agency) in the CSR domain. We go on to identify a number of different types of CSR-government configurations, and by following empirically the CSR development trajectories in Western Europe and East Asia in a comparative historical perspective, we derive a set of propositions on the changing dynamics of CSR-government configurations. In particular, we highlight the varied role that the governments can play in order to promote CSR in the context of the wider national governance systems.
278 citations
01 Apr 2017
TL;DR: A review and synthesis of existing research on institutional voids, tracking the evolution of institutional void scholarship since the inception of the concept, can be found in this article, where the authors highlight four different strategies for responding to them: internalization, substitution, borrowing and signaling.
Abstract: textFor nearly two decades, scholars in international business and management have explored the implications of institutional voids for firm strategy and structure. Although institutional voids offer both opportunities and challenges, they have largely been associated with firms' efforts to avoid or mitigate institutional deficiencies and reduce the transaction costs associated with operating in settings subject to those institutional shortcomings. The goal of this special issue is to advance scholarship on this topic by (a) exploring institutional voids that are new to the literature, (b) providing a deeper assessment of the different ways in which firms respond to these voids, and (c) utilizing diverse disciplines and theoretical approaches to do so. In this introduction, we first review and synthesize extant research on institutional voids, tracking the evolution of institutional void scholarship since the inception of the concept (Khanna & Palepu, Journal of Economic Literature, 45(2):331-372, 1997) and providing our perspective on its contributions and limitations. We then summarize the contributions of the articles included in this special issue. In addition to identifying an array of institutional voids - economic and social - the articles highlight four different strategies for responding to them: internalization, substitution, borrowing and signaling. Drawing on these, we develop new insights on the implications of institutional voids for firm behavior. We conclude with suggestions for future research.
249 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, a new framework for under standing and interpreting the breadth of executive compensation research and theory is developed and applied, which sorts the literature along three dimensions that reflect three basic issues in compensation design: how to pay, when to pay and what to pay (form of pay consequence).
485 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conduct a structured literature review and aim at mapping the use of theories in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and propose possible future avenues for the field to develop.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate theoretical perspectives in sustainable supply
chain management (SSCM) and contributes to understanding the current state of research in the field
and its future development.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper conducts a structured literature review and aims at
mapping the use of theories in the field. The authors assess the current state of research, looking in
more details at popular theories, and propose possible future avenues for the field to develop.
Findings – Theory-building efforts in SSCM remain scarce, with the predominance of a few popular
imported macro theories (resource-based view (RBV), stakeholder theory and institutional theory)
having implications on the conceptualisation of SSCM and the topics researched to date. More
theoretical contributions can potentially emerge from the adoption of original methodologies, the
investigation of under-explored aspects of SSCM and the testing of recently developed frameworks.
Research limitations/implications – Drawing on the analysis the authors propose an overarching
map of popular theories in SSCM and define potential avenues towards the maturation of the discipline.
A number of propositions are offered to guide future research. This study constitutes a first step
towards understanding how theories in SSCM are developing and how SSCM has been conceptualised.
Originality/value – The originality of this paper lies in its analytical focus on theories in SSCM,
which have not been mapped to date.
483 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the predictions of transaction cost and institutional theories in an empirical study of the entry mode choice for 1,194 Japanese foreign subsidiaries, and find support for institutional isomorphism, as later entrants tended to follow the entrymode patterns established by earlier entrants.
Abstract: This paper compares the predictions of transaction cost and institutional theories in an empirical study of the entry mode choice for 1,194 Japanese foreign subsidiaries. The findings indicate the institutional model adds significant explanatory power over and above the predictions of the transaction cost model. Using the concepts of frequency-based, trait-based and outcome-based imitation, I find support for institutional isomorphism, as later entrants tended to follow the entry mode patterns established by earlier entrants. Isomorphic behavior was also present within a firm, as firms exhibited consistency in entry mode choices across time. Further, a firm's investment experience moderated institutional influences on entry mode choice.
483 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The Handbooks of Management Accounting Research (HOMAR) as discussed by the authors is a collection of three volumes of management accounting research, including three volumes from the American Accounting Association (AAMA) notable contribution to management accounting literature.
Abstract: Winner of the Management Accounting section of the American Accounting Association notable contribution to Management Accounting Literature Award Volume One of the Handbook of Management Accounting Research series sets the context for the Handbooks, with three chapters outlining the historical development of management accounting as a discipline and as a practice in three broad geographic settings. Volume Two provides insights into research on different management accounting practices. Volume Three features contributions from some of the most influential researchers in various areas of management accounting research, consolidates the content of volumes one and two, and concludes with examples of management accounting research from around the world. Volumes 1, 2 and 3 are also available as individual product. * ISBN Volume 1: 978-0-08-044564-9 * ISBN Volume 2: 978-0-08-044754-4 * ISBN Volume 3: 978-0-08-055450-1 * Three volumes of the popular Handbooks of Management Accounting Research series now available in one complete set * Examines particular management accounting practices and specific organizational contexts * Adopts a global perspective of management accounting practices Award: "Winner of the Management Accounting section of the American Accounting Association notable contribution to Management Accounting Literature Award."
482 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a marketing exchange characterized by an information asymmetry between suppliers and customers, where customers are faced with both adverse selection and moral hazard problems that cause them to make poor decisions.
Abstract: Many marketing exchanges are characterized by an information asymmetry between suppliers and customers. Specifically, customers are faced with both adverse selection and moral hazard problems that ...
482 citations