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Isomorphism (sociology)

About: Isomorphism (sociology) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1152 publications have been published within this topic receiving 53829 citations.


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Book
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an analytical framework of three Pillars of Institutions: defining institutions, defining institutions and defining institutions' legitimacy and legitimacy, as well as three assumptions associated with these Pillars: Content, Agency, Carriers and Levels.
Abstract: Preface to Third Edition Introduction 1. Early Institutionalists Early Institutional Theory in Economics Early Institutional Theory in Political Science Early Institutional Theory in Sociology 2. Institutional Theory Meets Organization Studies Institutions and Organizations: Early Approaches Foundations of Neoinstitutional Theory 3. Crafting an Analytic Framework I: Three Pillars of Institutions Defining Institutions The Three Pillars of Institutions The Three Pillars and Legitimacy Basic Assumptions associated with the Three Pillars 4. Constructing an Analytic Framework II: Content, Agency, Carriers and Levels Institutional Content and Organizations Agency and Institutions Varying Carriers Varying Levels of Analysis 5. Institutional Construction Creating Institutions Selected Studies of Institutional Construction 6. Institutionalization Three Conceptions of Institutionalization: Underlying Mechanisms Maintaining and Diffusing Institutions Carriers and Institutional Mechanisms 7. Institutional Processes and Organizations Organizations and Institutions: Three Views Legitimacy and Isomorphism Institutional Context and Organizational Structure Interactive Processes Strategic Processes Sources of Divergence 8. Institutional Processes and Organization Fields Conceptualizing Organization Fields Field Structuration Processes Structuration, Destructurating, and Restructuration 9. An Overview and a Caution Distinctive Features The Maturation of Institutional Theory and Research A Cautionary Comment References Index About the Author

2,556 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of institutional theories of organizations can be found in this paper, with a brief summary of the two current theoretical approaches to institutionalization in organizations, moves to identification of indicators of central concepts and then progresses to a review of empirical research.
Abstract: Institutional theories of organizations provide a rich, complex view of organizations. In these theories, organizations are influenced by normative pressures, sometimes arising from external sources such as the state, other times arising from within the organization itself. Under some conditions, these pressures lead the organization to be guided by legitimated elements, from standard operating procedures to professional certification and state requirement, which often have the effect of directing attention away from task performance. Adoption of these legitimated elements, leading to isomorphism with the institutional environment, increases the probability of survival. Institutional theories of organization have spread rapidly, a testimony to the power of the imaginative ideas developed in theoretical and empirical work. As rigor increases, with better specification of indicators and models, it is likely to attract the attention of an even larger number of organizational researchers. Institutional theory is inherently difficult to explicate, because it taps taken-for-granted assumptions at the core of social action. The main goal of this review, then, is to make institutional theory more accessible. The review begins with a brief summary of the two current theoretical approaches to institutionalization in organizations, moves to identification of indicators of central concepts, and then progresses to a review of empirical research. It concludes with two short sections, one on points of intersection with other theories of organization, the other on the "new institutionalism" in economics and political science.

2,513 citations

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.

2,134 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors test a central proposition of institutional theory, that organizational isomorphism increases organizational legitimacy, and they show that isomorphisms in the strategies of commercial businesses increase organizational legitimacy.
Abstract: This study tests a central proposition of institutional theory, that organizational isomorphism increases organizational legitimacy. Results show that isomorphism in the strategies of commercial ba...

1,460 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20223
202166
202064
201955
201874
201780