THE IRON CAGE REVISITED: INSTITUTIONAL ISOMORPfflSM AND COLLECTIVE RATIONALITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL EIELDS (original) (raw)

Escape from the iron cage? Organizational change and isomorphic pressures in the public sector

Journal of Public Administration …, 2009

Institutional theory suggests that organizations pursue legitimacy by conforming to isomorphic pressures in their environment. We extend previous research on institutional theory by distinguishing between two definitions of conformity (compliance and convergence) and by taking a comprehensive view of the organizational characteristics that might be subject to isomorphic pressures. This framework is applied to change between 2001 and 2004 in the internal characteristics of 101 public organizations in England. We find substantial evidence of compliance but more limited support for convergence. Furthermore, the impact of isomorphic pressures was stronger on organizational strategies and culture than on structures and processes. Thus, the relevance of institutional theory to change in the public sector depends on the definition of conformity that is used and the organizational characteristics that are examined.

Institutionalization, Coercive Isomorphism, and the Homogeneity of Strategy

2011

Traditional research on strategy has emphasized heterogeneity in strategy through such concepts as competitive advantage and distinctive competence. Yet firms often demonstrate homogeneity in strategy. This paper suggests that institutional forces inherent in interorganizational networks generate isomorphic process that can cause firms to pursue similar strategies. A study of firms that supply component parts and systems to auto manufacturers was performed to determine if dependence and coercive isomorphism can lead to homogeneity of strategy. Results indicated that greater firm dependence did seem to cause firms to exhibit greater homogeneity in strategy. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The Role of Institutional and Market Forces in Divergent Organizational Change

Administrative Science Quarterly, 2000

This paper focuses on a radical change, in which organizations abandon an institutionalized template for arranging their core activities, that is likely to occur in organizational fields that have strong, local market forces and strong but heterogeneous institutional forces. We examine the role of market forces and heterogeneous institutional elements in promoting divergent change in core activities among all U.S. rural hospitals from 1984 to 1991. Results support the view that divergent change depends on both market forces (proximity to competitors, disadvantages in service mix) and institutional forces (state regulation, ownership and governance norms, and mimicry of models of divergent change).

Testing the Strength of the Iron Cage: A Meta-Analysis of Neo-Institutional Theory

Erim Report Series Research in Management Erasmus Research Institute of Management, 2007

In this study, we use meta-analytical techniques to quantitatively synthesize and evaluate the sizeable body of empirical work that has been conducted under the banner of neo-institutional theory. We find strong support for the influence of mimetic pressures on organizational isomorphism, but support for the predicted roles of normative and coercive factors is mixed. Similarly, we find that the strategic isomorphism, the homogenous application of corporate policies, tends to translate into symbolic but not substantive performance effects. In combination with additional moderator analyses, these findings suggest new directions for future research.

INSTITUTIONAL COMPLEXITY AND ORGANIZATONAL CHANGE: AN OPEN POLITY PERSPECTIVE

Academy of Management Review, 2019

Changing environments often expose organizations to institutional logics that are at odds with other logics that were imprinted into the organizations in the past, giving rise to conflict. We specifically propose that prior institutional environments imprint organizational coalitions and governance systems-the organization's polity-and that these polity imprints explain variance in organizational change processes in response to new logics. We argue that such polity imprints shape how different organizational groups construe their conflicting interests in relation to new logics, how they mobilize for and against changes emanating from these logics, and how the outcomes of group conflict become stabilized. To develop this argument, we identify four ideal types of organizational polities, based on differences in the centralization of authority and the unity of organizational elites. Each ideal type gives rise to a characteristic pattern of how organizations process the advent of new logics. Our analysis demonstrates the utility of conceptualizing organizations as open polities-political entities that interact with their external environment-and the importance of taking historically imprinted political features of organizations into account in studies of organizational responses to institutional complexity.

ORGANIZATIONAL ISOMORPHISM: THE QUEST FOR SURVIVAL

Noble International Journal of Business and Management Research, 2019

This study extensively reviewed extant literature on the sociological theory of organizational isomorphism and its influence on corporate survivability. Isomorphism explains the forces that persuade and trigger organizations to pattern or recreate itself towards homogeneity. Going by our literary diagnosis, it was observed that the success and failure of an organization is largely tied to its responsiveness towards environmental expectations. Hence, isomorphic pressures such as coercive influence, normative behavior and mimetic process are associated with both opportunities and threats which have the potentials to make or mar the fortunes of organizations. Consequently, the study concludes that organizational survival is only possible in a climate of environmental awareness and swift responses and adaptation to isomorphic dictates. Therefore, we recommend that organizations should develop sustainable resilient behaviors through adaptive capacity building, situation awareness and keystone vulnerability management to be able to synchronize the different isomorphic persuasions.

Institutional Isomorphism and New Technologies

Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Second Edition

Technological factor is mainly underestimated in the literature on institutions and organizations. Although organizational studies and information technology are disciplines dedicated respectively to studying socio-political and technical aspects of organizing, cross-fertilization among such fields has remained quite limited. Only rarely the variable of technology has been interpreted as a crucial element for explaining institutional uniformity. From a more general point of view, changing technical factors have been considered “relatively unimportant sources of organizational change in a mature organizational field” (Yang, 2003, p. 433). Only after the spread of the information and communication technologies (ICTs), a good number of studies has started to consider the relationships among information technology and organizational structure (Guthrie, 1999). Neo-institutional analysis on the use of information technology was mostly directed at showing how the embeddedness of organizati...

Isomorphism and Barriers to Organizational Change

2016

Simon, the library director at a medium-sized college in a small town, admitted to being envious every time he saw an article about a similar college library, headed by Milly Jones. Milly had a library commons, Simon had a basement room with computers. Milly had treasure hunts in the library that attracted half of the student body, whereas Simon could barely get students to attend the mandatory orientation session. Milly had student groups falling over themselves to use the library for community service projects; Simon had never met with any of the student or community organizations. And to top it off, Milly had instituted a book festival that grew from a small affair on campus into a weekend-long tourist attraction for the area. Simon liked to think he had an attention-getting ‘book of the month’ display. For some reason, Simon’s library just never hit the mark when compared to similar libraries. . Well, he was going to change that. Simon gathered the stack of articles about Jones’...