IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v51y2014i7p1221-1233.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Institutional Theory Need Redirecting?

Author

Listed:
  • Renate E. Meyer
  • Markus A. Höllerer

Abstract

type="main"> Greenwood, Hinings and Whetten (2014) present two major criticisms of current institutional scholarship, and see need for a broad redirection: institutional organization theory, they argue, has lost sight of the claim to study organizations and, with its overwhelming focus on isomorphism and similarity, has fallen short on adequately theorizing differences across organizations. In our article, we offer support as well as a riposte. First, while we agree that the organizing of collective efforts needs to be at the core of organization research, we warn that focusing on formal organization – a rationalized cultural product itself – may direct attention away from studying alternative modes of organizing, and underestimates the dynamic developments that have transformed contemporary organizations into increasingly complex objects of inquiry. Second, we are concerned that, by abandoning the analysis of similarities in favour of differences, institutional theory may eventually lose sight of its pivotal quest: to study institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Renate E. Meyer & Markus A. Höllerer, 2014. "Does Institutional Theory Need Redirecting?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(7), pages 1221-1233, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:51:y:2014:i:7:p:1221-1233
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/joms.12089
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brayden G. King & Teppo Felin & David A. Whetten, 2010. "Perspective---Finding the Organization in Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the Organization as a Social Actor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 290-305, February.
    2. Tony Tinker, 1986. "Metaphor Or Reification: Are Radical Humanists Really Libertarian Anarchists?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 363-384, July.
    3. Royston Greenwood & Amalia Magán Díaz & Stan Xiao Li & José Céspedes Lorente, 2010. "The Multiplicity of Institutional Logics and the Heterogeneity of Organizational Responses," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 521-539, April.
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/81bmh6v5q90t8pntmr5pmni68 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Filipe M. Santos & Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 2005. "Organizational Boundaries and Theories of Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 491-508, October.
    6. Ahrne, Göran & Brunsson, Nils, 2005. "Organizations and meta-organizations," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 429-449, December.
    7. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo, 2011. "The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 899-931, June.
    8. D. Stark, 1996. "Recombinant Property in East European Capitalism," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, vol. 6.
    9. Royston Greenwood & C. R. Hinings & Dave Whetten, 2014. "Rethinking Institutions and Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(7), pages 1206-1220, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Erynn E. Beaton & Rich DeJordy & Pacey Foster, 2021. "The Lived Experience of Managerialization: Understanding Values Conflict in Non‐profits through a Pragmatic Institutionalism," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1471-1506, September.
    2. Barbe, Anne-Sophie & Hussler, Caroline, 2019. "“The war of the worlds won't occur”: Decentralized evaluation systems and orders of worth in market organizations of the sharing economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 64-75.
    3. Ruth V. Aguilera & Birgitte Grøgaard, 2019. "The dubious role of institutions in international business: A road forward," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(1), pages 20-35, February.
    4. Ansellia Adams & John M. Luiz, 2022. "Incomplete Institutional Change and the Persistence of Racial Inequality: The Contestation of Institutional Misalignment in South Africa," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 857-885, June.
    5. Haoyuan Ding & Yichuan Hu & Xiyi Yang & Xiaoyu Zhou, 2022. "Board interlock and the diffusion of corporate social responsibility among Chinese listed firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1287-1320, December.
    6. Lin, Han & Chen, Lu & Yu, Mingchuan & Li, Chao & Lampel, Joseph & Jiang, Wan, 2021. "Too little or too much of good things? The horizontal S-curve hypothesis of green business strategy on firm performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    7. Elaine Stewart & Ciaran Connolly, 2021. "Recent UK Central Government Accounting Reforms: Claimed Benefits and Experienced Outcomes," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 57(3), pages 557-592, September.
    8. Garaudel, Pierre, 2020. "Exploring meta-organizations’ diversity and agency: A meta-organizational perspective on global union federations," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    9. The Editors, 2014. "Has Institutional Theory Lost its Way?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(7), pages 1204-1205, November.
    10. Sunil K. Dixit & Murali Sambasivan, 2020. "An Integrated Multitheoretical Perspective of Public Healthcare Services Delivery Organizations," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 319-335, June.
    11. Akwaowo, Raphael Reuben & Kalio, Tamuno-Iduabia Sobie, 2021. "Organisational Learning and Learning Organization: A Review of Theories," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(08), pages 562-575, August.
    12. Jamali, Dima & Karam, Charlotte & Yin, Juelin & Soundararajan, Vivek, 2017. "CSR logics in developing countries: Translation, adaptation and stalled development," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 343-359.
    13. Dan V. Caprar & Sunghoon Kim & Benjamin W. Walker & Paula Caligiuri, 2022. "Beyond “Doing as the Romans Do”: A review of research on countercultural business practices," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(7), pages 1449-1483, September.
    14. Fashaya Johnson & Thanasak Ruankaew, 2017. "A Study of Inventory Control Systems by Jamaican SMEs in Retail and Manufacturing/Distribution Industries," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(8), pages 1-1, July.
    15. Saka-Helmhout, Ayse, 2020. "Institutional agency by MNEs: A review and future research agenda," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2).
    16. Robson, Keith & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2023. "The cultural fields of accounting practices: Institutionalization and accounting changes beyond the organization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    17. Yasser Eliwa & Ahmed Aboud & Ahmed Saleh, 2023. "Board gender diversity and ESG decoupling: Does religiosity matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4046-4067, November.
    18. Eun Young Song, 2020. "Divided we stand: How contestation can facilitate institutionalization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 837-866, June.
    19. Frolov, Daniil, 2019. "The manifesto of post-institutionalism: institutional complexity research agenda," MPRA Paper 97662, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Ossi I. Ollinaho & V. P. J. Arponen, 2020. "Incomegetting and Environmental Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-18, May.
    21. Frolov, Daniil, 2019. "Постинституционализм: Программа Исследований За Пределами Институционального Мейнстрима [Post-institutionalism: research program beyond the institutional mainstream]," MPRA Paper 92328, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Manfred Lehner Othmar & Weber Christiana, 2020. "Growing up from In-Betweeners: Alternatives to Hybridity in Social Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 1-13, July.
    23. Pierre Garaudel, 2020. "Exploring meta-organizations’ diversity and agency: A meta-organizational perspective on global union federations," Post-Print halshs-02474817, HAL.
    24. Heloïse Berkowitz & Marcelo Bucheli & Hervé Dumez, 2017. "Collectively Designing CSR Through Meta-Organizations: A Case Study of the Oil and Gas Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 753-769, July.
    25. Samiolo, Rita, 2017. "Accounting, actorhood and actors: A comment on: Casting call: The expanding nature of actorhood in U.S. Firms, 1960–2010 by Patricia Bromley and Amanda Sharkey," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 21-26.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Welter, Friederike & Smallbone, David, 2015. "Creative forces for entrepreneurship: The role of institutional change agents," Working Papers 01/15, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    2. Pierre Garaudel, 2020. "Exploring meta-organizations’ diversity and agency: A meta-organizational perspective on global union federations," Post-Print halshs-02474817, HAL.
    3. Garaudel, Pierre, 2020. "Exploring meta-organizations’ diversity and agency: A meta-organizational perspective on global union federations," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    4. Evgeniya Lupova-Henry & Sam Blili & Cinzia Dal Zotto, 2021. "Clusters as institutional entrepreneurs: lessons from Russia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-27, December.
    5. Lepori, Benedetto & Montauti, Martina, 2020. "Bringing the organization back in: Flexing structural responses to competing logics in budgeting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Elbasha, Tamim & Avetisyan, Emma, 2018. "A framework to study strategizing activities at the field level: The example of CSR rating agencies," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 38-46.
    7. Heloïse Berkowitz & Marcelo Bucheli & Hervé Dumez, 2017. "Collectively Designing CSR Through Meta-Organizations: A Case Study of the Oil and Gas Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 753-769, July.
    8. Gawer, Annabelle, 2014. "Bridging differing perspectives on technological platforms: Toward an integrative framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1239-1249.
    9. Joyce C. Wang & Jingtao Yi & Xiuping Zhang & Mike W. Peng, 2022. "Pyramidal Ownership and SOE Innovation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(7), pages 1839-1868, November.
    10. Ricciardi, Francesca & De Bernardi, Paola & Cantino, Valter, 2020. "System dynamics modeling as a circular process: The smart commons approach to impact management," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Alex Nicholls & Benjamin Huybrechts, 2016. "Sustaining Inter-organizational Relationships Across Institutional Logics and Power Asymmetries: The Case of Fair Trade," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(4), pages 699-714, June.
    12. Schüßler, Elke & Lohmeyer, Nora & Ashwin, Sarah, 2022. "We can't compete on human rights: creating market-protected spaces to institutionalize the emerging logic of responsible management," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115506, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Järvi, Kati & Almpanopoulou, Argyro & Ritala, Paavo, 2018. "Organization of knowledge ecosystems: Prefigurative and partial forms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1523-1537.
    14. Samiolo, Rita, 2017. "Accounting, actorhood and actors: A comment on: Casting call: The expanding nature of actorhood in U.S. Firms, 1960–2010 by Patricia Bromley and Amanda Sharkey," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 21-26.
    15. Patrick Haack & Michael D. Pfarrer & Andreas Georg Scherer, 2014. "Legitimacy-as-Feeling: How Affect Leads to Vertical Legitimacy Spillovers in Transnational Governance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 634-666, June.
    16. Christophe Boone & Serden Özcan, 2020. "Oppositional Logics and the Antecedents of Hybridization: A Country-Level Study of the Diffusion of Islamic Banking Windows, 1975–2017," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 990-1011, July.
    17. Klaus Heine & Maximilian Kerk, 2017. "Conflict resolution in meta-organizations: the peculiar role of arbitration," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, December.
    18. McMullin, Caitlin, 2018. "Co-production and the third sector: A comparative study of England and France," Thesis Commons 578d3, Center for Open Science.
    19. Francesco Testa & Olivier Boiral & Fabio Iraldo, 2018. "Internalization of Environmental Practices and Institutional Complexity: Can Stakeholders Pressures Encourage Greenwashing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 287-307, January.
    20. Lisa Qixun Siebers, 2017. "Hybridization practices as organizational responses to institutional demands: The development of Western retail TNCs in China," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 1-29.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:51:y:2014:i:7:p:1221-1233. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.