IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/mpifgd/102.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Collective market-making efforts at an engineering conference

Author

Listed:
  • Möllering, Guido

Abstract

This paper advances research on institutional work in market constitution processes. I show how purposive, coordinated action is organized under conditions of uncertainty through practices of rendering irreducible uncertainty tolerable. Building on recent developments in institutional theories of organization, market sociology, and the concept of field-configuring events, I analyze collective market-making efforts at a conference on the next generation of lithography technology for manufacturing semiconductors. I use original documents and 76 field interviews in a qualitative analysis to identify and understand the main practices of collective institutional work at the conference, along with the immediate consequences of these practices. My findings show that the overall purpose of the conference was to generate momentum toward commercialization, in spite of remaining uncertainty, through practices of bootstrapping, roadmapping, leader-picking, and issue-bracketing. These are practices of ignoring, denying, displacing, and suspending uncertainty, respectively. I contribute important clarifications of the meaning of purposive action and agency in institutional work and I advance actiontheoretical explanations of market constitution processes by identifying activities involved in shaping a market that is still in the making.

Suggested Citation

  • Möllering, Guido, 2010. "Collective market-making efforts at an engineering conference," MPIfG Discussion Paper 10/2, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:102
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/39232/1/622375164.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:dau:papers:123456789/263 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. T. Lawrence & R. Suddaby & B. Leca, 2009. "Introduction : Theorizing and studying institutional work," Post-Print hal-00808954, HAL.
    3. Alan D. Meyer & Vibha Gaba & Kenneth A. Colwell, 2005. "Organizing Far from Equilibrium: Nonlinear Change in Organizational Fields," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 456-473, October.
    4. Linden Greg & Mowery David C. & Ham Ziedonis Rosemarie, 2000. "National Technology Policy in Global Markets: Developing Next-Generation Lithography in the Semiconductor Industry," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-22, August.
    5. Chuma, Hiroyuki, 2006. "Increasing complexity and limits of organization in the microlithography industry: implications for science-based industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 394-411, April.
    6. Gerald F. Davis & Christopher Marquis, 2005. "Prospects for Organization Theory in the Early Twenty-First Century: Institutional Fields and Mechanisms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 332-343, August.
    7. Linden, Greg & Mowery, David C. & Ham Ziedonis, Rosemarie, 2000. "National Technology Policy in Global Markets: Developing Next-Generation Lithography in the Semiconductor Industry," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 93-113, August.
    8. Thomas Lawrence & Roy Suddaby & Bernard Leca, 2009. "Introduction: theorizing and studying institutional work," Post-Print hal-00576557, HAL.
    9. Julie Battilana & Bernard Leca & Eva Boxenbaum, 2009. "How actors change institutions : Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship," Post-Print hal-00576509, HAL.
    10. Clair Brown & Greg Linden, 2009. "Chips and Change: How Crisis Reshapes the Semiconductor Industry," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262013460, April.
    11. Henderson, Rebecca, 1995. "Of life cycles real and imaginary: The unexpectedly long old age of optical lithography," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 631-643, July.
    12. Beckert, Jens, 2000. "Economic sociology in Germany," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 1(2), pages 2-7.
    13. Geroski, Paul, 2003. "The Evolution of New Markets," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199248896.
    14. Michel Callon & Fabian Muniesa, 2005. "Economic markets as calculative collective devices," Post-Print halshs-00087477, HAL.
    15. Raghu Garud, 2008. "Conferences as Venues for the Configuration of Emerging Organizational Fields: The Case of Cochlear Implants," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1061-1088, September.
    16. Aspers, Patrik, 2009. "How are markets made?," MPIfG Working Paper 09/2, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Möllering, Guido & Müller-Seitz, Gordon, 2018. "Direction, not destination: Institutional work practices in the face of field-level uncertainty," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 28-37.
    2. Guido Möllering, 2011. "Umweltbeeinflussung durch Events? Institutionalisierungsarbeit und feldkonfigurierende Veranstaltungen in organisationalen Feldern," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 458-484, August.
    3. Lange, Knut & Müller-Seitz, Gordon & Sydow, Jörg & Windeler, Arnold, 2013. "Financing innovations in uncertain networks—Filling in roadmap gaps in the semiconductor industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 647-661.
    4. Mair, Johanna & Reischauer, Georg, 2017. "Capturing the dynamics of the sharing economy: Institutional research on the plural forms and practices of sharing economy organizations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 11-20.
    5. Kapoor, Rahul & McGrath, Patia J., 2014. "Unmasking the interplay between technology evolution and R&D collaboration: Evidence from the global semiconductor manufacturing industry, 1990–2010," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 555-569.
    6. Schubert, Cornelius & Sydow, Jörg & Windeler, Arnold, 2013. "The means of managing momentum: Bridging technological paths and organisational fields," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1389-1405.
    7. Victoria Johnson & Walter W. Powell, 2015. "Poisedness and Propagation: Organizational Emergence and the Transformation of Civic Order in 19th-Century New York City," NBER Working Papers 21011, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Möllering, Guido, 2009. "Market constitution analysis: A new framework applied to solar power technology markets," MPIfG Working Paper 09/7, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    9. Beninger, Stefanie & Francis, June N.P., 2021. "Collective market shaping by competitors and its contribution to market resilience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 293-303.
    10. Canning, Mary & O'Dwyer, Brendan, 2016. "Institutional work and regulatory change in the accounting profession," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-21.
    11. N. Anand & Brittany C. Jones, 2008. "Tournament Rituals, Category Dynamics, and Field Configuration: The Case of the Booker Prize," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1036-1060, September.
    12. Donada, Carole, 2014. "Pour une réingénierie des partenariats verticaux : le cas de la Plateforme de la Filière Automobile," ESSEC Working Papers WP1401, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    13. Abdelnour, Samer & Hasselbladh, Hans & Kallinikos, Jannis, 2017. "Agency and institutions in organization studies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86361, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Gautier, Arthur & Pache , Anne-Claire & Chowdhury, Imran, 2013. "Nonprofit Roles in For-profit Firms: The Institutionalization of Corporate Philanthropy in France," ESSEC Working Papers WP1319, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    15. Sutheewasinnon, Prapaipim & Hoque, Zahirul & Nyamori, Robert Ochoki, 2016. "Development of a performance management system in the Thailand public sector: Isomorphism and the role and strategies of institutional entrepreneurs," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 26-44.
    16. Blandine Emilien & Shankar Veerta, 2017. "From duping clients to institutional entrepreneurship in Mauritius: the account of a former BPO worker who became an activist," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(6), pages 1021-1030, December.
    17. Kaufman, Matt & Covaleski, Mark A., 2019. "Budget formality and informality as a tool for organizing and governance amidst divergent institutional logics," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 40-58.
    18. Victoria Johnson & Walter W. Powell, 2017. "Organizational Poisedness and the Transformation of Civic Order in Nineteenth-Century New York City," NBER Chapters, in: Organizations, Civil Society, and the Roots of Development, pages 179-230, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Caner Bakir & Sinan Akgunay & Kerem Coban, 2021. "Why does the combination of policy entrepreneur and institutional entrepreneur roles matter for the institutionalization of policy ideas?," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(2), pages 397-422, June.
    20. Maximilian Benner, 2021. "A tale of sky and desert: Translation and imaginaries in transnational windows of institutional opportunity," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_08, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.

    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:zbw:mpifgd:102. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mpigfde.html .

    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.