Materiality in action: the role of objects in institutional work

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the actions and activities undertaken by public managers of a local government to institutionalise an externally mandated performance measurement and management (PMM) system in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study of one of the best-ranked early adopters of PMM in a local government in Indonesia was undertaken, with interviews with public officers at various organisational levels, along with an extensive documentary review. An institutional work perspective was used to explain the types of work undertaken to institutionalise PMM at the organisation. Findings The PMM change was shown to be centralised and directed from the top and facilitated by other public officers. The Mayors’ instrumental and political view of PMM as a tool for efficiency and societal legitimacy enabled the adoption of PMM. The political and cultural work of the Mayor and the key officers involved constructing new rules pertaining to PMM, specifically in dealing with resource allocation and its associated sanctions and rewards, which encouraged more substantive implementation. The substantive implementation of PMM had a significant influence on the norms and values of the local government. Research limitations/implications The case organisation is the local government of a relatively medium-sized city. Therefore, it may be easier to achieve tighter control and coordination as compared to the local government of other larger cities. Originality/value The paper highlights the interrelated nature of institutional work in the creation and disruption of institutions. In addition, the three main types of institutional work, i.e. political, cultural and technical work, are not mutually exclusive. The paper also indicates the processes involved in the implementation of PMM, which unfolds from the establishment of a policy, its impact, and the role of the actors in the process.

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The Role of Companies-in-Movements in Regional Sustainability Transitions. A Case Study on the Economy for the Common Good in South Tyrol

Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik ◽

10.5771/1439-880x-2019-3-376 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 376-405

Author(s):

Niklas S. Mischkowski ◽

Philipp Späth

Keyword(s):

Structural Change ◽

Social Movement ◽

Common Good ◽

Sustainability Transitions ◽

Institutional Work ◽

South Tyrol ◽

The Common Good ◽

The Common

This study explores the movement for an ›Economy for the Common Good‹ from a sustainability transitions perspective. Special interest lies in the integration of companies in a social movement. The underlying study was carried out in the region of South Tyrol, Italy. It reveals what institutional work was involved, explores impacts and reflects on the role that companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, can play in structural change.

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Contextual “Readiness” for Institutional Work. A Study of the Fight Against Corruption in Brazil

Journal of Management Inquiry ◽

10.1177/1056492617696887 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 351-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Armando Castro ◽

Shaz Ansari

Keyword(s):

Institutional Theory ◽

Institutional Change ◽

Institutional Work ◽

Car Wash ◽

Do So

While existing research has explained how actors can disrupt even deeply entrenched practices, we focus on the role of the context in fueling these efforts. To do so, we analyze one of the largest anticorruption operations ever launched in Brazil: the “Lava Jato” (Car Wash Operation) and its antecedents, the contextual enablers of change, and the institutional work of agents involved in this operation. We find that the confluence of jolts, gradual changes in the field, and the cumulating work of purposeful actors were essential for anticorruption actions to gain traction across the country and lead to a breakthrough in the fight against corruption. We develop a model to explain how actors seeking institutional change are contextually empowered, and their efforts yield breakthroughs only at particular points in time when the context is “ripe” for change. Our findings contribute both to institutional theory and the corruption literature.

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PERAN BUDAYA ORGANISASI DALAM MEWUJUDKAN VISI MISI PARTAI KEADILAN SEJAHTERA (PKS)

JURNAL ILMU SOSIAL ◽

10.14710/jis.15.2.2016.90-102 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 90

Author(s):

Much. Yulianto

Keyword(s):

Organizational Culture ◽

Data Collection ◽

Descriptive Study ◽

Internal Force ◽

Institutional Work ◽

Large Organization ◽

Institutional Capital ◽

Qualitative Descriptive ◽

Party Members

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) as large organization has been putting the organizational culture as a primary need to build both institutional work and the dynamics activities of members that were managed to realize the vision and mission of the party. Organizational culture as an internal force as well as institutional capital to realize the vision and mission of the party should be able to be evaluated in presence and role in order to realize of the vision and mission of the organization.This study aims to determine the role of organizational culture in realizing the vision and mission of PKS. This research is a qualitative descriptive study. The data collection was done by in-depth interviews.The results showed: (1) organizational culture play a role in shaping the identity and character of party members; (2) The organizational culture also plays a role in encouraging loyalty and solidity of party members; (3) the organizational culture at PKS played role in strengthening the confidence of individual members.

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Bringing Art Market Organizations to China: Cross-Border Isomorphism, Institutional Work and its Unintended Consequences

The China Quarterly ◽

10.1017/s0305741019000389 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 240 ◽

pp. 1087-1107

Author(s):

Svetlana Kharchenkova

Keyword(s):

Unintended Consequences ◽

The Political ◽

Organizational Forms ◽

Institutional Work ◽

Individual Agency ◽

Cross Border ◽

Auction Houses ◽

Institutional Differences ◽

Mimetic Isomorphism

AbstractThis study proposes a new explanation for institutional differences of organizations in China. It focuses on how two organizational forms dominant in contemporary art markets – commercial galleries and auction houses – were first established in China in the 1990s. Based on archival and interview data, it argues that the organizational forms were introduced to China due to mimetic isomorphism, and that their divergences from the foreign models are the result of unintended consequences of institutional work. It highlights the role of individual agency, including the role of foreign nationals, in organization-building in China. The findings also have implications for institutional theory: the article shows how the political, cultural and institutional context in China shaped institutional work that needed to be conducted and led to unintended consequences of institutional work.

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The limits of institutional work: a field study on auditors' efforts to promote sustainability assurance in a trust society

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal ◽

10.1108/aaaj-02-2019-3890 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Hanna Silvola ◽

Eija Vinnari

Keyword(s):

Design Methodology ◽

Institutional Logics ◽

Cultural Work ◽

Documentary Evidence ◽

Institutional Work ◽

Content Type ◽

Management Fashion ◽

Corporate Social ◽

Country Specific

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to enrich extant understanding of the role of both agency and context in the uptake of sustainability assurance. To this end, the authors examine auditors' attempts to promote sustainability assurance and establish it as a practice requiring the professional involvement of auditors.Design/methodology/approachApplying institutional work (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006) and institutional logics (Thornton, 2002; Thornton et al., 2012) as the method theories, the authors examine interview data and a variety of documentary evidence collected in Finland, a small society characterized by social and environmental values, beliefs in functioning institutions and public trust in companies behaving responsibly.FindingsWith this study, the authors make two main contributions to extant literature. First, the authors illustrate the limits that society-level logics related to corporate social responsibility, together with the undermining or rejected institutional work of other agents, place especially on the political and cultural work undertaken by auditors. Second, the study responds to Power's (2003) call for country-specific studies by exploring a rather unique context, Finland, where societal trust in companies is arguably stronger than in many other countries and this trust appears to affect how actors perceive the need for sustainability assurance.Originality/valueThis is one of the few accounting studies that combines institutional logics and institutional work to study the uptake of a management fashion, in this case sustainability assurance.

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Role of management accounting in applying new institutional logics

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal ◽

10.1108/aaaj-07-2012-01058 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 861-886 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Janne T. Järvinen

Keyword(s):

Management Accounting ◽

Institutional Logics ◽

Organizational Field ◽

Institutional Work ◽

Content Type ◽

Non Profit ◽

Conflicting Objectives ◽

Management Controls ◽

And Control

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the adoption of management accounting and control systems in the non-profit sector. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework of this comparative interpretative study draws on new institutional theory, especially the concepts of institutional logics and institutional work. Findings – New accounting and management controls serve as a medium through which organizations negotiate between multiple and conflicting objectives and choose institutional logics in the organizational field. Research limitations/implications – The data comprise interviews, observations and archival data and provides a limited view on how the organizational field is structured. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the accounting literature by investigating how institutional work and operating under contradictory logics explain management accounting change.

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Constructing and disrupting Ireland's industrial development authority

Cadernos EBAPE BR ◽

10.1590/s1679-39512010000200008 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 302-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dr. Paul F. Donnelly

Keyword(s):

Network Theory ◽

Industrial Development ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

Institutional Work ◽

Actor Network

Actor-network theory is considered to have great potential for broadening and deepening our grasp of institutional work (LAWRENCE; SUDDABY, 2006). Given its focus on process, ANT offers a means to breathe life into the practices associated with institutionalization. With Callon's (1986) four moments of translation as analytical lens, and with Ireland's Industrial Development Authority as empirical example, I seek to address the concerns of Clegg and Machado da Silva (2009) by reconsidering "the role of agency, power, persistence and change in the process of institutionalization".

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Institutional Pressures, Institutional Work and the Development of Universities' Entrepreneurial Turn

Revista de Administração Contemporânea ◽

10.1590/1982-7849rac2020170383 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 119-133

Author(s):

Juliana Marangoni Amarante ◽

João Marcelo Crubellate

Keyword(s):

Institutional Theory ◽

Triple Helix ◽

The State ◽

Institutional Pressures ◽

Institutional Work ◽

Institutional Entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT Based on Institutional Theory, in this theoretical essay we aimed to create a model that could explain the development of the entrepreneurial turn of universities. As a result, we suggest the following theoretical proposition: universities' entrepreneurial turn is contingent on institutional work and may be understood as a result of a confluence of inward and outward forces that are shaped through a historical and recursive interplay between regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive pressures, conjointly derived from each actor of the Triple Helix, that is, the state, the industry - or society in a broader sense - and academia. Our main theoretical contributions consist of : (a) placing the universities' entrepreneurial turn at the epicenter of all the competing institutional pressures and logic when it comes to innovation creation; (b) characterizing the universities' entrepreneurial turn as a result of the recursive interplay between regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive pressures, conjointly derived from each actor of the Triple Helix; and (c) stressing the fundamental role of the institutional work performed by institutional entrepreneurs in the process of developing the universities' entrepreneurial turn.

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