The Institutional Entrepreneur as Modern Prince: The Strategic Face of Power in Contested Fields

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 971-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Levy ◽  
Maureen Scully
Keyword(s):  
Mode Of Action ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Field Structure ◽  
The Political ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Organizational Fields ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneur ◽  
Collective Agent

This paper develops a theoretical framework that situates institutional entrepreneurship by drawing from Gramsci's concept of hegemony to understand the contingent stabilization of organizational fields, and by employing his discussion of the Modern Prince as the collective agent who organizes and strategizes counter-hegemonic challenges. Our framework makes three contributions. First, we characterize the interlaced material, discursive, and organizational dimensions of field structure. Second, we argue that strategy must be examined more rigorously as the mode of action by which institutional entrepreneurs engage with field structures. Third, we argue that institutional entrepreneurship, in challenging the position of incumbent actors and stable fields, reveals a `strategic face of power', particularly useful for understanding the political nature of contestation in issue-based fields.

scholarly journals Emerging Institutions: Pyramids or Anthills?

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Czarniawska
Keyword(s):  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
London School ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Garbage Can Model ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Sociology Of Translation ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneur ◽  
London School Of Economics ◽  
Present Text ◽  
The Way

In the present text, an institution is understood to be an (observable) pattern of collective action, justified by a corresponding norm. By this definition, an institution emerges slowly, although it may be helped or hindered by various specific acts. From this perspective, an institutional entrepreneur is an oxymoron, at least in principle. In practice, however, there are and always have been people trying to create institutions. This article describes the emergence of the London School of Economics and Political Science as an institution and analyzes its founders and its supporters during crises as institutional entrepreneurs. A tentative theory of the phenomenon of institutional entrepreneurship is then constructed by combining elements of sociology of translation, actor-network theory and garbage can model. The article concludes with a suggestion that the way institutional enterprises are narrated may differ from the way they are built, and a genre analysis can be of further help in understanding this phenomenon.

scholarly journals `Healing the Scars of History': Projects, Skills and Field Strategies in Institutional Entrepreneurship

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 1101-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Perkmann ◽  
André Spicer
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Form ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Political Skills ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Analytical Skills ◽  
New Organizational Forms ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneur ◽  
Cultural Skills

We explore what institutional entrepreneurs do to propagate new organizational forms. Our findings are derived from a longitudinal study of the `Euroregion', an organizational form used by local authorities situated close to European borders for co-ordinating policies across borders. We find that the institutional entrepreneurs behind the Euroregion engaged in several types of institution-building projects, with a changing focus over time. While the initial emphasis was on interactional projects, this was followed by a focus on technical projects and finally cultural projects. The skills that the institutional entrepreneurs deployed changed accordingly. While in a first phase, predominantly political skills were used, later, analytical skills and finally cultural skills were added. Furthermore, the institutional entrepreneurs propagated the organizational form by switching their institution-building projects between different fields. We interpret these findings by outlining a process theory of institutional entrepreneurship that conceptualizes the institutional entrepreneur in light of its development as an innovating organization.

Rethinking Collective Action: The Co-Evolution of the State and Institutional Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tricia D. Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
The State ◽  
Passive State ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Organizational Fields ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Distribution Of Power

Why do groups form to influence policy outcomes? Classic notions of collective action tell us that a small number of homogeneous individuals are more likely to organize and thus achieve their preferred policy outcomes. Yet, this is not always reflected in the empirical record as external factors, such as the state, influence the costs of organizing. Instead, the traditional collective action literature largely assumes a purely rational or passive state. While the institutional entrepreneurship literature highlights the key role these actors can play in shaping institutions and, at times, organizational fields, it does not seek to explain why change agents appear in some instances and not others. This article seeks to fill this theoretical gap by drawing on the co-evolution literature, which helps explain the variation in group formation by underscoring how the state and institutional entrepreneurs shape one another. Utilizing rich qualitative data from the microfinance industry in Brazil and Mexico, this research asserts that the formation of microfinance associations is a function of actors’ ability to access the state, which results in distinct processes: co-evolution by isolation or co-optation. This process has subsequent implications for institutional change, policy outcomes, and, ultimately, the distribution of power and prospects of development within emerging economies.

Institutional entrepreneurs on opportunity formation and exploitation in strategic new industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuanwei Cao ◽  
Yipeng Liu ◽  
Chunhui Cao
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneur ◽  
New Industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of institutional entrepreneurship in opportunity formation and opportunity exploitation in developing emerging strategic new industries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the focal literature focussing on institutional entrepreneurs’ role in opportunity formation with special attention to opportunities for institutional entrepreneurs in emerging economy. A multi-method approach consisting of historical case studies and event sequencing is applied to track the historical development of the solar energy industry in two case contexts and to investigate the role of institutional entrepreneurs in this process. Findings – Investigation of two cases illustrates that different types of institutional entrepreneur, as represented by individual entrepreneurs and local government, in the context of massive institutional change – such as the Grand Western Development Program and the Thousand Talents Program in China – have varied effects on triggering and inducing institutional change and innovation to explore and exploit opportunities in emerging new industries. Practical implications – The significance of local context for the nature and scope of institutional entrepreneurship in emerging economy is worthy of further research. The top-down process of institutional innovation dominated by local government might cause myopic outcome and distortion of market opportunities. Indigenous individual entrepreneurs with well-accumulated political capital and strong perceived responsibility could be the main actors to introduce incremental institutional change by combining bottom-up and top-down processes and promoting sustained new industry development through creating and seizing institutional opportunities and market opportunities. Originality/value – This paper illustrates the close relationship between institutional environment and opportunity formation in emerging economies, contributes to the understanding of contextualizing institutional entrepreneurs in different regional contexts and discloses the problems involved in local government acting as an institutional entrepreneur.

Institutional entrepreneurship and management control systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 458-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Martin-Sardesai
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Research Assessment ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneur

Purpose This study aims to explore how management control systems (MCS) compliment institutional entrepreneurship. It provides a case illustration of how the Vice Chancellor (VC) as an institutional entrepreneur used MCS to bring about a change in an Australian public sector university in anticipation of an externally imposed research assessment exercise. Design/methodology/approach This case study gathered qualitative data through key informant interviews (including deputy VCs, research managers, executive deans and heads of departments) and a review of university and other electronic policy-related documents. Findings The study contributes to an understanding of the external environment that drives university leaders to become institutional entrepreneurs, and what they precisely do to facilitate the internal dynamic change in line with political demands. Research limitations/implications Being a single case study, care should be taken in generalizing the findings. However, it raises significant issues that deserve further attention, for example, the impact of change on the working life of academics. Practical implications The research study identifies the proposed imposition of a research assessment exercise as an enabling condition under which an institutional entrepreneur could promote and activate a new vision. It provides useful insights for other universities operating in the rapidly changing environment. Originality/value In identifying the way institutional entrepreneurs bring about change by promoting a vision and operationalizing it through MCS, the research study extends literature on institutional entrepreneurship MCS and organizational change.

When They Do It: Institutional Entrepreneurship in Two Québécois Organizations

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Coulombe ◽  
Ignasi Martí
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Corporate Entrepreneurship ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneur ◽  
Cross Fertilization

This article analyses from an institutional perspective efforts by two entrepreneurs in governmental organizations to promote new practices and programmes and the nature of the challenges they encounter as they deviate from, and attempt to disrupt, institutionalized practices. These two case studies are used to gain knowledge on why and how individuals become institutional entrepreneurs. The article provides insights into the processes an institutional entrepreneur goes through in an institution that does not provide support. The authors finally suggest potential avenues for cross-fertilization between the corporate entrepreneurship and institutional entrepreneurship literatures.

Institutional Entrepreneurship

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Dew
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Cost ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Entrepreneurial Behaviour ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneur ◽  
Over Time

Economists have long argued that the prevailing institutional structures of the economic system produce a particular spectrum of entrepreneurial activity. However, these institutions themselves change over time, sometimes as the result of entrepreneurial behaviour. This paper investigates the idea of institutional entrepreneurship from a Coasian perspective. This perspective puts transaction-cost-reducing institutions at the centre of the analysis, and examines the role of institutional entrepreneurs in constructing and transforming these economically valuable artefacts. The paper presents a case study of an institutional entrepreneur and concludes that, from a Coasian perspective, institutional entrepreneurship is one type of entrepreneurial behaviour that seems worthy of further research.

scholarly journals Institutional Strategies in the Ridesharing Economy: A Content Analysis Based on Uber’s Example

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8037
Author(s):  
Michaël Distelmans ◽  
Ilse Scheerlinck
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Inductive Reasoning ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Special Interests ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Institutional Work ◽  
Capital Region ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
Institutional Strategies ◽  
Market Strategies

Recently, scholars have paid growing attention to ridesharing economy firms’ institutional work to obtain legitimacy. More specifically, they have pinpointed the need for further research to better understand the actions of institutional entrepreneurs across geographical contexts. In this paper, we investigate Uber’s institutional strategies in the Brussels Capital Region from 2014 to 2020. Using the theoretical lens of institutional entrepreneurship, we apply content analysis of press media to analyse Uber in relation to authorities, incumbents, drivers and users. We also delve into the tactical aspects of Uber’s institutional work. The findings show that during the first years of operation, Uber predominantly used strategies of framing and lobbying. The company also made diverse articulations of theorization, collaboration, and negotiation. A more inductive reasoning reveals that market strategies also have a part in Uber’s institutional work. According to the findings, Uber’s quest for legitimacy in Brussels was not an unqualified success, due to conflicts and special interests complicating the market. We formulate recommendations on how actors may build a more sustainable market of ridesharing and provide some reflections on the theoretical framework.

Religion and the Construction of a Christian Roman Polity

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-113
Author(s):  
Francesco Rotiroti
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Theories Of Religion ◽  
Ancient Christianity

This article seeks to define a theoretical framework for the study of the relation between religion and the political community in the Roman world and to analyze a particular case in point. The first part reviews two prominent theories of religion developed in the last fifty years through the combined efforts of anthropologists and classicists, arguing for their complementary contribution to the understanding of religion's political dimension. It also provides an overview of the approaches of recent scholarship to the relation between religion and the Roman polity, contextualizing the efforts of this article toward a theoretical reframing of the political and institutional elements of ancient Christianity. The second part focuses on the religious legislation of the Theodosian Code, with particular emphasis on the laws against the heretics and their performance in the construction of the political community. With their characteristic language of exclusion, these laws signal the persisting overlap between the borders of the political community and the borders of religion, in a manner that one would expect from pre-Christian civic religions. Nevertheless, the political essence of religion did also adapt to the ecumenical dimension of the empire. Indeed, the religious norms of the Code appear to structure a community whose borders tend to be identical to the borders of the whole inhabited world, within which there is no longer room for alternative affiliations; the only possible identity outside this community is that of the insane, not belonging to any political entity and thus unable to possess any right.

The Puzzle of Precarity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven P. Vallas
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Organizational Fields ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Shed Light

Social scientific efforts to understand the political and economic forces generating precarious employment have been mired in uncertainty. In this context, the Doellgast–Lillie–Pulignano (D–L–P) model represents an important step forward in both theoretical and empirical terms. This concluding chapter scrutinizes the authors’ theoretical model and assesses the present volume’s empirical applications of it. Building on the strengths of the D–L–P model, the chapter identifies several lines of analysis that can fruitfully extend our understanding of the dynamics of precarization, whether at the micro-, meso-, or macro-social levels of analysis. Especially needed are studies that explore the dynamics of organizational fields as these shape employer strategy and state policy towards employment. Such analysis will hopefully shed light on the perils and possibilities that workers’ organizations face as they struggle to cope with the demands of neoliberal capitalism.

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