Agency, Entrepreneurs, and Institutional Change. The Role of Strategic Choice and Institutionalized Practices in Organizations

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Beckert
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Strategic Choice ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Comprehensive Model ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Institutional Organization ◽  
Integrative Concept

One of the persistent problems facing institutional organization theory has been the question of how to deal with interest-driven behaviour and institutional change. If organizational structures and strategies are shaped by institutional environments, what is the role of `strategic choice' in the management of organizations? In this paper, my aim is to develop an integrative concept which theorizes the connection of strategic agency and institutions in a model of institutional change. I argue that, under market conditions, institutional rules and intentional rational agency can be conceptualized as antagonistic mechanisms that contradict each other, but, nevertheless, remain interdependent. The incorporation of a systematic place for interests does not weaken the main theoretical trait of institutional theory, but, on the contrary, demonstrates the importance of institutional rules for understanding institutional change in a comprehensive model. The notion of uncertainty is at the centre of this model. By referring to existing empirical findings of processes of institutional change, four propositions are developed and supported.

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

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-365 ◽  
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.

From the Design of Structures to the Designing of Organizations

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-46
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Magalhães
Keyword(s):  
Organization Theory ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Organization Design ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Business Economics ◽  
Managerial Action ◽  
Historical Outline ◽  
Institutional Organization ◽  
Managerial Choice

The chapter starts with a historical outline of organization design featuring the following trends: • Contingency and configuration • The Simonian design tradition • Institutional organization design • Cognitive, situated, and generative approaches • Systemic approaches from business economics. Next, the chapter turns to an analysis of future trends, based on three proposals. The first concerns the growth of design thinking, which although containing a host of proposals for organization design change, it is so far not seen as an organization designing trend. Second, the trend of managerial choice and action as the focus of organization design is brought back from classical organization theory but with a new twist, that is, the role of the manager is now split into three separate but integrated activities—strategizing, designing, and managing. Third, it is proposed that the turn in some management literature towards language and meaning would become the focus of managerial action under the new design-inspired paradigm.

scholarly journals Functionaries: Institutional Theory without Institutions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin S. Stoltz ◽  
Marshall A. Taylor ◽  
Omar Lizardo
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Know How

In conceptualizing institutions, theorists tend to resort to conceptual metaphors of ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴᴇʀs or sᴜʙsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇs. We argue these construals are responsible for difficulties analysts encounter in conceptualizing the sources and mechanisms behind institutional change. We propose ᴅɪsᴛʀɪʙᴜᴛɪᴏɴ as a more effective foundational metaphor for institutional analysis. From this perspective, institutions are conceived as non-random dispersals of activity and knowledge across people and not as containers encasing persons or substances endowed with an essence. Most of a population may know how to take interactional advantage of an institution but few know how to keep institutions going and are therefore usually powerless to change them. This means those who do have the requisite operational knowledge and engage in the required upkeep activities, whom we refer to as “functionaries,” play pivotal roles in institutional change and reproduction. We revise theories of institutional entrepreneurship around the role of functionaries, and distinguish between two ideal types of institutional change.

ІНФОРМАЦІЙНА ФУНКЦІЯ АРТ-РИНКУ В КОНТЕКСТІ СУЧАСНОГО УКРАЇНСЬКОГО МИСТЕЦТВА (НА ПРИКЛАДІ БІЄНАЛЕ)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Admink Admink
Keyword(s):  
Information Society ◽  
Art Market ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Cultural Activity ◽  
Information Structures ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Function Information ◽  
Venice Biennale ◽  
Role Of Information

Обґрунтована необхідність розширення культурологічних досліджень арт-ринку з урахуванням останніх культурно-мистецьких тенденцій, а також його наукової концептуалізації у вітчизняній культурології. Враховуючи зростання ролі інформації, арт-ринок набуває нових ціннісно-смислових аспектів, а інтерес до цієї теми потребує культурологічного осмислення. Інформаційна функція арт-ринку актуалізується завдяки формуванню і розвитку інформаційно-технологічної революції, тому має вплив на соціокультурну діяльність митців та презентацію їхнього мистецтва. Функцію інформування на арт-ринку виконують організаційні структури, серед яких виділено виставки та бієнале. Проаналізовано проєкти українських митців на першій Київській міжнародній бієнале сучасного мистецтва ARSENALE 2012 та проєкт Ж/ Кадирової під час 58 Венеційської бієнале у 2019 р. Ключові слова: арт-ринок, інформаційна функція, інформаційне суспільство, бієнале, Мистецький Арсенал, Арсенале 2012, Венеційське бієнале 2019. The necessity of expanding the cultural researches of the art market, taking into account the latest cultural and art tendencies, is considered, as well as its scientific conceptualization in national cultural studies. The art market is gaining new valuable and semantic meanings, because of the growing role of information. So the interest in this topic requires cultural reflection. The information function of this market is actualized due to the formation and the development of the digital revolution, so it has an impact on the socio-cultural activity of the artists and the presentation of their art. Information structures in the art market are performed by organizational structures, among which exhibitions and biennials are highlighted. The projects of Ukrainian artists from the first Kyiv International Biennale of Contemporary Art ARSENALE 2012 and the project of Zhanna Kadyrova from the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 are analyzed. Key words: art market, informational function, information society, biennale, Mystetskyi Arsenal, ARSENALE 2012, Venice Biennale 2019.  

scholarly journals Contradictory Conservation: The Role of Leadership in Shaping Energy Efficiency Culture in Urban Residential Cooperative Buildings

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 648
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Board Member ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Strong Energy ◽  
Informal Leaders

In addition to formalized leadership roles within organizations, leadership can also influence members through informal channels. This work argues that multifamily residential buildings can be viewed as organizations and, as such, explores the influence that informal leaders can wield in shaping culture around the motivation for conserving energy. This work draws on qualitative fieldwork conducted in a Brooklyn cooperative building. Findings indicate that the study building benefitted from the leadership of a long-standing board member, which contributed to the implementation of a number of energy efficiency initiatives. Interestingly, this leadership also led to a culture of cost efficiency over environmental concern as the motivating force behind these initiatives. This narrative was well disseminated, with most residents reporting that the building does not have a culture of conservation, despite a strong energy efficiency leaning. Thus, this work posits that leadership can greatly shape perception and culture around energy but can also be leveraged to craft a more environmentally-motivated conservation culture. It also argues that leadership can be complementary to decentralized organizational structures, and that creative mechanisms in residential buildings can capitalize on both, allowing members at all levels of the organization more influence in shaping the building’s culture.

Party Matters

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hopkin
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
National Party ◽  
Strategic Responses ◽  
British Labour ◽  
Real Picture ◽  
The Relationship

This article addresses the relationship between political decentralization and the organization of political parties in Great Britain and Spain, focusing on the Labour Party and the Socialist Party, respectively. It assesses two rival accounts of this relationship: Caramani's `nationalization of politics' thesis and Chhibber and Kollman's rational choice institutionalist account in their book The Formation of National Party Systems. It argues that both accounts are seriously incomplete, and on occasion misleading, because of their unwillingness to consider the autonomous role of political parties as advocates of institutional change and as organizational entities. The article develops this argument by studying the role of the British Labour Party and the Spanish Socialists in proposing devolution reforms, and their organizational and strategic responses to them. It concludes that the reductive theories cited above fail to capture the real picture, because parties cannot only mitigate the effects of institutional change, they are also the architects of these changes and shape institutions to suit their strategic ends.

A Comprehensive Model of Tobacco Cigarette Smoking in Adolescence: The Role of Attachment Style and Personality

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Marianna Masiero ◽  
Ilaria Cutica ◽  
Ketti Mazzocco ◽  
Anna Zunino ◽  
Mark Cropley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Comprehensive Model ◽  
Tobacco Cigarette

scholarly journals Ambidexterity as Practice: Individual Ambidexterity Through Paradoxical Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angeliki Papachroni ◽  
Loizos Heracleous
Keyword(s):  
Organization Theory ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Greek Philosophy ◽  
Exploration And Exploitation ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Competing Demands ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Previous Learning

Following the turn to practice in organization theory and the emerging interest in the microfoundations of ambidexterity, understanding the role of individuals in realizing ambidexterity approaches becomes crucial. Drawing insights from Greek philosophy on paradoxes, and practice theory on paradoxes and ambidexterity, we propose a view of individual ambidexterity grounded in paradoxical practices. Existing conceptualizations of ambidexterity are largely based on separation strategies. Contrary to this perspective, we argue that individual ambidexterity can be accomplished via paradoxical practices that renegotiate or transcend boundaries of exploration and exploitation. We identify three such paradoxical practices at the individual level that can advance understanding of ambidexterity: engaging in “hybrid tasks,” capitalizing cumulatively on previous learning, and adopting a mindset of seeking synergies between the competing demands of exploration and exploitation.

scholarly journals Taking Lead for Sustainability: Environmental Managers as Institutional Entrepreneurs

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4022
Author(s):  
Pernilla Gluch ◽  
Stina Månsson
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Critical Events ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurship ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Institutional Entrepreneurs ◽  
The Past

Over the past two decades, sustainability professionals have entered the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. However, little attention has been given to the actual professionalization processes of these and the leadership conducted by them when shaping the pace and direction for sustainable development. With the aim to explore how the role of sustainability professionals develops, critical events affecting everyday sustainability work practices were identified. Based on a phenomenological study with focus on eight experienced environmental managers’ life stories, and by applying the theoretical lens of institutional entrepreneurship, the study displays a professionalization process in six episodes. Different critical events both enabled and disabled environmental managers’ opportunity to engage in institutional entrepreneurship. The findings indicate how agency is closely interrelated to temporary discourses in society; they either serve to support change and create new institutional practices towards enhanced sustainability or disrupt change when agency to act is temporarily “lost”. To manage a continually changing environment, environmental managers adopt different strategies depending on the situated context and time, such as finding ambassadors and interorganizational allies, mobilizing resources, creating organizational structures, and repositioning themselves.

One Step Forward or One Step Back? Explaining the Performance Paradox in the Civil Service of Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Asif M Asif M Shahan
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Change ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
The People ◽  
Specific Manner ◽  
Bureaucratic Responsiveness ◽  
One Step

In Bangladesh, two contrasting scenarios regarding the responsiveness of the bureaucrats working at the field level are present. Whereas some bureaucrats reach out to the people and respond to their demands, others remain unresponsive and unapproachable. So, why do the bureaucrats working at the grassroots, while performing under the same rules, same institutional context and reality, perform in two different ways while interacting with citizens? How can these two contradictory sets of understanding regarding bureaucratic responsiveness coexist in Bangladesh? This article attempts to unpack this puzzle by relying on a slightly modified version of historical institutionalism. Building on Bell’s model of ‘agent-centric institutional change’ and by using a modified version of Mahoney & Thelen’s framework of institutional change, it argues that dialectical interaction between agents (bureaucrats) and institutions (i.e., rules- both formal and informal, norms that affect the behavior of the agents) within the broader political setting can best explain the variation in behavioral pattern of the bureaucrats. The political context allows agents to exercise discretion in a specific manner in executing their roles and functions while being constrained by institutional rules and norms. The dialectical interaction between structure (political context), agent, and institution determines the current administrative reality, which has allowed the contradiction to emerge and sustain.

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