Chinese Local Governments’ Behavioral Logic of Early-Warning Information Release Regarding Major Epidemic Outbreaks from the Organizational Analysis Perspective

Based on the three-dimensional ‘organizational goal – organizational field – organizational incen­tive’ analysis framework, this paper attempts to conduct a comparative and diachronic analysis of the behavioral logic of Chinese local governments’ early-warning information release in major epidemic outbreaks. The results of the research show that the organizational goal, field and incentive are highly rel­evant to different strategic choices of whether local governments should, will and are willing to perform their governance function; additionally, different combinations of these elements trigger different lo­cal government behaviors. The organizational goal, field and incentive are the starting point, turning point, and end point of local governments’ behavior­al logic, respectively, while the organizational field is prerequisite for the organizational incentive to work. The organizational goal – organizational field – organizational incentive sequence reflects the se­quence and interactive relationship of local govern­ments’ behavioral logic.

Achieving legitimacy of a film-tourism strategy through joint private–public policymaking

Purpose This paper aims to analyze how strategizing practices can legitimate construction of public sector policy. The Porto Alegre Film Commission was set up as part of a strategy to increase the city’s competitiveness as a tourism destination. The municipal government engaged with private and public stakeholders and embarked on a collective process of policy construction. Design/methodology/approach The authors based their research on two theoretical lenses from business administration theory: strategy as practice (SaP) and neo-institutional theory (NIT), whereby SaP attempts to explain formation and implementation of strategy on the basis of a process that seeks a collective result, whereas NIT reveals the limits of this formation and implementation, attributing the process to influences of power and legitimacy. Thus, the authors get a more accurate view of the actors and the system of governance, considering the in-built reflexivity of these relationships and their capacity to change institutional arrangements. The authors conducted an in-depth case study with a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews, participatory observation and documentary analysis. Findings The results revealed the role played by the government and how practices used in the strategizing process ensured the legitimacy of public sector policy formulation and engaged private and public stakeholders. Research limitations/implications The authors recognize limitations such as the investigation being set in a single country and responses based on the interviewees’ perceptions of momentum. It would be interesting to undertake cross-national comparisons using empirical data that allow comparison of film commissions with different relationships between strategizing, power and politics. Practical implications This case study analyzed the relationship between formal institutional agents and the strategies adopted to create and run the Porto Alegre Film Commission (PAFC), positioning Porto Alegre as a destination for film and video production and, reflexively, making it more attractive to tourists interested in getting to know the locations where publicity campaigns, films and soap operas were filmed. This formal institution agent was converted into a strategic catalyzer to influence the institutional issues in a creative industry in which trade associations and firms had encountered difficulties when they attempted to set up a film commission alone. Social implications The evidence compiled showed that the practices, besides being strategic, were enacted in a specific context and directed toward results and survival of the PAFC. The practices shaped the results, because they were constructed together with other actors, achieving legitimacy through collaborative development of practices and targeting survival by establishing governance structures capable of riding out periods of political transition. In short, the collective construction of the PAFC policy, led by the public sector, legitimized it in the eyes of society. Originality/value This study furthers the discussion about strategizing in an organizational field marked by power relationships and how their consequences can affect society in general. There is a need to take a closer look at the implications of strategizing for power relationships and how the consequences can influence the organizational field.

Fighting an indestructible monster

U.S. journalism during the Trump era has experienced numerous legitimacy attacks by the leading political figure. Building on the concepts of institutional legitimacy and intentional trust, this study analyzes legitimation narratives in projections of journalism’s future, using the Harvard University’s NiemanLab Predictions of Journalism from 2017 to 2021. Projectory narratives are meaningful constructions of a field’s future and provide guidance for its actors. The qualitative analysis of a Trump-related subset of predictions (ca. n = 130) convey (1) confrontational narratives of threat, self-reproach, and epistemological authority loss. Confrontational narratives serve to secure consent for suggested transparency and audience relationship building solutions. These (2) solution narratives represent trustification strategies. Lastly, (3) survival narratives aim at regaining authority and agency through legacy mythopoesis and the construction of a cautiously optimistic post-Trump outlook for journalism. Hence, the analysis of projectory narratives reveals how an organizational field collectively prepares for change to regain legitimacy.

The Diffusion of Corporate Social Responsibility Within an Organizational Field: an Analysis through the Complementary Lenses of Neo-Institutional Theory and Actor-Network Theory

How does the implication of actors act as a condition of success in the diffusion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within an organizational field? To answer this question, this research looks at the microfoundations of the diffusion of a socially responsible practice. This approach enables us to adopt a perspective that is focused on individuals and to explain the integration of CSR practices at the organizational level. We mobilize neo-institutional theory (NIT) and actor-network theory (ANT) in our approach to the diffusion process of this innovative practice. First, we identify three distinct stages in institutional practice: the pre-institutionalization stage, the theorization stage, and the reinstitutionalization stage. Second, we reveal the four stages of the diffusion of a CSR practice as identified by the ANT: the designation of an actor initiating the change, the identification of allies for the deployment of innovation, the analysis of the diffusion process within the network, and the conditions of diffusion. Finally, we produce six research propositions based on the results of our study, which advocate for multileveled analysis to understand how CSR practices are developed within organizations.

Institutionalized Education: Journalism and Mass Communication Education in Pakistan

This article uses an examination of journalism and mass communication (JMC) education in Pakistan as a case study to explore the consequences of increased homogenization of JMC education around the world. Anchored by a qualitative method that relies heavily on actor-network theory, the study identifies key moments and people in the trajectory of five Pakistani programmes and explores the connection between these programmes and the larger JMC organizational field. The study concludes by questioning the efficacy of the current power structures within the supranational JMC organizational field before discussing how these influences could potentially be mitigated moving forward.

Multidirectional Idea Travelling Across an Organizational Field

Organizational scholars are increasingly interested in understanding how ideas travel across an organizational field. While most studies focus on how travelling ideas translate into organizational practices, we lack insights into the broader issue of how ideas translate as they move among heterogeneous actors across the field. To explore this multidirectional travelling of ideas, we build on the notion of translation ecology to capture the ongoing interactions among field members as they are involved in translation work within and outside adopting organizations. To develop our argument, we draw from a longitudinal, 20-year case study of a public sector digital transformation programme in Denmark through which ideas about mobile technology use for caregivers spread across the entire homecare field. By following the mobile technology initiative over time, we show how ideas travelled in multiple directions as adopting organizations and other influential field actors participated in and contributed to diverse practices across organizations. Based on our analyses, we identify three distinct forms of multidirectional idea travelling – reinforcing, complementing and polarizing – and describe how they together shape the morphing of ideas as they move among heterogeneous actors in a translation ecology. As a result, we advance knowledge about multidirectional idea travelling as an under-theorized and important perspective in the translation literature.