Institutional Processes: A Revised Agenda and Framework

Davis and Marquis (2005) have suggested that the time has come to seriously consider whether the organization is the appropriate level of analysis for most of the questions we social scientists want to address and the processes we seek to understand. The view of “an organiza- tion” as a relatively independent and self-contained actor

Institutional theory: Distinctive Features

Institutional theory differs from alternative approaches to the study of organizations in a number of ways that are important to identify. The following appear to be important: Institutionalists eschew a totalistic or monolithic view of organi- zational and societal structures and processes. The institutional perspective, more so than others, emphasizes the importance of the

The Maturation of Institutional Theory and Research

More than 25 years ago, I wrote an article titled “The Adolescence of Institutional Theory” (Scott 1987). In reexamining that article, I think it accurately portrayed, even more than I realized, the undeveloped state of theoretical development of the field at that time, while also recogniz- ing its promise and potential. Taking stock now,

Institutional theory: Fragmented by Fractals?

Andrew Abbott (2001) has pointed out that all academic disciplines become more complex over time, obviously differentiating among more specialized areas of study (e.g., the sociology of the family, the sociology of religion), but also, less obviously, by creating fractals. In this process, distinctions are created by the development of dichotomies (e.g., autonomy vs.

Institutional theory: A Cautionary Comment

If one examines the grand march of ideas across the centuries, it is pos- sible to make a case for the regular repetition, and alternating domi- nance, of either more liberal or more conservative accounts of the human condition. Thus, for example, European intellectual circles dur- ing the 18th and 19th centuries experienced the

Institutional theory: A Brief Sermon

Some of us may prefer to go even further in advancing the cause of insti- tutional analysis. A productive model for doing so has been provided by the lifelong work of Philip Selznick. His work has been discussed in previous chapters, but few organization theorists have followed it beyond its early phases, in particular