| Institutional Contradictions, Praxis, and Institutional Transformation: A Dialectical Perspective |
| | Seo, Myeong-Gu | Boston College | seom@bc.edu | (617)-552-0173 |
| | Creed, W. E. Douglas | Boston College | creedw@bc.edu | (617) 552-0492 |
| | By adopting Benson's (1977) dialectical perspective, this paper attempts to resolve a theoretical dilemma of institutional theory, the relative position of agency and embeddedness in an understanding of institutional change. Agency and interests -- embedded in a totality of multiple levels of interpenetrating institutional arrangements and contradictions -- are depicted as essential and naturally-linked driving forces of institutional transformation. Four sources of contradictions embedded in institutionalization processes are identified: 1) legitimacy that conflicts with functional efficiency, 2) adaptation that undermines adaptability, 3) intra-institutional conformity that creates inter-institutional conflicts, and 4) isomorphism that conflict with divergent interests. Two mechanisms -- crisis and praxis -- through which those contradictions may produce institutional transformation are also explored. Particular emphasis is given to theorizing the mechanism of praxis, which links institutional contradictions, agents, and institutional transformation. |
| | Keywords: Institutionalism; Dialectic; Change |
| The Dynamics of the Bulgarian Newspaper Industry in a Period of Transition: Organizational Adaptation, Structural Inertia, and Political Change |
| | Dobrev, Stanislav | Tulane U. | sdobrev@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu | (504)-865-5037 |
| | The alignment strategies of state-owned Bulgarian newspaper enterprises are examined in light of the theoretical insights provided by adaptation and selection perspectives of organizational evolution. Building on the distinction between core and periphery, I argue that the impact of internal restructuring is closely tied to the location of change in the organizational structure. The results indicate that newspaper enterprises that attempted to reorganize their core structures became liable to pressures of environmental selection. The lack of real structural reforms in Bulgarian society between 1987 and 1990 was used to explain the unsuccessful adaptation attempts made by newspapers that implemented only peripheral adjustments. |
| | Keywords: organizational change; structural inerta; Eastern Europe |
| From the big-time to the small time, the change in the National Collegiate Athletics Association |
| | Washington, Marvin | Northwestern U. | mwa246@nwu.edu | (847)-491-8307 |
| | Extending the work of Barley and Tolbert (1997), this project focuses on the authorization of new actors as a mechanism of institutional change by examining the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as it changed from a voluntary institution to the dominant institution for college sports. This project hypothesized and found support that the NCAA changed as high status schools joined in the early period, while Liberal Arts, Historically Black, and Teacher's Colleges joined in the later period. This change was precipitated by competition from a contending institution (the NAIA) and a restructuring of the NCAA from one division ultimately to five divisions. This project offers a new direction in institutional research; away from studies of isomorphism, legitimacy and early vs. late adoptions and towards viewing institutional change as the authorization of different types of actors. |
| | Keywords: Institutional Change; Organizational Fields; Organizational Status |
| Field Stability and Institutional Change: The Recomposition of Professional and Business Associations in the U.S. Field of Finance, 1945-1993 |
| | Lounsbury, Michael | Cornell U. | mdl18@cornell.edu | (607) 254-8857 |
| | Institutionalists have recently shifted away from a focus on isomorphism and stability and towards a focus on heterogeneity
and change. As part of this shift, the concept of field has been developed to highlight the multiplex relationships among
actors that are linked both horizontally and vertically. Drawing on ideas from both institutional theory and organizational
ecology, this paper focuses on how institutional conditions shape processes of population recomposition.
In particular, this paper shows that the degree to which a field is stable can extend traditional density dependence
explanations of evolutionary dynamics. This paper examines foundings of professional and business associations
in the U.S. field of finance from 1945-1993 to provide evidence about the role of structural stability in moderating the
recomposition of the financial association population to include a much higher percentage of professional associations. |
| | Keywords: Institutional Theory; Organizational Ecology |