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The focus of this paper is to examine the responses to institutional isomorphism in one area of the public sector — universities. As an example, one particular organizational practice is examined — performance appraisal — and its implications for one group of professionals — academics. In doing so, some of the sources of variation in responses to institutional pressures are illustrated and the strategies of resistance actors engage in to resist such pressures. It is suggested that the concept of institutional logic is an important element in influencing responses to isomorphism, providing a repertoire of beliefs with which to contest concepts of legitimacy.

This article investigates the role of the state auditor in Alberta. An analysis of the Office of the Auditor General of Alberta's annual reports shows that the role of the Office has significantly changed to promote and encourage the implementation in the public sector of a particular type of accountability informed by new public management. The authors argue that the Office has increased its power to influence politicians and public servants about the merits of its specific understanding of what accountability should be. However, as the Office becomes more powerful, it also becomes more vulnerable to complaints about a lack of independence from the executive. Indeed, the Office is now so closely associated with new public management that we believe that it is difficult for the Office to sustain the claim that it is able to provide independent assessments of public-sector administration.

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This article focuses on rationalization, its dimensions, the possibilities of reasoned justification in the public sphere, and the technologies that would operationalize this. It does so through an analysis of the introduction of performance measurement in the Provincial Government of Alberta, Canada. We argue that performance measurement represents twin dimensions of rationalization: the pursuit of reason in human affairs, that is, the process of bringing to light the justifications by which actions and policies are pursued; and rationalization as the increasing dominance of a means-end instrumental rationality. The article illustrates how an initial enthusiasm by managers for the performance management initiatives was replaced with scepticism and cynicism. We show how the potential for reasoned justification was frustrated in practice, through a growing disparity between a discourse of reasoned justification and the practical operationalization of mechanisms of business planning and performance measurement. The search for reasoned justification and instrumental mastery are part of the same rationalization process, and these two contradictory, but inherently connected forces are an important explanation of the dynamics of managers' responses to organizational change.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Academy of Management THE ROLE OF COMPETING RATIONALITIES IN INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE BARBARA TOWNLEY Edinburgh UniversityReporting on a longitudinal case study of the introduction of business planning and perfornance measures in cultural organizations, this article uses Weber's identification of types of rationality as a means to illuminate institutional and organizational change. The study illustrates how conflict that accompanies change coalesces around different dimensions of rationality-substantive, practical, theoretical, and instrumental-that inform organization members' understandings of organizational and professional identity and management practices.