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This paper identifies two archetypes in large Canadian law firms to show how ideas of professionalism and partnership are changing, due in part to shifts in discourses in the wider institutional context. These changes in discourse themselves alter the interpretation of organizational structures and systems. This theme is explored through the concept of tracks and sedimentation. We explore the emergence of an organizational archetype that appears not to be secure, and which results in sedimented structures with competitive commit ments. The geological metaphor of sedimentation allows us to consider a dia lectical rather than a linear view of change. Case studies of two law firms show how one archetype is layered on the other, rather than representing a distinct transformation where one archetype sweeps away the residues of the other.

This paper examines the process of isomorphic change. It does so by examin ing the dynamics of the change process and looking at change holistically. Using a population of 36 national-level sport organizations, subject to environ mental pressures from a state agency to adopt a more professional and bureau cratic design, the paper shows that over time there is an increase in the level of homogeneity of these organizations. Although the general shift is to a more professional and bureaucratic type of organization, certain elements of struc ture do not change as much as others, thus demonstrating resistance to institu tional pressures. The processes by which the changes that occurred took place are explored.

The literature that has focused on the change in amateur sport organizations in Canada, has suggested an evolutionary movement toward a more professional and bureaucratic design. While this view of change in Canadian national sport organizations provides strong descriptive support for understanding these organizations, it neglects the differences between them. The central premise of this paper is that changes in these organizations should not simply be explained as system-wide trends toward increased professionalization and bureaucratization. Rather the variety in organizational design may be understood by identifying common design archetypes that exist within this institutionally specific set of organizations. It will then be possible to more precisely identify the nature of the change process that is occurring.

The differential social control embedded in core and periphery values indigenous to a cultural setting, and the availability of resources in that setting, are discussed as critical factors for the effective adaptation of organizations and management practices transferred across cultural boundaries. The relationships between these factors and organizational structure, processes, and behavior, are analyzed and specified in a theoretical framework. The framework postulates the importance of congruent or, at least, accommodative relationships between the core values dominating the local setting, and those underlying transferred practices for the effectiveness of "imported" organizational practices. Four main contingencies of local-imported values' incongruence are described, and their implications for "entry" and "coping" strategies of cross-national organizations are discussed. The framework also offers a scheme for generating hypotheses regarding the effects of values on structures and behavior in cross-national organizations. The theoretical and managerial implications of the scheme are discussed and illustrated.contingency theory, culture, resource, availability, organization structure