The aim of this study is to illuminate reputational change processes and identify the underlying theoretical mechanisms. We draw upon extant literature to develop three distinct explanations for reputational change, respectively emphasizing criteria of organizational "character," symbolic conformity, and technical efficacy. We evaluate these explanations by examining the reputational consequences of corporate downsizing. Our results show that downsizing exerted a strong, negative effect on reputation, consistently with the character explanation. However, significant moderation of this negative effect by other factors, including stock market reaction and downsizing's overall prevalence, indicates the need for a multitheoretical approach to reputational change.

It is widely assumed that CEOs shape how people view firms, but the question of how these leaders influence corporate reputations has received little theoretical or empirical attention.This study addresses two core questions in this vein: to what degree do leaders really matter for firm reputation, and which leaders affect their firm's reputation? We develop theory explaining how and why leaders should enter into evaluations of the firms that they lead. More specifically, we propose that CEOs will affect corporate reputations depending on leader prominence and on perceptions of leader quality. We test these hypotheses by examining how CEOs' media coverage, industry awards, and outsider standing affect the reputations of their firms. Findings indicate that highly-regarded CEOs enhance their firm's reputations, sometimes substantially, and CEOs who receive negative press coverage damage their firms' reputations. However, CEO prominence alone was not associated with higher firm reputation. We discuss implications for research on leaders and corporate reputations.

No abstract

No abstract

This study considers how organization-level and field-level meaning systems affect when firms adopt administrative innovations. We use a sample of over 1200 manufacturing sites to test hypotheses regarding the timing of adoption of Manufacturing Best Practice programmes. The results indicate that compatibility of the diffusing practice with the organization's internal meaning system is an important predictor of when firms adopt such programmes. However, the influence of such compatibility declines for later adopters - consistent with institutional pressures in the form of field-level meaning systems playing an increasing role over time. We also find that this decline occurs for sites with high exposure to institutional pressures, but not for sites with lower exposure. The findings suggest that internal meaning systems and differential exposure moderate the role of institutional pressures in the diffusion of administrative innovations. We discuss implications for theory and research on institutionalization and the diffusion of innovations. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007.