Institutionalization and organizational long-term success

Abstract

Institutionalization processes have an ambivalent effect on organizational long-term success. Even though they foster organizational stability and permanence, they also bring about rigidity and resistance to change. As a result, successful organizations are likely to lose their competitive advantage over time. The paper addresses this issue through the investigation of the institutionalization processes of two long-lived companies: General Electric, a firm that has been a long-term success and its rival, Westinghouse, which was broken up after eleven decades of existence. The longitudinal, multilevel analysis of firms and industry has identified two different modes of organizational institutionalization. The reactive mode gives rise to rigidity and change resistance, much like institutional theory predicts; the proactive mode, on the other hand, neutralizes those negative effects of institutionalization processes. In the reactive mode, structure predominates. In the proactive mode, agency plays a major role in organizational institutionalization, and in managing the organization's relations with the environment, clearly contributing to environmental institutionalization.

Sustainable procurement practice

“…One area where those responsible for developing strategies in relation to sustainable procurement can learn lessons relates to the management of innovation. Structural inertia in this area is overcome by systematic problem‐solving in areas including technology, administrative issues, inter‐organizational relationships, renewal of resources, sustained risk management and planned responses to the external environment (Fleck, 2007). For sustainable procurement, a key factor is the management of inter‐organizational relationships.…”

“…Experience of other industries suggests that structural inertia can be overcome. Fleck (2007) studied General Electric (GE), a long‐lived US electrical manufacturing company, and concluded that to neutralize structural inertia it institutionalized those practices that allowed renewal of routines and redefinition of its relationship with its environment.…”

Reflexões psicanalíticas sobre a resistência à mudança organizacional

“…Zucker (1977) afirma que a resistência à mudança é afetada pela institucionalização. A autora enfatiza que quanto mais elevado o grau de institucionalização, maior é a resistência à mudança, pois ela induz à estabilidade e à persistência em relação às formas e aos comportamentos estruturais (Fleck, 2007).…”

Respostas Estratégicas De Programas E Professores Paranaenses De Mestrado/Doutorado Em Administração À Avaliação Da Capes: Configurando Proposições Institucionais a Partir De Redes De Cooperação Acadêmica

“…Um foco importante dessas abordagens interpretativistas na teoria administrativa contemporânea é a aproximação entre nova teoria institucional e estudos em estratégia. As características e possibilidades dessa aproximação vêm sendo descritas na literatura recente (OLIVER, 1991;1997;INGRAM e SILVERMAN, 2002;MACHADO-DA-SILVA, 2003;CRUBELLATE, GRAVE e MENDES, 2004; SEIFERT e MACHADO- FLECK, 2007;VASCONCELOS, QUEIROZ e GOLDSZMIDT, 2007) que, em resumo, relaciona interesses de atores sociais, restrições e oportunidades institucionais e a estratégia organizacional (ou variáveis a ela pertinentes). O modo de explicação dessa inter-relação marca as diferentes formas pelas quais a nova teoria institucional vem sendo incorporada na discussão relativa à estratégia em organizações, com destaque para a vertente que explica o impacto do contexto institucional pela via da imersão social dos atores em redes sociais.…”