Emulation in Academia: Balancing Structure and Identity

Abstract

This study seeks to expand our understanding of interorganizational emulation decisions made by top administrators in a broad sample of American colleges and universities. We analyze their emulation choices and show that these decision makers tend to emulate universities similar to their own. Our findings suggest, however, that the choice of emulation target within one's industry is not simply a matter of choosing the most structurally similar organization, but rather that identity-related attributes, such as reputation, organizational image, and organizational identity, also play a significant role in the emulation decision. The data also show that industry subgroups based on emulation decisions (strategic reference groups) differ in both structural and identity-related attributes. Further, interorganizational emulation decisions based on tactics of upward comparison (e.g., emulating universities with better reputations) are associated with greater strategic change, while downward comparisons are associated with greater perceived external threat. Finally, the data show that top management's perceptions of the university's level of environmental threat are related to their choice of a more coarse-grained or fine-grained set of attributes when determining the emulation target. We discuss some of these findings’implications for theory and practice.

The painters behind the profile: the rise and functioning of communication departments in universities

“…Many of these communication departments seem to pay considerable attention to what other universities are doing and that they tend to benchmark themselves towards institutions they consider similar. This is not unique for this sample of institutions (see also Labianca et al 2001), and also, this supports research that has studied the role of rankings in the Nordic region (Elken et al 2016). Hence, the "environment" these institutions enact to seems to be quite dominated by their peer institutions.…”

“…Establishment in such instances is not primarily a functional need due to specific tasks, but symbolic action to signal particular status. Earlier research has shown that universities may emulate other universities as a result of changing external conditions but also due to uncertainty about the appropriate strategic action (Labianca et al 2001). Thus, a possible outcome is structural and organizational imitation of those universities seen as successful in the environment (DiMaggio and Powell 1983).…”

Global rankings in the Nordic region: challenging the identity of research-intensive universities?

“…While one could argue that we have only studied a region that is ''lagging behind'' in the race for a more globalized higher education sector, and where the results might be different a few years' time, it is also important to underline that other studies of identity emulation have also demonstrated quite substantial differentiation (see, e.g. Labianca et al 2001). Our study can be said to question whether global rankings have particularly strong isomorphic consequences on the higher education sector.…”

“…The existing identity shapes choices regarding the organizations which are chosen for comparison, resulting in possible clustering of universities with perceived similar identities. Research has shown that universities tend not only to focus on structurally similar organizations, but also their identity by focusing on reputation and organizational image (Labianca et al 2001). However, the need to find a match between external pressures and internal legitimacy and history also implies that identity constrains available choice options (Glynn 2008).…”

University Alliances: Enhancing Control, Capacity, and Creativity in Dynamic Environments

“…In a world that is increasingly complex, containing new types of actors and with new markets emerging, establishing an alliance could be seen as a response mechanism for organizational surUniversity alliances -the rise of `meta-organizations` in higher education vival and for increased control in a situation perceived as uncertain. This argument is central in neo-institutional theory which postulates that in situations characterized by uncertainty, organizations imitate other organizations that are perceived as successful [Labianca et al 2001], that this imitation is triggered by environmental pressures for legitimacy [Hall, du Gay 1996], and that such pressures often can be described as meaning structures that force an organization to behave in ´rationalized´ ways [Ramirez 2010]. As a result, organizational changes will lead to convergence and increasing conformity by triggering reproduction and reinforcement of existing modes of thought and organizations [Scott 2001;Drori et al 2006].…”