Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter: The Popular Press and the Diffusion of Management Practices*

Mazza, Carmelo; Álvarez, José Luis

doi:10.4324/9781351147965-8

Cited by 116 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Most management ideas travel as “success models” (Sahlin‐Anderson ; Strang and Macy ), and/or best practices (e.g., Westphal, Gulati, and Shortell ). Mass media and the business press play an important role in the production and legitimation of management ideas and practices (e.g., Mazza and Alverez ). Media stories and teaching cases provide simplified versions of success, which downplay discontinuous and messy aspects of learning and procedures developed in practice.…”

Section: A History Of the Bsc In Four Episodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Popularizing a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of the Balanced Scorecard

Cooper

Ezzamel

2017

Contemporary Accting Res

106

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We explore how the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), as a management accounting technique, was developed and marketed as a general management practice. Drawing on actor network theory (ANT), we analyze interviews with key actors associated with the BSC, insights gained from attending BSC training workshops, and other documentary evidence to construct a history of the BSC. Our historical analysis offers theoretical tools to understand how the various features of the accounting technique were translated and transformed, that is, shaped and solidified. This translation entailed processes of modification, labelling, framing, and specification of abstract categories and cause-effect relations. We also examine the networks and associations that both shape the form of the BSC and mobilize the interests of various constituencies around it to produce what can be regarded as a global management technology. Finally, we highlight the strategies and actions used to maintain control of this technique through its continuous reinvention, and, by doing so, we emphasize the idea of strategic agency. Propagation d'une id ee issue de la comptabilit e de gestion : le cas du tableau de bord R ESUM E Les auteurs s'interrogent sur la fac ßon dont le tableau de bord, a titre de technique de comptabilit e de gestion, a et e elabor e et mis en march e a titre de m ethode de gestion r epandue. En s'appuyant sur la th eorie du r eseau d'acteurs, les auteurs analysent des entrevues avec des acteurs cl es associ es au tableau de bord, des indications recueillies dans le cadre d'ateliers de formation a l'utilisation du tableau de bord ainsi que des informations provenant d'autres sources documentaires pour bâtir l'histoire du tableau de bord. Leur analyse historique leur procure des outils th eoriques permettant de comprendre comment les diverses caract eristiques de la technique comptable ont et e adapt ees et transform ees, c'est-a-dire fac ßonn ees et consolid ees. Cette adaptation a donn e naissance a des processus de modification, d' etiquetage, d'encadrement et de sp ecification de cat egories abstraites et de relations de cause a effet. Les auteurs etudient egalement les r eseaux et les associations qui fac ßonnent la forme du tableau de bord en même temps qu'ils mobilisent l'int erêt de divers groupes pour produire ce qui peutêtre consid er e comme une technologie de gestion globale. Enfin, les auteurs mettent en lumi ere les strat egies et les mesures utilis ees pour maintenir le contrôle de cette technique grâce a sa r einvention incessante et, ce faisant, font ressortir l'id ee de m ediation strat egique.

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Section: A History Of the Bsc In Four Episodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Popularizing a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of the Balanced Scorecard

Cooper

Ezzamel

2017

Contemporary Accting Res

106

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“…With regard to theorization, such journals have been found to assume a 'mediating function' between legitimated theorists and adopters (Scarbrough, 2002; see also Mazza & Alvarez, 2000) as they contain rhetoric aimed at making the adoption of management concepts attractive. This is mainly achieved by anchoring them in a broader meaning system that goes beyond the organizational level.…”

Section: Data and Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interlinking Theorization of Management Concepts: Cohesion and Semantic Equivalence in Management Knowledge

Höllerer

Jancsary

Barberio

et al. 2019

Organization Studies

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This article develops the idea of 'interlinking theorization' in the context of management knowledge. We explain how management concepts are theorized through their direct co-occurrence with other management concepts, on the one hand, and their embeddedness in general business vocabulary, on the other. Conceptually, we extend a semantic network approach to vocabularies and suggest both cohesion between management concepts (i.e. a clustering in bundles) and their semantic equivalence (i.e. similar patterns of connectivity to general business vocabulary indicating specific types) as core dimensions of interlinking theorization. Empirically, we illustrate and further develop our conceptual model with data collected from magazines targeting management practitioners in the Austrian public sector. Our article contributes to existing literature by extending theorization to include different kinds of relationships between management concepts and focusing on direct and indirect relations across populations of management concepts as characteristics of the overall 'architecture' of management knowledge.Theorization, in its initial definition by Strang and Meyer (1993, p. 492), entails 'the self-conscious development and specification of abstract categories and the formulation of patterned relationships such as chains of cause and effect'. It creates generalized models constituted through language.

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“…Professional associations legitimate change in that profession and persuade their members to standardize new practices (e.g., Greenwood et al, 2002;Maguire et al, 2004). Diversity management as an area of managerial concern has become institutionalized not just through legal change but through the work of professional associations, and is further diffused by management consultants, conferences, and publications (Holvino & Kamp, 2009) as well as through management education (Mazza & Alvarez, 2000). Diversity rankings offer an additional source of normative pressure encouraging diffusion but unlike other normative pressures, they usually span multiple professions and industries.…”

Section: Diffusion Of Lgbt-inclusive Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This form of imitation involves the copying of very common practices (Haunschild & Miner, 1997). Alternatively, the updating of best practices may only occur after large corporations' adoption (Mazza & Alvarez, 2000). Rankings tend to be biased towards larger organizations (Fombrun, 1998) with smaller organizations trying to imitate these practices.…”

Section: Diffusion Of Lgbt-inclusive Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The implementation of diversity management practices thus becomes a process of symbolic adoption of the "best practices" that have become institutionalized (Yang & Konrad, 2011). The mere existence of diversity departments in corporations implies some level of symbolic conformity and alignment with legitimated diversity and inclusion practices (Mazza & Alvarez, 2000). These departments, however, may only focus on certain marginalized groups and neglect programs on LGBT diversity inclusion or may operate programs but fail to achieve substantive and positive change for marginalized groups.…”

Section: Decoupling and Symbolic Institutional Fitmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ranking LGBT inclusion: Diversity ranking systems as institutional archetypes

Tayar

2017

Can J Adm Sci

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This article discusses rankings that evaluate diversity and inclusion programs for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees. Rankings promote LGBT issues and reward organizations who work towards "best practice" with a high rating. However, rankings only legitimize one set of practices and often fail to give small organizations a clear path towards inclusion. Corporations are warned against checklist-based diversity where rankings reward superficial rather than substantive change. Within new institutional theory, the concept of "distorted institutional fit" is introduced to explain distortions preventing "optimal institutional fit." This article recommends a reprioritization of diversity program evaluations to reward only substantive change by evaluating the impact on the lived experiences of employees.

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Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter: The Popular Press and the Diffusion of Management Practices*

Cited by 116 publications

References 1 publication

Popularizing a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of the Balanced Scorecard

Popularizing a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of the Balanced Scorecard

The Interlinking Theorization of Management Concepts: Cohesion and Semantic Equivalence in Management Knowledge

Ranking LGBT inclusion: Diversity ranking systems as institutional archetypes

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