Institutional entrepreneurs and local embedding of global scientific ideas—The case of preventing heart disease in Finland

Abstract

Investigating the activities of institutional entrepreneurs at the intersection of local institutions and global influences in the context of science-based fields is necessary for further development of the institutional entrepreneurship approach. We draw on complementary insights from the literatures on institutional entrepreneurship, Scandinavian Institutionalism, social/intellectual movements and spatial scales to study the activities of scientists in the local institution of global scientific ideas. Building on a qualitative case study, a globally pioneering heart health initiative in Finland, we found that the scientific profession regulates agency in science-based fields; that the holistic view of scientists is necessary to understanding mobilization activities in this context; and that the capacity of scientists to operate across spatial scales defines their capability for institutional entrepreneurship.

The challenge of introducing low-carbon industrial practices: Institutional entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector

“…The critique concerning limitations of neo-institutional theorizing to address change has led to an increased interest in drivers of institutional change and particularly in the role that actors may play (DiMaggio, 1988;Holm, 1995;Pinkse & Kolk, 2007;Ritvala & Granqvist, 2009). Actors that leverage resources to create new institutions or transform existing ones are said to be involved in institutional entrepreneurship (Garud, Hardy, & Maguire, 2007;Pinkse & Kolk, 2007).…”

“…Institutional entrepreneurs are suggested to be skilled actors (Fligstein, 2001) capable of critical reflection (Seo & Creed, 2002), but the notion of particularly skilled actors has been criticized for conflicting with the original tenet of institutional theory as a theory of how institutional contexts embed and constitute actors and their interests (Holm, 1995;Seo & Creed, 2002;Hoffman, 1999;Hardy & Maguire, 2008;Ritvala & Granqvist, 2009). Since institutional logics define what actors can do, want to do and think is meaningful, there seems to be little room for them to suggest and promote practices that are "outside" of these logics (Holm, 1995;Seo & Creed, 2002).…”

Value-based network mobilization: A case study of modern environmental networkers

“…Previous case studies on institutional entrepreneurship in the context of heart disease prevention (Ritvala & Salmi, 2009;Ritvala & Granqvist, 2009), suggest that actors with wide connectedness across sectors play a key role in issue solving by bringing social and material resources together to form an issue network. In these studies, the issue solving has produced the seeds for a new business field, supporting the idea of Hoffman (1999) who argues that issues rather than markets or technologies drive industry emergence.…”

Network mobilizers and target firms: The case of saving the Baltic Sea

“…We have provided the first step moving from the mobilizers to the target actors, but only longitudinal studies can explore the concrete network outcomes. Third, the focus on a single geographical context, such as the Baltic Sea, easily downplays the links to broader societal changes, and risks overemphasizing the role of local issues and actors, rather than seeing them as local variants and enactors of globally circulating ideas (Ritvala & Granqvist, 2009).…”