Institutional maintenance as narrative acts

Zilber, Tammar B.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511596605.008

Cited by 125 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Our study extends this literature critically by arguing that narrative contestation at the field level generates in organizations and individual members a sense of entitlement, conviction, and rationality of action, which may ultimately lead to a CR standard's full institutionalization (Zilber, 2009). At the organizational level, such changes can be triggered by employees in CR departments who 'both transmit and translate environmental demands to organizations' (Scott, 2008, p. 171).…”

Section: Rethinking Decoupling As a Transitory Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 68%

Talking the Talk, Moral Entrapment, Creeping Commitment? Exploring Narrative Dynamics in Corporate Responsibility Standardization

Haack

Schoeneborn

Wickert

2012

Organization Studies

233

290

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This paper examines the type and temporal development of language in the process of corporate responsibility (CR) standardization. Previous research on CR standardization has addressed the proliferation and organizational embedding of material practices but neglected the analysis of underlying ideational dynamics. Departing from this practice, we introduce a narrative perspective that illuminates the trajectory a CR standard follows, from being formally adopted to becoming collectively accepted as a valid solution to a problem of societal concern. We argue that this perspective helps scholars explore the dynamic interplay between symbolic and material aspects of standardization and understand better the discursive antecedents of coupling processes in organizations. Drawing on the case of the Equator Principles standard in international project finance, we empirically study how narratives create meaning shared by both business firms and their societal observers, thereby exemplifying the analytical merit of a narrative approach to CR standardization. AbstractThis paper examines the type and temporal development of language in the process of corpo-

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Section: Rethinking Decoupling As a Transitory Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 68%

Talking the Talk, Moral Entrapment, Creeping Commitment? Exploring Narrative Dynamics in Corporate Responsibility Standardization

Haack

Schoeneborn

Wickert

2012

Organization Studies

233

290

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“…Currie et al, 2012;Dacin et al, 2010;Lawrence & Suddaby, 2006;Zilber 2002Zilber , 2009). Most of these mechanisms relate to discipline and coercion.…”

Section: Conclusion and Future Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…How institutions survive beyond the lifespan of their creators is often seen as remaining in the realm of 'the mystery' of institutions (Alvesson & Karreman, 2007;Lawrence & Suddaby, 2006;Lok & de Rond, 2013). Earlier studies of institutional maintenance focused on various types of work done by people, for example adherence to rules, or reproducing these rules and existing norms Dacin et al, 2010;Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006;Zilber 2002Zilber , 2009). These earlier studies provided valuable insights into how people maintain institutions through their actions but, due to a focus on overly cognitive explanations, they did not properly consider the link between emotions and organizational spaces in institutional maintenance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Devils May Sit Here:” The Role of Enchantment in Institutional Maintenance

Siebert

Wilson

Hamilton³

2017

AMJ

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“…Accordingly, previously explored identity work strategies should apply to identity endurance as well (see Ashforth, (2001) and Ashforth et al, (2008) for reviews of these strategies). For instance, affirming positive identity attributes (Elsbach & Kramer, 1996;Lawrence & Suddaby, 2006;Steele, 1988) and making negative comparisons with alternate identities (Angus, 1993;Zilber, 2002Zilber, , 2009) might help a valued identity to endure. The identity work literature has, however, mainly been theorized at the individual level of analysis, and thus does not provide many pointers to how (collective) organizational identity work might operate.…”

Section: The Neglected Puzzle Of Identity Endurancementioning

confidence: 99%

Collective Memory Meets Organizational Identity: Remembering to Forget in a Firm's Rhetorical History

Anteby

Molnár

2012

AMJ

252

321

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Much organizational identity research has grappled with the question of identity emergence or change. Yet the question of identity endurance is equally puzzling. Relying primarily on the analysis of 309 internal bulletins produced at a French aeronautics firm over almost fifty years, we theorize a link between collective memory and organizational identity endurance. More specifically, we show how forgetting in a firm's ongoing rhetorical history-here, the bulletins' repeated omission of contradictory elements in the firm's past (i.e., structural omission) or attempts to neutralize them with valued identity cues (i.e., preemptive neutralization)-sustains its identity. Thus knowing "who we are" might depend in part on repeatedly remembering to forget "who we were not."In press: Academy of Management Journal (Non-edited version) *Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Michael Pratt and the three anonymous AMJ reviewers for their guidance on this article as well as to Elena Corsi, Marina Dal Soglio, Vincent Dessain, and Kathleen Ryan for their assistance in data collection. We also thank

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Institutional maintenance as narrative acts

Cited by 125 publications

References 40 publications

Talking the Talk, Moral Entrapment, Creeping Commitment? Exploring Narrative Dynamics in Corporate Responsibility Standardization

Talking the Talk, Moral Entrapment, Creeping Commitment? Exploring Narrative Dynamics in Corporate Responsibility Standardization

“Devils May Sit Here:” The Role of Enchantment in Institutional Maintenance

Collective Memory Meets Organizational Identity: Remembering to Forget in a Firm's Rhetorical History

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