Institutional work and the paradox of embedded agency

Battilana, Julie; D’Aunno, Thomas

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511596605.002

Cited by 402 publications

(374 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…In the past decade, and with the focus on institutional logics within fields, institutional entrepreneurship (and the debates of embedded agency) and institutional work, this shift in theorizing has seen a consequent focus on triggers of endogenous change in fields (Ansari, Wijen, & Gray, 2013;Battilana, 2011;Battilana & D'Aunno, 2009;DiMaggio, 1991;Lawrence & Suddaby, 2006;Sherer & Lee, 2002), as opposed to the rarer exogenous shocks of earlier models (Greenwood & Hinings, 1996). Such earlier understandings were captured by Greenwood and Hinings (1996) in a model of radical change examining how exogenous shocks enter and infiltrate a field and are translated by its member organizations.…”

Section: About Here -------------------------------------mentioning

confidence: 99%

Field or Fields? Building the Scaffolding for Cumulation of Research on Institutional Fields

Zietsma

Groenewegen

Logue

et al. 2017

ANNALS

235

262

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The concept of an institutional field is one of the cornerstones of institutional theory, and yet the concept has been stretched both theoretically and empirically, making consolidation of findings across multiple studies more difficult. In this article, we review the literature and analyze empirical studies of institutional fields to build scaffolding for the cumulation of research on institutional fields. Our review revealed two types of fields: exchange and issue fields, with three subtypes of each. We describe their characteristics. Subsequently, we review field conditions in the extant literature and develop a typology based on two dimensions: the extent of elaboration of institutional infrastructure and the extent to which there is an agreed upon prioritization of logics. We discuss the implications of field types and conditions for isomorphism, agency, and field change, based on a review of the literature that revealed six pathways of field change and the factors affecting them. We outline a research agenda based on our review highlighting the need for consolidation of field studies and identify several outstanding issues that are in need of further research.

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Section: About Here -------------------------------------mentioning

confidence: 99%

Field or Fields? Building the Scaffolding for Cumulation of Research on Institutional Fields

Zietsma

Groenewegen

Logue

et al. 2017

ANNALS

235

262

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“…This perplexing "paradox of embedded agency" is not unique to S-D logic and is a recurring theme in sociology literature (Battilana & D'Aunno, 2009;Sawyer, 2005;Sewell, 1992).…”

Section: Dynamics Of Service Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of shared intentions in the emergence of service ecosystems

Taillard

Peters

Pels

et al. 2016

Journal of Business Research

139

127

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Access from the University of Nottingham repository:http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33321/1/the%20role%20of%20shared%20intentions%20in %20the%20emergence%20of%20service%20ecosystems.pdf Copyright and reuse:The Nottingham ePrints service makes this work by researchers of the University of Nottingham available open access under the following conditions. This article is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives licence and may be reused according to the conditions of the licence. For more details see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. synthesize the contribution, this study uses a case to illustrate a conceptual framework in which the sharing of intentions among interdependent actors drives service ecosystem emergence step-by-step across distinct dynamic levels.

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“…As Pache and Santos (2010, p.459) In institutional theory's terms, the mechanism by which such shaping becomes operative is the exercise of individual or organizational agency, typically referred to as an actor's 'ability to operate somewhat independently of the determining constraints of social structure' (cited in Battilana and D'Aunno, 2009, p.45). Thus actors may be able to exercise agency that is rather less embedded (Battilana and D'Aunno, 2009;Seo and Creed, 2002;Thornton and Ocasio, 2008, p.103-4) than institutional theory has traditionally suggested. In MacIntyrean terms this would mean organizational practitioners who, while embedded in a practice, institution and industry, and also embedded within a nation and certain traditions, are able through the exercise of virtue to appropriately dis-embed themselves, at least to some extent, from such constraints, so as to create a more conducive environment and organizational culture through which the organization could flourish.…”

Section: Institutional Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in Business: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Fernando

Moore

2014

J Bus Ethics

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This paper seeks to establish whether the categories of MacIntyrean virtue ethics as applied to business organizations are meaningful in a non-western business context. It does so by building on research reported in Moore (Organ Stud, 33(3): 363-387, 2012) in which the application of virtue ethics to business organizations was investigated empirically in the UK, based on a conceptual framework drawn from MacIntyre's work (After Virtue 2007). Comparing these results with an equivalent study in Sri Lanka, the paper finds that the categories are meaningful but that there are both similarities to and considerable differences in the content of these categories from the UK study. The paper draws on aspects of institutional theory to explore and explain these findings. Overall, there is supportive evidence that the categories of MacIntyrean virtue ethics are generalizable, and so can be used to characterize problems of organizational virtue and vice around the world, while providing evidence that there may be polities which are more conducive to the 'practice-like conduct of production' (Keat, Philos Manag, 7(1): 77-91, 2008). Comparing these results with an equivalent study in Sri Lanka, the paper finds that the categories are meaningful but that there are both similarities to and considerable differences in the content of these categories from the UK study. The paper draws on aspects of institutional theory to explore and explain these findings.Overall, there is supportive evidence that the categories of MacIntyrean virtue ethics are generalizable, and so can be used to characterise problems of organizational virtue and vice around the world, while providing evidence that there may be polities which are more conducive to the 'practice-like conduct of production ' (Keat, 2008).2

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Institutional work and the paradox of embedded agency

Cited by 402 publications

References 76 publications

Field or Fields? Building the Scaffolding for Cumulation of Research on Institutional Fields

Field or Fields? Building the Scaffolding for Cumulation of Research on Institutional Fields

The role of shared intentions in the emergence of service ecosystems

MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in Business: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

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