The Politics of Translation: How State-Level Political Relations Affect the Cross-National Travel of Management Ideas

Abstract

The paper brings together insights from the neo-institutional approach and that of ‘translation’ to analyse the politics of management glocalization. Based on the cases of the translation of two management models—Scientific Management (SM) and Human Relations (HR) in Israel—the paper argues that the state-level institutional power structures that participated in the importing of the SM and HR models as an answer to their political needs also took part in the negotiations and struggles that formed their social meanings, the way in which they changed during the move from one context to another, the way in which they are justified in the new social context, and the fundamental social assumptions that become institutionalized as part of the process of the models’ institutionalization.

How are Practices Made to Vary? Managing Practice Adaptation in a Multinational Corporation

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How Golden Parachutes Unfolded: Diffusion and Variation of a Controversial Practice

“…We suggest that variations in the implementation of the practice itself are an important window into understanding diffusion processes. Although diffusion studies have traditionally focused on the demand-side characteristics to predict the diffusion of a relatively invariant practice, recent work has suggested shifting the focus to understanding practice variation during the diffusion process (Ansari et al 2010, Frenkel 2005, Lounsbury 2001). Regarding the current case of patterns of practice variation, we follow Ansari et al (2010) in focusing on two fundamental dimensions to explain variation in diffusing practices: extensiveness and similarity.…”

State-Mediated Globalization Processes and the Adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China

“…Rather, practices will be actively transferred and translated according to the interests and institutions salient to the adopting firm (Sahlin & Wedlin, 2008). Adaptation, sometimes also termed 'translation', 'editing', or 'transposition', refers to the process by which an adopter strives to create a fit between an external practice and its particular needs during implementation (Ansari, Fiss, & Zajac, 2010;Frenkel, 2005;Gondo & Amis, 2013;Sahlin & Wedlin, 2008). The adoption of global practices frequently involves combining locally available principles and practices with the new global ones (Campbell, 2004); it may also involve renovating existing organizational structures and inventing new practices.…”