Environmental Pressures and Adoption of Training and Development Practices: Understanding the Moderator and Mediator Role of Organizational Values

Abstract

In this paper, we endeavor to contribute to the theoretical framework of institutionalism concerning the organizational processes of adoption of practices. We chose to investigate, under the conditioning of organizational values, the influence of environmental pressures on the adoption of practices for training and development of industries in the city of Curitiba and its Metropolitan Region. The choice of this type of practice is justified by its instrumental nature within organizations so that their design and implementation can mirror both technical pressures for effectiveness and institutional ones related to social adequacy of the implemented practices. Confronted with this, under the framework of organizational institutionalism, we assume that environmental pressures, usually treated as isomorphic, offer a limited clarification for the phenomenon in question, given the tendency of being seen in the literature as demands for conformity taken for granted while acting on organizational forms and practices. In contrast, we believe that pressures for uniformity do not wipe out the space for organizational action. If, on the one hand, environmental circumstances push towards homogenization, on the other hand, the performance of the isomorphic mechanisms does not eliminate the system of interpretation of each organization, making room for different reference contexts in compliance with the contextual situation in relation to preferences and organizational values. As a result, we assume an ontological attitude based on intersubjectivity, supported by the interpretive capacity of social actors who, under the concept of bounded rationality, add meaning to contextual stimuli. The survey was performed with 54 medium and large industrial organizations located in the city of Curitiba and its Metropolitan Region. The results indicate that both institutional and technical pressures positively influence the adoption of organizational practices. In addition, we can see that competitive and professional values also have an effect on the adoption of such practices, and mediate the impact of pressures on the adoption practices of training and development. This means that companies incorporate as values environment elements, reducing its influence. Finally, we assess the moderating effect of organizational values, comparing the effect of pressures on groups of greater and lesser presence of these values. We can see that in groups of companies whose valuation is high, the influence of institutional pressures is lower than in groups with lower valuation. In the case of technical pressures, they have already shown inconsequential for the highest valuation group, while the group with lesser emphasis on values, they tend to slow down the adoption of practices of training and development. We conclude this article by pointing out some implications of the results shown here for the organizational institutionalism.