Modular Frames: Synthesizing Institutional and Stakeholder Perspectives to Understand Field Changes

Abstract

Through a longitudinal inductive analysis of the emergence of and changes in sustainability norms and practices in the global palm oil industry, our study reveals the change process through which an “exchange field” evolves into an “issue field” (Zietsma, Groenewegen, Logue, & Hinings, 2016). The findings advance theoretical understandings of field-level changes by bringing together insights from institutional and stakeholder perspectives. There is a growing awareness of the complexity and nested nature of fields, and recognition that field-level changes are induced by the interaction of isomorphism and agency. However, we argue that common institutional analysis frameworks might not sufficiently capture the intricacies of social change processes. Instead, based on empirically grounded findings, we develop the concept of a modular frame–defined as the interaction process, either collaboration or contention, among a group of actors in a situated space and time–to theorize field-level change processes. We c...