Abstract
ABSTRACTA structural interpretation of institutionalism has become dominant in public management research. Yet, studies tend to assume an institutional-level phenomenon without specifying how an organizational field was identified or whether structural characteristics can indeed be found in the organizational population studied. This lacuna is illustrated by exploring the structural interpretation of the field construct in the case of the recent overhaul of English primary care. Findings demonstrate the need for a more robust application of institutionalism in empirical research. Possible research problems for public management and a future research agenda based on a more relational approach to fields are discussed.
Highlights
Institutional analysis of public policy and management reform has gained momentum in recent years with an increasing number of studies demonstrating Ferris and Tang (1993) assertion that ‘Institutions do matter’ (9) for public administration
With some of the forces described in the English National Health Service (NHS), such as increased agencification and fragmented organizational landscapes resonating with issues facing public administration in a variety of contexts and countries, future research might usefully apply this approach of organizational field interrogation in order to further detail the contours of the challenge in identifying fields, the implications associated with ascribing the label, and its dynamic
Some of the forces we have described in the English NHS, such as increased agencification and a fragmented organizational landscape, are resonant with issues facing public administration in a variety of contexts and countries
Summary
Institutional analysis of public policy and management reform has gained momentum in recent years with an increasing number of studies demonstrating Ferris and Tang (1993) assertion that ‘Institutions do matter’ (9) for public administration. Drawing on an established sociology of organizations and political science, public administration commentators have applied institutionalism, mainly in its structural interpretation (Scott 2001), to the study of historical public sector developments. Management reforms in England, Australia, and the United States, for example, have been addressed (entirely or partially) as happening within or across organizational fields and the framework has been productively applied to understanding the dynamics and processes of public sector organizational change (Botterill 2011; Kickert and van der Meer 2011; Ongaro 2013; Mizrahi and Tevet 2014; Ho, Alfred, Tat-Kei, and Tobin 2015). While gaining hold in public management research, the specific application of a structural interpretation of institutional theories has been problematized in broader management and organization literature.
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