Institutional Entrepreneurship Theory Research Articles

Establishing new medical schools in diverse contexts: A novel conceptual framework for success.

Establishing a new medical school is a significant venture involving many complex political, social, economic, educational, and organisational considerations. The published literature on the process of establishing a new medical school is, however, under-developed with minimal empirical research and no explicit reference to theory. This research sought to address these gaps and establish an empirical and theoretical evidence-base for the process of new medical school establishment in diverse contexts, particularly medically under-served areas. A Critical Realist Multiple Case Study was undertaken to examine the establishment of new medical schools across three continents. Data were collected between 2016 and 2018 through observational data gathered on site visits to three medical schools in medically under-served areas, relevant documents/audio-visual materials, and semi-structured interviews with key founding personnel. Data were analysed using the Critical Realist approach. Institutional Entrepreneurship theory was applied, adapted, and extended to explore and explain the phenomenon of new medical school establishment in diverse contexts. This study identifies eight critical success factors underpinning new medical school establishment. Framed as the Eight C's Framework (8CF), these factors include Context (field conditions), Catalysts (institutional entrepreneurs), Conducing (helping to bring about a particular situation or outcome), Collecting (resources), Connecting (relationships), Convincing (rationales), Challenges, and Consequences (outcomes). 8CF highlights that new medical schools are successfully established when Catalysts act within their Contexts to undertake the tasks of Conducing, Convincing, Collecting, and Connecting in order to produce desired Consequences and overcome Challenges. The Eight C's Framework is a theory-based, empirically supported framework that can be applied across different contexts to strategically guide the successful establishment of new medical schools. Founding leaders and stakeholders could use 8CF to ensure their establishment efforts are underpinned by theory and scholarship.

Demystifying entrepreneurial name choice: insights from the US biotech industry

PurposeDrawing from legitimacy and institutional entrepreneurship theory, this study assesses the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in the US biotechnology industry.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a mixed-methods design of content analysis and regression to analyze a sample of 441 entrepreneurial biotechnology firms, for which data were obtained from Net Advantage. The authors track changes to the proportion of firms with naming attributes, such as name length and type of name. The authors also examine variability in those characteristics during the industry's evolution, comparing freestanding to acquired start-ups.FindingsStart-ups select names that are longer, more descriptive, begin with rare sounds or hard plosives and have stronger discipline- or technology-specific links during nascent years of the industry. As the industry evolves, entrepreneurs are more likely to select names that are shorter, more abstract, begin with hard plosives and have stronger industry-specific links. The naming patterns of freestanding and acquired companies differ, and companies that conform to industry pressures tend to remain independent.Originality/valueUnlike extant studies that assess established industries, the current study identifies shifting trends in the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in an emerging industry. By focusing on start-ups, the authors expand research on organizational naming practices, which focuses traditionally on name choices and name change patterns of incumbents. By using marketing and linguistics methods when analyzing organizational name attributes, naming patterns in these attributes are identified, including name length, name type, starting letter of the name and link to the industry.

Staying poor: Unpacking the process of barefoot institutional entrepreneurship failure

Research on barefoot entrepreneurship is growing, yet we still know little about the potential limits of institutional entrepreneurship in the context of extreme poverty. Challenging institutional entrepreneurship theory's agency-centric assumptions, we seek to understand how barefoot institutional entrepreneurship efforts fail amidst resistance from powerful actors in the institutional context. Our qualitative study of marginalized waste pickers in Colombia sheds light on the role of power in barefoot institutional entrepreneurship failure. We unpack a paradox of inclusion: the more marginalized barefoot entrepreneurs push for and gain regulatory legitimacy for their market inclusion, the more this accentuates overt and covert power mechanisms that work to suppress the diffusion of institutional change, aggravating barefoot entrepreneurs' market exclusion. Our study shows that while regulatory change is necessary to enhance barefoot entrepreneurs' market inclusion, on its own it is not sufficient, without normative and cognitive support from powerful actors in the institutional field.

How Do Firms Choose Their Names: Insights from Biotechnology

In this paper, we explore patterns of name choices of entrepreneurial firms in the field of biotechnology. Drawing on the legitimacy argument and institutional entrepreneurship theory, we hypothesize that in the early years of the industry, entrepreneurs choose the names of their start-ups with greater focus on their unique sound. In these early years, we find that more start-ups select names that are longer, begin with rare sounds or plosives, and have stronger links to the biotechnology industry. We further argue that in the later years of the industry evolution, entrepreneurs are more likely to select names that are more generic. We find that in the later years of the industry, the start-ups select names that are shorter and with cues from technology and discipline. Our findings hold across 281 entrepreneurial firms in the field of biotechnology.

Enablers and barriers to the involvement of accountants in integrated reporting

PurposeWith the increasing adoption of integrated reporting and the subsequent interest of the accounting discipline in its development, this paper aims to examine the enablers and barriers to the involvement of accountants in integrated reporting.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a case study approach by collecting interview data from six organisations that have adopted integrated reporting internationally. In the selected organisations, face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted with professionals who are involved in the preparation of an integrated report. The interviewees in this study included key integrated report preparers including accountants, corporate reporting managers, sustainability managers and other report preparers. Institutional entrepreneurship provided the theoretical insights for this study.FindingsThe study found that accountants’ expertise in corporate reporting and especially their knowledge of the assurance process was one of the major reasons why they were involved in integrated reporting. Accountants’ in-depth understanding of an organisation in addition to their general analytical and interpersonal skills were also found to be useful in preparing an integrated report. However, the voluntary nature of integrated reporting along with the lack of sufficient guidelines deterred accountants from being involved in integrated reporting. The study also found that accountants themselves did not see value in integrated reporting and found it challenging to convert numerical information to narratives, thus limiting their involvement in integrated reporting.Research limitations/implicationsWhilst prior studies have underlined accountants’ institutionalised practices, this study uncovers the strategies applied by accountants to maintain their institutionalised practices. The specific application of the institutional entrepreneurship concept identifies mechanisms and strategies through which accountants restrict their practices to narrow taken-for-granted roles.Practical implicationsThis study uncovers practical implications by highlighting the factors that limit the involvement of accountants within integrated reporting. One of the major implications identified relates to the training of accountants to apply their existing skills and expertise in non-financial reporting to contribute effectively to multi-disciplinary teams that contribute towards integrated reporting in organisations. This study also provides an impetus for the International Integrated Reporting Council to provide more guidance for preparing an integrated report.Originality/valueThis is one of the initial studies that has explored the enablers and barriers to the involvement of accountants in integrated reporting through its focus on organisations that are already practising this form of reporting. The use of institutional entrepreneurship theory adds to the theoretical insights for exploring the involvement of the various actors in integrated reporting.

Institutional entrepreneurship enablers to promote circular economy in the European Union: Impacts on transition towards a more circular economy

Circular economy supposes a transformational and radical process of change from a linear to a circular economic model, where every production phase represents a systemic shift at all levels. Nevertheless, CE philosophy is easy to understand but very complex to put into practice. For that reason, using institutional entrepreneurship theory, institutional enablers to push the transition to a more CE in the European Union will be analysed. In particular, the impacts achieved by CE strategies are oriented to priority CE goals. Thus, this empirical study based on a public consultation survey uses structural equation modelling to analyse links between institutional entrepreneurship enablers and impacts on CE strategies oriented to main CE goals. The findings support the effectiveness of acting like an institutional entrepreneur to force transformational and radical changes, although differences are found between enablers and the impacts of CE. The paper concludes with some useful reflections for institutions and policymakers in order to maximise the efforts taken to effect changes at all levels.

Performance Analysis and Science Mapping of Institutional Entrepreneurship Research

Institutional entrepreneurship comprises the activities of agents who disrupt existing social institutions or create new ones, often to enable diffusion, especially of radical innovations, in a market. The increased interest in institutional entrepreneurship has produced a large number of scholarly publications, especially in the last five years. As a consequence, the literature landscape is somewhat complex and scattered. We aim to compile a quantitative overview of the field within business and management research by conducting bibliometric performance analyses and science mappings. We identified the most productive and influential journals, authors, and articles with the highest impact. We found that institutional entrepreneurship has stronger ties to organization studies than to entrepreneurship research. Additionally, a large body of literature at the intersection of institutions and entrepreneurship does not refer to institutional entrepreneurship theory. The science mappings revealed a distinction between theoretical and conceptual research on one hand and applied and empirical research on the other hand. Research clusters reflect the structure–agency problem by focusing on the change agent’s goals and interests, strategies, and specific implementation mechanisms, as well as the relevance of public agents for existing institutions, and a more abstract process rather than agency view.

Integration of Bricolage and Institutional Entrepreneurship for Internet Finance

This article describes how current research on the institutional entrepreneurship process tends to ‘design principles.' There is lack of research on mechanism and strategy of the institutional bricolage, especially for Internet finance. Based on analysis of Yu'e Bao, the authors found that institutional entrepreneurs often use bricolage to form new institutions in organizational, material and discursive dimensions: organizational dimension which uses the attaching and bridging bricolage to achieve relational networks; material dimension which uses the simplifying and extending bricolage to acquire technical and economic basis; discursive dimension which uses the beautifying and analogy bricolage to theorize and institutionalize new practices. This article tries to explain and distinguish these three intertwined dimensions by using the case study. From the bricolage perspective, entrepreneurship behavior and institutional entrepreneurship behavior can be bridged. The emerging institutional entrepreneurship theory has been integrated with the bricolage theory for Internet finance.

Responsible investment at Old Mutual: a case of institutional entrepreneurship

Learning outcomes To understand the motivations for adopting RI practices for institutional investors and asset managers; to understand the different RI strategies available to institutional investors; to understand the impediments to adoption of RI at an organisational level; to debate how financial institutions can drive the growth and adoption of RI among the investment community; and to illustrate the complexities of organisational change and the strategies that institutional entrepreneurs can use to overcome resistance to change from key stakeholders. Case overview/synopsis: The case is set in October 2017 against the backdrop of the pending unbundling of Old Mutual plc into four new independent businesses, and the subsequent relisting of Old Mutual Ltd on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa. The head of responsible investment at Old Mutual Investment Group and the main protagonist of the case, Jon Duncan, is considering what the subsequent relisting will mean for the responsible investing programmes that he has set up over the past six years. The case goes on to describe how responsible investment principles were supported through the implementation of ESG integration and active ownership strategies. It also examines recent developments in ESG product innovations and demonstrates another technique available to responsible investment practitioners in the form of best-in-class ESG screening. The case ends with Duncan contemplating the strategic priorities of the RI team moving forward, and how the managed separation might impact on the RI agenda. It provides prompts for students to discuss and formulate a strategy for advancing the aims of responsible investing. Complexity academic level The case is aimed at postgraduate-level students enrolled in a management-related degree programme such as an MBA, and covers both sustainable and responsible finance and institutional entrepreneurship theory. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 1: Accounting and Finance

Locating periods of institutional change agency: a mixed methods approach

PurposeThis paper presents a new mixed methods approach which allows researchers to scan industry sectors for institutional change periods and to locate periods of significant institutional change agency.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is grounded on the institutional logics perspective and on institutional entrepreneurship theory and combines an automated quantitative content analysis with a cognitive mapping exercise.FindingsThe paper describes the development of this approach and its application to the urban water management sector of Australia. Three periods of significant institutional change agency are identified, described and discussed.Originality/valueThe paper puts forward a new methodological approach that enables a robust and objective identification of actor-driven institutional change periods which can be used as a precursor for more targeted qualitative inquiries into institutional change research.

Cities, institutional entrepreneurship and the emergence of new environmental policies: The organizing of waste prevention in the City of Gothenburg, Sweden

Informed by institutional entrepreneurship theory and based on the case of waste prevention projects in the City of Göteborg, this paper examines the role of cities in shaping new environmental policies. Structured by the research question, ‘How do cities shape novel environmental policies and practices?’, the paper illustrates how cities become agents of environmental change and institutional entrepreneurship through mobilizing and recombining resources (i.e. human, financial, and spatial), rationales (by reframing symbols, challenging taboos, and transforming waste socio-materialities), and relations (via internal and external collaboration and by creating new institutional arrangements, roles, and expectations). Emerging environmental policies, such as waste prevention, represent the structuring of an incipient environmental policy field. This new generation of environmental policies expands the scope of the public sector (the so-called publicness), reshapes the public/private distinction, and challenges taboos such as the intrusion of publicness into privateness.

Institutional entrepreneurship and organizational innovation

In this article, we address the question of institutional and organizational change through the start-up of new ventures. Following the institutional entrepreneurship theory, we examine the process of divergent change and the kinds of institutional work enabling entrepreneurs operating in a peripheral social position of mature fields to challenge the existing status quo. We argue that the start-up of new organizations can be an opportunity for repositioning existing traditional entrepreneurial capabilities by combining them with additional and complementary competences towards new institutional logics. Building on an in-depth longitudinal case study of a group of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises – acting intentionally as a community for innovation – we highlight the contextual conditions and the implementing factors allowing this type of institutional entrepreneurship. Our study makes two main contributions. First, we try to fill the gap with existing research mostly focused on dominant organizations, by showing how institutional entrepreneurship can be implemented by low-status organizations, within highly institutionalized fields. Second, we shed light on the process implementing new divergent organizational forms, by bridging established mature firms with new innovative fields.

The fit of the social responsibility standard ISO 26000 within other CSR instruments

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to discuss how ISO 26000 fits within two predominant corporate social responsibility (CSR) instruments, GRI and UNGC. The past two decades have witnessed considerable changes in the CSR field with the introduction of new voluntary CSR instruments. Organizations adopting such tools may perceive some of the existing and emerging CSR instruments as redundant or complementary. Design/methodology/approach – The relationships between the CSR instruments analysed are treated through the lenses of institutional entrepreneurship and coopetition theories. The analysis presented is based on secondary data such as literature reviews, publications and online resources and databases from the UNGC, GRI and ISO as well as personal communications with representatives of ISO, GRI and UNGC. Findings – The paper shows that from the users’ perspective, CSR instruments should not be treated as separate alternatives, but rather as complementary to each other. At the same time, organizations that set up CSR instruments have to strengthen their existing collaboration as a network, in order to contribute more effectively to sustainable development. Research limitations/implications – The use of secondary data to discuss some of the ISO 26000 diffusion trends might provide an incomplete picture but still offer interesting insights. Practical implications – This study allows to better understand the linkages, overlaps and differences between three CSR instruments: UNGC, GRI and ISO 26000. At first sight, some of these instruments may appear as redundant but our analysis points out that they complement each other. They have different goals and are useful in different parts of one organization’s CSR infrastructure. These instruments help organizations to implement different CSR tools at different stages of integrating sustainability issues into their strategies and operations. Originality/value – CSR instruments have mainly been examined separately by scholars. In contrast, this study analyses ISO 26000, UNGC and GRI as a collaborative mechanism and predicts the fit of ISO 26000 within these well-established CSR instruments. The main contribution of this study is an in-depth analysis of the relationships between organizations that are developing and promoting prominent CSR instruments. In addition, we apply organizational theories to our analysis as a novel perspective. This study contributes to institutional entrepreneurship theory by showing how organizations playing the role of institutional entrepreneurs may encourage the early adoption of a new CSR instrument. It also contributes to the coopetition theory by applying this approach outside the traditional business setting.

Governance and control in networks: a case study of the Universal Postal Union

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to adopt “whole network” perspective and analyzes the governance and control mechanisms in the Universal Postal Union (UPU), one of the oldest and largest inter-governmental networks, through the lens of institutional entrepreneurship theory. The purpose is to introduce a typology of network governance forms to the accounting literature and to analyze the governance and management control mechanisms within the UPU, a “participatory federation” (Provan, 1983) type of network that has managed the challenges of collective collaboration since 1875.Design/methodology/approach– The study benefits from unlimited access to all archival materials of the UPU such as minutes of Congress and committee meetings since 1875 as well as secondary documents and market studies related to the postal sector. The data reported in this study are derived from the archives of the UPU in Berne, Switzerland and interviews conducted with senior officials.Findings– Drawing on the work of Provan (1983) and Provan and Kenis (2008) the authors identify five “ideal type” network governance forms based on such variables as differences in the relative power of network participants and whether these networks have arisen spontaneously or due to external coercion, the authors classify the UPU as a “participatory federation.” Within the theoretical boundaries of this typology the authors identify the multi level governance structures and the use of management control mechanisms by each level of governance. The authors introduce a distinction between the “network constitutional organization” that focusses on the socialization of network members and strategy-level orchestration of the overall network and the “network administrative organization” (NAO) that mobilizes management accounting and control mechanisms to monitor, encourage and facilitate member collaboration. The authors propose that control within a participatory federation is enacted through collective entrepreneurship by governance bodies using management accounting and control mechanisms as institutional carriers.Research limitations/implications– The paper is focussed on the current state of the UPU’s network structure and processes and did not explore the dynamics around the emergence of the different network governance and control mechanisms. An exploration of the collective construction by network participants of the need for these mechanisms would provide insights into how they emerge and might lead to a better understanding of the role of NAOs in networks.Practical implications– The paper highlights the challenges faced by collaborative networks and identifies enabling characteristics of a participatory federation’s governance bodies. The empirical observations within the context of the UPU contribute to the theoretical understanding of the desirable characteristics of participatory federations that might be applicable to similar public and private collaborative networksOriginality/value– This study expands the knowledge of management accounting and control systems in networks. It bridges a gap in the accounting literature by adopting a “whole network” perspective and by differentiating types of network governance structures that use management accounting and control systems. This contributes to the understanding of accounting and control across the full range of organizational forms.

Institutional Entrepreneurship in Public Organizations and Institutional Voids in Emerging Economies

Deploying institutional entrepreneurship theory, this longitudinal case study investigates the micro-institutional context and changes in field and organizational structures and processes of a publ...

Determinants of Successful IT-Enabled Business Innovation: A Case Study from the Perspective of Institutional Entrepreneurship Theory

As the role of information technology (IT) in business innovation becomes increasingly important, an increasing number of organizations have started to consider how to promote IT-enabled business innovation. Although extant studies have identified organization, environment, and innovation’s characteristics as substantial determinants of IT innovation, they do not emphasize the accompanying innovation in processes, products or services, which distinguish IT-enabled business innovation from general IT innovation. Therefore, the reason why few companies succeed in realizing IT-enabled business innovation remains obscure. Anchored on the institutional entrepreneurship theory, this paper examines determinants of the success of IT-enabled business innovation in a fast-growing company using the case study approach. Our findings indicate that IT-business coordination competency, degree of institutionalization, participation of business managers, top management team’s (TMT) attitude towards the innovation, and the innovation’s relative strength, have significant impacts on the success of IT-enabled business innovation. Our findings also contribute to IT innovation research by identifying special determinants of IT-enabled business innovation and redirecting research ranging from innovation in IT itself to IT-enabled innovation in business processes, products or services.

Institutional Change of Accounting Systems: The Adoption of a Regime of Adapted International Financial Reporting Standards

This study combines Dillard et al.’s [(2004). The making and remaking of organization context: Duality and the institutionalization process. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 17(4), 506–542] institutional change model with institutional entrepreneurship theory. The aim is to enhance understanding of institutional change processes when a country adopts international accounting standards. For empirical support, we focus on the changes in social structures and accounting practices that arose in 2010 when Portugal replaced its national accounting system for unlisted companies, with a new system of accounting based on International Financial Reporting Standards. We reveal how an evolving socio-economic and political context, and the embedding of central actors in multiple fields, facilitated entrepreneurial action by actors who took political opportunity, mobilised important allies, and accommodated the interests of major protagonists. We draw attention to the possibility of an earlier inversion of the cascading institutionalisation process than is envisaged by Dillard et al. (2004). At the organisational field level, we highlight how national professional accounting associations and business associations can shape criteria established at the political and economic level, thereby counteracting the institutionalisation process. At the organisational level, we focus on the accounting standard for small and medium-sized entities. We provide insights to why some accountants maintained structures of meaning associated with the previous accounting system.

Towards Responsible Steel: Preliminary Insights

This paper examines the structures and processes underpinning the attempt of the Australian steel industry to establish a certification scheme for Responsible Steel. We take it as a case example of how collective action and collaboration along a supply chain has the potential to be a win-win situation for the environment and for the competitiveness of an industry sector. The paper identifies the drivers that have prompted key stakeholders from all major sectors of the Australian steel product life cycle from mining through steel manufacturing, processing, product fabrication, use and re-use, and recycling to collaborate in the establishment of the Steel Stewardship Forum (SSF), the structure established to lead the development of the certification scheme. The development of this initiative is indicative of the wider shift to sustainability-related certification schemes as a means of garnering legitimacy and market advantage and provides detailed insights into both the drivers for and the challenges associated with such initiatives. Findings from the paper contribute to our understanding of the shift to sustainable supply chains as it is interpreted through institutional and institutional entrepreneurship theory.

Institutional Entrepreneurship in Hostile Settings: Health and Social Care Partnerships in Scotland, 2002–05

Using institutional entrepreneurship theory, I examine the emergence of a novel partnership model in Scotland between 2002 and 2005 to deliver health and social care services. Utilising a qualitative methodology based on interviews and secondary data, I investigate how health and social care managers in a large urban city area acted as institutional entrepreneurs. By engaging in institutional work at a microlevel, mesolevel, and macrolevel, these managers overcame institutional pressure to implement a centrally mandated partnership model advocated by the then Scottish Executive. The study suggests that institutional entrepreneurship is a specific form of change management that can provide unique insights into the political and negotiative processes involved in implementing divergent change in the face of local and national resistance and offers guidance to policy makers and practitioners in framing and implementing change initiatives.

The role of institutional entrepreneurs in reforming healthcare

We draw on institutional entrepreneurship theory to analyse the dynamics of institutional change in a healthcare context. The focus of our interest is in the relationship between an institutional entrepreneur’s ‘subject position’, defined in terms of their structural and normative legitimacy within the existing institutional landscape, and the nature of the change enacted. We develop this approach through an examination of the implementation of new pathways for cancer genetic services within the English National Health Service. Employing comparative case analysis we show that those who have limited structural legitimacy under prevailing conditions are most willing to engender change, but also least able; whereas those who have strong structural legitimacy are most able, but often least willing. However, those who are able rhetorically to combine a balance of structural and normative legitimacy are most able to produce change. In doing so, we demonstrate the importance of the concept of institutional entrepreneurship to understand healthcare reform.