Isomorphic Pressures Research Articles

Organizational Sustainability Determinants in Different Cultural Settings: A Conceptual Framework

AbstractSince the link between organizations’ sustainability initiatives and effects from the societal environment has not been consistently established in the literature, this paper provides a conceptual framework to demonstrate the antecedents to the levels of sustainability initiatives undertaken by firms. Taking insights from institutional theory, it proposes that the relationship between the sustainability determinants and the level of sustainability initiatives is mediated by coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphic pressures. Moreover, it suggests that culture plays a significant role in moderating the extent to which the various types of isomorphic pressure on firms may influence the levels of firms’ sustainability initiatives. The implications of the framework are discussed in the light of encouraging sustainability initiatives and overall sustainable development in various cultural settings as well as undertaking future research to enhance the framework and its applicability. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Institutional isomorphism and corporate social responsibility: towards a conceptual model

Purpose: The paper proposes the conceptual framework for understanding the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on companies viewed as the source of institutional pressure. According to the neo-institutional approach the response to institutional change leads to the organizational isomorphism, which means that companies adopt new rules and design and in result become similar following the same managerial practice. The adoption of new designs and practice represents the case of the diffusion and institutionalization of change in formal organization structure. Methodology/approach: The study is of theoretical character. It adopts the contribution proposed by the neo-institutional theory and CSR literature. Findings: The paper ties diffusion process of different CSR modes – defensive, charitable, promotional, strategic, systemic – and strategies with three isomorphism mechanisms - mimetic, coercive and normative. Further the study outlines future research opportunities. Practical implications: We argue that the most mature CSR practice represented by systemic mode is institutionalized from within organization through normative isomorphic pressures rather than as a result of coercive power or mimetic efforts.

Understanding Decisions to Suspend Works: When Employers Do Not Pay

The construction industry propels Malaysia’s economic growth. Payment is the livelihood of the construction industry. Many contractors have suffered badly from payment issues in Malaysia, especially non-payment. To remedy non-payment, unpaid contractors have the right to suspend works if the construction contracts express such rights. However, this self-help remedy is less to be instigated and the reasons remained under explored. The aims of this paper are threefold: (1) to understand contractors’ reluctance to suspend works, (2) to predict contractors’ decision to suspend works from the lens of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model, and (3) to propose intervention strategies based on Institutional Theory. 44 Contractors specializing in building and civil engineering works participated in this study. The results show that Perceived obligations to others and tolerance factor underpinned their reluctance. Step-wise regression analysis also shows that subjective norm is the predictor of intention. To intervene in the decisions effectively, the TPB model was further extended with isomorphic pressures: Normative, Mimetic, and Coercive Pressures by drawing on Institutional Theory. These isomorphic pressures could be useful in influencing intention through subjective norm. The outcome of study is beneficial for both project practitioners and researchers, especially in improving payment issues in the Malaysian construction industry. Suspension of work can be seen as one of an effective self-help remedy that can be intervened in a macro framework.

A Framework for Understanding the Influence of Isomorphic Pressures on Governance of Disaster Risks

Abstract The task of reducing disaster risks poses enormous challenges for international and local non-governmental organizations despite the immense assistance offered in reducing disaster risks and cushioning the effect of disasters. Among other issues responsible for the setback experienced is that of institutional constraints. ‘Institutions’ act as a fulcrum for achieving social norms that shape behaviour and actions within society via rules, professional ethics, standards, policies, regulations etc. Government establishments in the same organizational field - particularly those recognized to deliver public goods and services for disaster risk reduction often experience institutional constraints such as lack of clear policies and mandates to guide government institutions, lack of coordination between institutions, inadequacy in the required human capacity in public sector etc. These constraints often contribute to increased societal risk conditions. Where institutions are elements of governance, framing them also becomes a simultaneous attempt to manage risks to society. An overwhelming body of existing organizational behaviour literature affirms that organizations adopt practices or behave in a certain manner to gain access to resources and legitimacy for survival including under uncertain or complex circumstances when subjected to institutional pressures. Such pressures influence operational and strategic arrangements and has been discussed from a private sector organizations perspective. Against this background, little attention has been given to influence of institutional pressures on public sector organizations and scarcely from a disaster risk reduction perspective. The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of governance and influences of institutional pressures on public sector organizations from a disaster risk reduction perspective. This is achieved through reviewing literature on institutional theory to provide an understanding on the concept of institutional isomorphism and its effect on key issues such as goal ambiguity, professionalism and structuration as well as technical uncertainty. The implication for practitioners is that it offers background knowledge required for key players and professionals to design appropriate response strategies to isomorphic pressures to support institutional sustainability, encourage homogeneity for effective DRR delivery and fills the knowledge gap presented for further research.

Drivers of and Barriers to Professionalization in International Sport Federations

ABSTRACTIn a changing and complex environment, international sport federations (IFs) have to face new challenges. These challenges can trigger or hinder IFs’ professionalization processes. While researchers have examined organizational change and professionalization of national sport federations (NFs) and clubs, studies on IFs are rare. Considering professionalization as an important element of IFs’ change processes in recent years, the study attempts to fill this gap. The conceptual framework is based on the concepts and dynamics of organizational change, the influence of isomorphic pressures and the operationalization of a multi-level framework. Data from six case studies was analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. Findings reveal multiple causes of IFs’ professionalization. Three particular findings are discussed: professionalization as a dynamic process with phases of acceleration that vary depending on IFs’ size; IFs’ becoming increasingly business-like through isomorphic changes; and five causes of particular relevance to IFs’ current professionalization process.

Municipal isomorphism: testing the effects of vertical and horizontal collaboration

ABSTRACTThis study tests whether vertical and horizontal collaborative arrangements generate organizational isomorphic pressures. Using neo-institutional theory, we explore whether local governments emulate their peers when they are (1) bound through collaborative agreements/associations (mimetic pressures), and/or (2) scrutinized by central government through a vertical agreement (coercive pressures). Municipal isomorphism is measured by municipality-dyad convergence across time based on: (1) the number of central-government grant applications submitted by municipalities and (2) use of information technologies. We test for changes in divergence between dyads on these measures using data from all possible dyads generated from 207 Chilean municipalities over 10 years (2005–2014). After controlling for potential confounding factors, findings show mimetic and coercive pressures, from horizontal and vertical forms of governance, reduce a municipal dyad’s divergence in terms of grant applications and use of information technologies. However, collaboration effects on municipal isomorphism are contingent on the type of collaboration. While formal municipal agreements increase a municipal dyad’s convergence, municipal associations unexpectedly seem to decrease it.

Institutional and Economic Factors Affecting the Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the environmental factors associated with countries’ decision to adopt International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Based on a sample of 110 countries, the results reveal a positive influence of external public funding (coercive isomorphic pressure), the degree of external openness (mimetic isomorphic pressure), and public sector organizations’ importance on IPSAS adoption. They show a negative effect of the availability of local GAAP on this decision, whereas education level (normative isomorphic pressure) is a nonsignificant factor.This research contributes to the international accounting literature in the public sector. The results are relevant to standard-setters, regulators, researchers, international financial organizations, and non-adopting countries.

Do multinational subsidiaries demonstrate a convergence across their HRM practices in a less developed host-country?

PurposeUsing an institutionalist perspective, and through a case study analysis, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether subsidiaries of MNEs demonstrate a convergence across their HRM practices in a less developed host-country context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports on an exploratory qualitative study involving five MNEs subsidiaries that operate in Ghana and originate from the UK, France, Germany, and India. The authors applied thematic and cross-case analysis techniques to explore similarities and differences in their HRM practices by drawing data from in-depth face-to-face interviews and document analyses.FindingsFindings suggest that MNE subsidiaries demonstrate more convergence across their HRM practices as well as other HRM characteristics. Despite the similarities in their HRM practices, the evidence suggests that MNE subsidiaries’ HRM practices were similar to corporate headquarters HRM practices. It appears that the host-country has less influence in driving their convergence but rather the country-of-origin effect; competitive isomorphic pressure and global integration benefits were driving their convergence across their HRM practices.Originality/valueThis study makes a contribution to the convergence-divergence literature in the international HRM (IHRM) domain with specific focus on addressing an under-researched context of less developed host-countries. One of the puzzles in comparative and IHRM literature yet to be resolved is the convergence-divergence thesis of firms’ HRM practices.

Understanding the drivers of sustainable entrepreneurial practices in Pakistan’s leather industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the drivers of sustainable entrepreneurial practices in SMEs operating in a developing economy. The secondary objectives are to explore the relationship between these drivers and to draw out the implications for policy and practice.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is informed by the literature on sustainable entrepreneurship, and on the drivers of pro-environmental practices in SMEs. It reports on the results of an intensive multi-level empirical study, which investigates the environmental practices of SMEs in Pakistan’s leatherworking industry using a multiple case study design and grounded analysis, which draws on relevant institutional theory.FindingsThe study identifies that coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphic pressures simultaneously drive sustainable entrepreneurial activity in the majority of sample SMEs. These pressures are exerted by specific micro-, meso- and macro-level factors, ranging from international customers’ requirements to individual-level values of owners and managers. It also reveals the catalytic effect of the educational and awareness-raising activities of intermediary organisations, in tandem with the attraction of competitiveness gains, (international) environmental regulations, industrial dynamism and reputational factors.Practical implicationsThe evidence suggests that, in countries where formal institutional mechanisms have less of an impact, intermediary organisations can perform a proto-institutional role that helps to overcome pre-existing barriers to environmental improvement by sparking sustainable entrepreneurial activity in SME populations.Originality/valueThe findings imply that the drivers of sustainable entrepreneurial activity do not operate in a “piecemeal” fashion, but that particular factors mediate the emergence and development of other sustainability drivers. This paper provides new insights into sustainable entrepreneurship and motivations for environmental practices in an under-researched developing economy context.

The policing of community gardening in Rome

The aim of the paper is to show the inherent ambivalence of the relationship between policy-making and grassroots urban gardening initiatives. The voluntarism, variety and multiple meanings of community gardening, it is argued, is hardly compatible with the regulatory anxiety and isomorphic pressures that most policy schemes imply. The regulation of community gardening, in this frame, is very often caught in a delicate balance of promotion and control, co-optation and “policing” and risks to exacerbate already existing distinctions between collaborative and confrontational initiatives. We believe that addressing this ambivalence is crucial to a proper understanding of the socio-political meaning of community gardening, and of the problematic relationship between communities’ self-organization, sustainable transitions, and urban governance in an age of austerity and neoliberalism. The topic is addressed with reference to the city of Rome, Italy, in light of a recently approved regulation for community gardening.

The Unintended Consequences of Structural Change: When Formal and Informal Institutions Collide in Efforts to Address Wicked Problems

ABSTRACTSignificant restructuring of bureaucracies has occurred to facilitate joined-up working. This article draws on new institutionalism to explore the rationale behind the use of structural change for the promotion of joined-up working. It argues that a strong institutionalized myth has emerged which has created isomorphic pressures in the public sector to instigate structural changes in the name of vertical integration. These combine with informal institutions in ways that can be both productive and unproductive, highlighting the need to find a balance between formal institutional change and informal institutionalized practices, which often go unacknowledged as a powerful influence on policy.

The Business-Led Globalization of CSR: Channels of Diffusion From the United States Into Venezuela and Britain, 1962-1981

The global spread of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices is widely explained in institutional-isomorphic terms: Corporations worldwide adopt CSR in reaction to isomorphic pressures exerted on them by a pro-CSR global environment, including normative calls for CSR, activist targeting, civil regulation frameworks, and educational activities. By contrast, this article considers the proactive agency of corporations in CSR diffusion, which is informed by nonmarket strategies that seek to instrumentally reshape the political and social environment of corporations. Applying a “channels-of-diffusion” perspective, we show that in the initial phase of CSR’s transnational diffusion—as exemplified by the cases of Venezuela (1962-1967) and Britain (1977-1981)—CSR traveled through learning exchanges between business elite “exporters” and “importers” whose engagement in diffusion addressed crisis-enhanced political threats and opportunities in the receiving country. The focal agents established national CSR business associations, which disseminated among local corporations CSR practices adapted to confront the challenges at hand. We identify the features of such “business-led cross-national diffusions of CSR”; formulate propositions regarding their conditions, dynamics, and effects; and suggest that further research of this mode of diffusion would advance a more nuanced and balanced understanding of CSR’s globalization.

Iron Cage of Collaboration: Isomorphic Pressures and Public Preschool Interorganizational Activity

We investigate if coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures shape the degree to which pairs of publicly funded preschool administrators undertake interorganizational activities, categorized respec...

The Business-led Globalization of CSR: Channels of Diffusion into Venezuela and Britain, 1962–1981

The global diffusion of CSR practices is widely explained in institutional- isomorphic terms: corporations worldwide adopt CSR in reaction to isomorphic pressures exerted on them by a pro-CSR global environment, including normative, economic, and regulatory pressures. By contrast, this article considers the proactive agency of corporations in CSR diffusion, which is informed by nonmarket strategies that seek to instrumentally reshape the political and social environment of corporations. Applying a “channels-of-diffusion” perspective, we show that in the initial phase of CSR’s transnational diffusion–as exemplified by the cases of Venezuela (1962–1967) and Britain (1977–1981)–CSR travelled through learning exchanges between business elite “exporters” and “importers” whose engagement in diffusion addressed crisis- enhanced political threats and opportunities in the receiving country. The focal agents established national CSR business associations, which disseminated among local corporations CSR practices ad...

Isomorphic Pressures and Innovation Trends in Italian Health Care Organizations

Over 20 years, hospitals in Italy as well as in other European countries have evolved and changed in response to institutional pressures. With the corporatization, there has been the entrance of new logics and governance structures that contributed to a transformation of the health system. The survival of healthcare organizations is dictated not only by the technical conditions, that allow efficiently and effectively operating, but also by the ability to comply with rules to get legitimacy from external institutional actors. Organizations in a population adapt to their environment, in which operate, so many other organizations adapting to it (isomorphism). The purpose of this paper is to discuss a theoretical framework based on neo-institutional approach that could explain the influence of isomorphic pressures on innovative processes in health care sector. Qualitative data from literature on neo-institutional theory applied to health care sector have been analyzed. Findings reveal institutional pressures stimulate the development of innovations and organizational learning. This concept concerns both the fit of the organization with its environment (strategic matters) and effective implementation of strategies. Hospitals must find ways to increase profit, by improving medical capabilities for payment health care services. One of the most important isomorphic pressure is the prospective payment system for health care that had effects on the choices of organizational models to adopt. The challenge for hospital administrators is to seek consistency between efficiency and quality care.

An institution-based view of global IPR history

Leveraging the use of history to advance international business research, this article focuses on the crucial debate over intellectual property rights (IPR) between the United States and China. Ironically, during the 19th century the United States was not a leading IPR advocate as it is today, but was a leading IPR violator. Developing an institution-based view of IPR history, we identify three underlying theoretical mechanisms that help to explain IPR in the two countries – path dependence, long-term processes, and institutional transitions. We argue that both the US refusal to protect foreign IPR in the 19th century and the current Chinese lack of enthusiasm to meet US IPR demands embody rational responses to their respective situations. However, given long-term processes with intensifying isomorphic pressures, institutional transitions in favor of better IPR protection are quite possible. Finally, going above and beyond these two countries, we draw on the IPR history in over ten other countries to develop a more globally generalizable framework, which in turn contributes to the key question of how history matters.

Seeking legitimacy: Chinese OFDI and domestic isomorphic pressures

Drawing on institutional theory, we argue that the likelihood of a Chinese firm adopting an isomorphic strategy in outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) depends on the influence of external isomorphic pressures—specifically, domestic regional and domestic industrial isomorphic pressures—and the firm’s internal legitimacy-seeking motivation. Quantitative analysis of a sample of 107 Chinese listed firms and their OFDI projects in the 2008–2012 period offers supportive evidence for our arguments. Our study offers further insights into Chinese MNEs by providing a better understanding of the impact of China’s regional and industrial diversity on their OFDI.

Institutional isomorphism and social responsibility in professional sports

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of three major professional sport leagues in South Korea to investigate the general beliefs, values, and norms influencing the institutional isomorphism of CSR engagement.Design/methodology/approachNine semi-structured interviews were conducted with three league chiefs of CSR initiatives and senior managers of related divisions to explore the general beliefs, values, and norms that are institutionalized in their CSR practices. The Gioia method of inquiry and data analysis was employed.FindingsUsing institutional theory, the current research found evidence of all three institutional pressures of institutional isomorphism that contribute to the institutionalization of CSR practices in professional South Korean sport. The data revealed that CSR has been institutionalized in these leagues through isomorphic pressures – coercive, mimetic, and normative – as antecedents to their CSR practices.Practical implicationsThe current research identified that conforming to the institutional norms may not only act as a force causing the organization to behave in a socially responsible manner, but also to provide the organization with competitive advantages.Originality/valueThe authors extend the current literature in sport CSR by using institutional theory as a framework to uncover organizational CSR motives. In particular, this is the first study to provide evidence of how three isomorphic pressures work to institutionalize CSR practices in South Korean professional sports leagues.

No Longer Junior Colleges: Integrating Institutional Diversity in Graduate Higher Education Programs

Aim/Purpose: This article argues that given the isomorphic pressures on both community colleges and four-year institutions, historic divisions between community college leadership programs and general higher education programs are no longer serving the needs of new scholars and practitioners in the field. Graduate programs of higher education should integrate an understanding of community colleges and institutional diversity in meaningful ways throughout a graduate curriculum now focused on four-year institutions. Background: Community colleges and four-year institutions are engaging in isomorphic change which is weakening traditional boundaries between these sectors to create a more integrated system of higher education. Methodology: Using a framework of institutional isomorphism, this article reviews recent literature on changes within community colleges and four-year institutions and provides recommendations for infusing this isomorphism into graduate higher education programs. Contribution: By infusing an understanding of institutional diversity into all graduate course-work, educators can prepare future scholars and practitioners for a changing higher education landscape and expand beyond reductive representations of the higher education field.

The Development of Social Economy in South Korea: Focusing on the Role of the State and Civil Society

The existing literature has claimed that the state-backed social enterprises in South Korea could be degenerated since the South Korean civil society is not advanced enough to safeguard them against the isomorphic pressure wielded simultaneously by the state and the market. Taking this claim seriously, this paper examines the recent development of social economy in South Korea. Based on the considerable changes in the long-standing statist model of non-profit sector since the late 1990s, the enormous impact of 2011 FAC on the civil society and social economy, and more frequent collaborative effort between the local governments and civil society organizations since 2012, this paper claims that the development of social economy in South Korea has recently shifted from dominance of state power to a mixture of top-down and bottom-up approaches.