Institutional Theory Perspective Research Articles

Bridging the digital divide in Africa via universal service funds: an institutional theory perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for improving the implementation of universal service funds (USF) with a view to closing the digital divide in Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a qualitative approach that draws examples from various African countries supported by 25 interviews from key stakeholders with hands-on experience and roles that shape telecommunications policy in Africa and other developing countries.FindingsThe study's findings point out that institutional voids which characterize several African countries inhibit the effectiveness of USF in African countries. The authors identify several institutional and organisational factors and explain how they negatively affect the performance of USF. The authors find that in order to overcome these obstacles, there is a need for a clear redefinition of Universal Access and Service (UAS) policies, restructuring the governance of USF, encouraging cross-sectoral collaborations, and bottom-up initiatives to bridge the digital divide in African countries.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the underexplored USF literature by shedding light on the role of institutional factors in determining the success of USF. The paper thus complements and provides a different perspective on promoting digital inclusion in Africa from the viewpoint of institutional voids, bringing new insights into the existing literature on how to deal with an intractable area of UAS policy and the wider digital divide debate in developing countries.

Antecedent and Consequence of E-procurement Implementation on Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises: An Institutional Theory Perspective

The purpose of the study is to investigate the antecedents of e-procurement adoption and implementation and its consequence on organizational performance of small and medium enterprises in Ghana. Using the institutional theory as theoretical lens, the study examined the influence of memetic, normative and coercive force on e-procurement implementation. The findings of the study indicate memetic, normative and coercive forces have a positive impact on the adoption and implementation of e-procurement system among SMEs. Consequently, e-procurement implementation on performance of SMEs. The findings of the study have both implication for academic and practice. The findings of this study have significant implications for policy makers, SMEs, and other stakeholders in the procurement process in Ghana. Policymakers can use the study findings to develop policies and regulations that promote e-procurement adoption among SMEs. SMEs, on the other hand, can use the study findings to identify the benefits of e-procurement adoption and make informed decisions on implementing e-procurement systems. Keywords: Institutional Theory, SME performance, Ghana, PLS – SEM, Normative Forces, Memetic Forces, Coercive Forces DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-9-02 Publication date: May 31 st 2023

Transitioning towards a circular economy under a multicriteria and the new institutional theory perspective: A comparison between Italy and Brazil

The obligations arising from legislation and other instruments affect the macro-level decision-making related to the transition toward a circular economy (CE), which is a multifaceted topic since it tries to aggregate the interests of different stakeholders. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the current policies, strategies and initiatives related to the CE transition from a multicriteria perspective and under the lens of NIT (New Institutional Theory). This is the first approach that analyses which CE strategies and related practices boost the transition from a macro-level perspective, using a multicriteria method and considering developed and emerging economies. For this reason, this paper can be helpful for researchers and practitioners involved in implementing strategy and policymaking aimed at the transition toward a CE. It also contributes to the discussion on the global transition to the CE by identifying differences and similarities between countries. The proposed methodology has been applied to compare the realities in Italy and Brazil. The perceptions of several stakeholders from the two countries have been gathered through a questionnaire to evaluate numerous strategies against several social, environmental, economic, and technical criteria. The main results are: Italy presents a proactive behaviour, a higher level of institutionalisation, and a coercive isomorphism related to European regulations and strategies. In contrast, Brazil has reactive behaviour, a lower level of institutionalisation, and is impelled by mimetic isomorphism. Although it is possible to observe several advances in the last years in Brazil, the transition to a CE is still in the early stages compared to Italy.

Women's leadership gamut in Saudi Arabia's higher education sector

AbstractThis paper explores women's leadership in Saudi Arabia's three university settings—gender segregated (women or men‐only), unsegregated (co‐educational) and the majority of partially segregated universities where women's campuses exist within male‐dominated universities. While Saudi Arabia's accelerated reforms are creating new opportunities for women's leadership, these are not reflected in the higher education sector yet. In adopting a feminist institutional theory perspective, this study employed a feminist qualitative approach, including 14 semi‐structured interviews in Saudi Arabia's three university settings. The findings revealed that the barriers to women's leadership were most significant within the partially segregated universities, rendering women leaders as effectively powerless. In contrast, women's leadership flourished in the women‐only university setting. As such, the findings suggest that the dominating partially segregated model is ineffective and problematic for women's leadership, and contradict the dominant view that gender segregation disempowers women. These insights have implications for the transformation of Saudi Arabia's higher education sector, aligned with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 policy.

Promoting construction for sustainability transformation: the perspective of institutional theory

PurposeSustainability transformation in the construction industry is vital for the attainment of sustainable development goals. While conventional construction has been at the expense of social and economic sustainability, sustainable construction can enhance environmental, social and economic outcomes for the construction industry and society at large. However, the industry struggles with new initiates because its stakeholders are products of unique institutions which shape their decisions and intentions to adopt new practices. This study assessed the institutional pressures that influence the adoption of sustainable construction to enhance our understanding of other factors that can promote and accelerate the adoption of sustainable construction.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a quantitative research design with the use of online questionnaires to elicit information from construction professionals in South Africa. Descriptive statistics of frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data obtained from the survey. Linear regression was also used to assess the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of sustainable construction.FindingsMimetic pressures were found to have a significant influence on the adoption of sustainable construction. The decision to adopt sustainable construction was based on the sustainability actions of industry leaders (mimetic pressure). Normative and coercive pressures had no significant influence on the adoption of sustainable construction.Practical implicationsMimetic pressure from competitors and normative pressures is already exerting some pressure on stakeholders to adopt sustainable construction. However, there cannot be a long-term commitment that will yield the needed sustainability transformations without additional normative pressure from learned societies and coercive pressure from the government. As one of the pioneering works from the global south, this study provides empirical validations of the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of sustainable construction. It also enhances understanding of how institutional pressures from the social context can promote and accelerate the adoption of sustainable construction.Originality/valueThe findings present one of the pioneering efforts to empirically validate the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of sustainable construction.

Decarbonization technology responsibility to gender equality in the shipping industry: a systematic literature review and new avenues ahead

This study investigates existing literature on decarbonization technology responsibility for sustainable business models in the shipping industry. Specifically, it considers the relationship between responsible innovation from green technology adoption in decarbonization management practices and gender equality to precisely target how decarbonization technology relates to gender mainstreaming, a key element of Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the UN 2030 Agenda. From the institutional theory perspective, this study conducted a systematic review of 114 articles published in the ISI Web of Science and Scopus databases from 1990 to 2022. The results highlight that green technology adoption can support low-carbon practices and gender equality in the shipping industry by contributing to decarbonization technology responsibility, sustainable business models, and responsible innovation. Ultimately, this study suggests that shipping management should provide training and workshops for women on technology adoption in decarbonization operational processes to support gender quality and technological development. It also presents a new conceptual framework and research propositions on significant issues that are currently neglected. The proposed framework may be treated as a decarbonization technology responsibility guideline in shipping management that can reshape the organizational culture to promote gender equality.

When Institutional Plates Collide: The Dynamic Impact of Informal Institutions on Capital Market Development

We provide an institutional theory perspective to examine societal legitimacy in the context of capital market development. While prior research has focused on the importance of formal institutions, firms are embedded within broader socio-economic structures associated with informal institutions. Using content analysis and a unique dataset of 3244 newspaper articles between 2004 and 2013, we develop a dynamic measure capturing the public perception of capital markets as a proxy of informal institutions. We run a Prais–Winsten regression with panel-corrected standard errors to explore the dynamic relationship between public perception of capital markets and equity market size in Austria and Poland. We further theoretically and empirically explore how formal and informal institutions mutually reinforce each other in the context of capital market development. Our results suggest that informal institutions matter differently in developed and emerging economies.

The Underlying Theories of Organizational Sustainability: The Motivation Perspective

The primary purpose of this paper is to illustrate the significance of several underlying theories of organizational sustainability from a motivational perspective. This paper adopts three theories from three distinct perspectives, including the institutional or organizational perspective, the employee perspective, and the stakeholder perspective, to construct and develop strong relationships among different variables to form a research framework connecting these three perspectives with organizational sustainability. The study then suggested a conceptual model for organizational sustainability based on three theories: the institutional theory (IT), the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) theory, and the stakeholder theory (ST). Several theoretical perspectives of organizational sustainability, including IT, AMO theory, and ST perspectives of sustainability concerns, were used to explore and determine the motivational viewpoint of these theories. This study began with a review of multiple studies and an analysis of the numerous ideas driving organizational sustainability. After that, the examined studies were appraised for their evidence and inadequacies. This paper included environmental, social, and economic aspects in one comprehensive review and focused on recent studies based on IT, AMO theory, and ST from a motivational perspective. Previous organizational sustainability reviews of several theories in different sectors or industries were primarily based on resource base view theory, resource dependency theory, social exchange theory, dynamic capability theory, and so on. This study examined current changes in IT, AMO theory, and ST theory from a motivational viewpoint. Additionally, the development of organizational sustainability in the industrial arena was addressed. This paper may be used as a guide for different stakeholders, especially practitioners and policymakers so that they can set up their strategies, action plans, and policies in a way that will ensure the sustainability of their organizations.

The role of organizational language in gaining legitimacy from the perspective of new institutional theory

Abstract This research addresses the role of organizational language in the establishment of legitimacy from the perspective of New Institutional Theory. Several conceptual and methodical contributions have been made. First, by pairing cultural-cognitive legitimacy with phenomenological institutionalism and socio-political legitimacy with social organizational institutionalism, we have proposed a new way of classifying legitimacy. Second, we made connections between language strategies of organizations and cultural-cognitive and socio-political legitimacy. Finally, by re-categorizing language strategies aimed at legitimacy, we have provided a framework that is applicable in studying the relationship between different language strategies and legitimacy. Using this framework, we conducted an empirical study in which we analyzed the press releases of five major Turkish business groups. It was found that their language strategies were generally similar and mostly aimed at socio-political legitimacy.

Towards a Greater Understanding of the Prevalence of Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the Informal Economy of Ghana: An Institutional Theory Perspective

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana's informal economy through institutional theory. Specifically, the study sought to understand how the elements of the institutional theory (norms, culture, and regulations, which form formal and informal institutions) support or discourage immigrant entrepreneurship in the Sub-Saharan African context, with insights from Ghana. It is qualitative research that adopts an in-depth face-to-face interview with 30 respondents. Analyzing the data from the interviews, the key findings are immigrants' inability to find paid jobs, failure to gather sufficient funds to operate in the formal sector, and the willingness to use innate ability. The Ghanaian culture of hospitality and the government's inability to implement trade regulations have been an enabler to the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana. The legal frameworks that prohibit immigrants from participating in retailing, especially in the informal economy of Ghana, are well known by immigrant entrepreneurs, albeit it has yet to adhere. Therefore, there is a call for policy measures to address the weak institutional framework, which encourages disregard for the country's laws. Immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to remain in doing business in Ghana must obey the rules or suffer the punishment thereof.

Strategic outcome of competitive advantage from corporate sustainability practices: Institutional theory perspective from an emerging economy

AbstractThis study examined the use and effectiveness of corporate sustainability practices (CSP) and the subsequent effect on a strategic outcome, competitive advantage. The new institutional sociology (NIS) theoretical framework was applied, informed by three different dimensions of institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic and normative). The study used a survey method and developed a seven‐dimensional model utilising the 52 principles provided by the OECD. It used a structural equation modelling in order to test the hypothesised associations between institutional pressures, CSP and competitive advantage to provide an institutional and contextualised perspectives from an emerging economy setting. The study found significant associations between the three types of institutional pressure with specific dimensions of CSP. The findings further revealed that specific CSP dimensions are diversely (positively and negatively) associated with competitive advantage. In line with the tenets of greenwashing, it highlighted the important role of institutional pressures from stakeholders (government, policy and customers) in implementing specific CSP. The findings inform managers, governments, foreign investors and other stakeholders in emerging economies about the influence of the institutional pressure in promoting the use of CSP and the effect of such practices on competitive advantage. From the context of an emerging economy, the study provides a unique empirical insight into the NIS perspective in promoting CSP and the subsequent impact on the strategic outcome, competitive advantage.

Formal and informal institutions and fair value opinion shopping: an institutional anomie theory perspective

PurposeThe objective of this study is to examine how formal and informal institutional environment influences managers’ fair value opinion shopping behaviour in the largest International Financial Reporting Standards adopter, China.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypotheses, I conduct a 2 × 2 between-subject randomised experiment since the inferences about cause and effect are important in this study. The between-subject experimental situations are manipulated on the basis of the financial condition of companies and boards’ oversight.FindingsI find that managers are likely to seek favourable fair value opinions from external valuation professionals when they are under the weak boards’ oversight and high stress to meet the regulation target of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. These results are more pronounced for managers with higher both rent-seeking and favour-seeking guanxi orientations are more likely to engage in fair value opinion shopping.Originality/valueConsistent with theoretical analysis of Balfoort et al. (2017), this study provides empirical evidence that guanxi influences the neutrality and faithful representation in fair value measurement in China. In addition, the findings extend Salzsieder’s study (2015) and reflect the context-embeddedness nature of accounting.

Critique and change: The “what”, “why”, “how”, and “so what”

Critique and change: The “what”, “why”, “how”, and “so what”

Instituting Collaborative Governance towards Agenda 2063 from the perspective of Universality Principles and New Institutional theory: the Case of USA and Africa

Instituting Collaborative Governance towards Agenda 2063 from the perspective of Universality Principles and New Institutional theory: the Case of USA and Africa

Lobbying and Product Recalls: A Study of the U.S. Automobile Industry

Noting the proliferation of product recalls and extensive use of lobbying in some critical product markets (e.g., automobiles, medical equipment), the authors examine the relationship between lobbying and product recalls. Lobbying does not alter product quality, so an efficiency perspective would suggest no relationship. However, a legitimacy-based institutional theory perspective and associated regulation models suggest that lobbying reduces voluntary firm-initiated and mandatory regulator-initiated recalls. To provide insights into these questions, the current study explores nine years of multisource data from the automotive industry, related to recalls and lobbying. The results, obtained with an instrumental variable approach, support dual impacts of lobbying for reducing both voluntary and mandatory recalls. Defect severity and media coverage moderate the effects, and the data support full indirect moderation, such that the interaction between media coverage and lobbying mediates the interaction between defect severity and lobbying. In terms of effect sizes, approximately $404,367 ($1.66 million) more in lobbying expenditures is associated with one fewer voluntary (mandatory) recall, assuming a typical average recall of 235,638 vehicles. This study highlights lobbying as an important (marketing) tool that automotive companies use to manage their regulatory environment, with deep implications for policy making, research, and practice.

Green innovation in events: the role of institutional pressures, future orientation, and past experience

Green innovation is pivotal to events. However, little is known about how exhibitors manage the challenge of adopting green innovation in the fast-paced and short-oriented events. Drawing upon institutional theory and organisational learning perspective, this study investigates how institutional pressures are linked to exhibitors’ willingness to adopt (WTA) eco-exhibiting via two temporal variables: future orientation (mediator) and past experience (moderator). PLS-SEM is applied to analyse a survey from 685 event exhibitors. Results show that coercive and normative pressures are significantly associated with exhibitors’ future orientation, which then predicts WTA. Besides, past experience moderates the relationship between institutional pressures and WTA. Specifically, experienced exhibitors learn by doing and their WTA is more associated with normative pressure, while novice exhibitors learn vicariously and their WTA links stronger to mimetic pressures. This paper integrates macro-level institutional pressures and organisational-level learning heterogeneity, offering a multi-level explanation of green innovation adoption. This research also contributes to the green events and sustainable tourism literature with novel insights from the time perspective, verifying events as pro-environmental learning spaces for exhibitors. We highlight time perspective and environmental education for future research.

Problematic use of social media: The influence of social environmental forces and the mediating role of copresence

People's dependence on technology in the digital environment has increasingly become the focus of academic and social attention. Social media, in particular, with the functions of connecting with others and maintaining interactions, has become an inseparable part of people's lives. Although the formation of problematic use of social media has been extensively discussed by scholars, it is mainly confined to the individual level and lacks a macro perspective from the external environment. This study draws on the perspective of institutional theory and introduces copresence as a mediating role, aiming to investigate the influence mechanism of social environmental forces on individuals' problematic use of social media. An online survey (N = 462) was conducted to collect data and test the research model. Our data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Results show that social environmental forces exert an impact on problematic use of social media through the sense of copresence, and only mimetic force can directly affect behavior outcomes while the other two forces can not. Besides, social environmental forces have a relationship with people's sense of copresence while using social media. Among them, mimetic force and normative force positively correlate with copresence while coercive force is negatively related to copresence. Furthermore, copresence is found to influence problematic use of social media positively. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Impact of Islamic Corporate Governance on Sustainability Performance in Islamic Banks of Pakistan: Moderating Role of Insider Ownership and Institutional Ownership

This study aims to investigate the impact of Islamic Corporate Governance (ICG) on Social Sustainability Performance (SP) in Islamic Banks of Pakistan, focusing on the moderating role of insider and institutional ownership. The study derives influential Islamic CG mechanisms from the theoretical perspectives of Agency Theory, Institutional Theory, and Legitimacy Theory, primarily focusing on Shariah board attributes and ownership structure. The study uses the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) for regression analysis and proposes three propositions to enhance social sustainability performance through responsible decision-making. The study results reveal that Islamic corporate governance significantly influences social sustainability performance, with Shariah board independence having a positive impact while size, competence, and process have a negative impact. The ownership structure of Islamic banks in Pakistan also significantly moderates the relationship between Islamic corporate governance and social sustainability performance, with insider ownership and institutional ownership playing a significant role. This study provides policy insights for policymakers, practitioners, and corporate boards to promote sustainablen operations through Islamic corporate governance, adding to existing developmental plans to address sustainability-related issues. This study also contributes to the literature by establishing the nexus between Islamic corporate governance and triple-bottom-line performance in IBs.

Digital technologies and information translucence in healthcare management: An institutional theory perspective for adopting electronic incidence reporting systems

The purpose of this study was to provide an institutional theory perspective on the adoption of electronic IRS technology for healthcare management. This research employs institutional theory to investigate the adoption of electronic IRS for healthcare management. The study’s conceptual analysis demonstrates that coercive, normative, and imitative forces influence the adoption of electronic IRS for healthcare management. International healthcare regulations and standards reflect the presence of coercive forces. International healthcare societies and professional networks mirror normative forces. Imitative forces exert pressure on smaller enterprises and developing nations to adopt electronic IRS. This research contributes to the literature and theory by extending the application of institutional theory to the adoption of digital technologies such as the electronic IRS. In addition, the study has practical implications because it demonstrates the importance of digital technologies such as electronic IRS for information translucence and healthcare management. Small businesses in developing nations can learn from large businesses in developed nations to adopt electronic IRS for efficient and effective healthcare management.

Corporate sustainability of Portuguese seaports

Responding to calls for studies examining corporate sustainability (CS) in a seaport setting, this study analyzes the Portuguese case since it is little known, despite some pioneering initiatives of Portuguese seaports as the development of the Logistic Single Window. Following a qualitative approach, information was collected through semi-structured interviews, publicly available news and videos, seaports' websites, and reports. Starting from Oliver's (1991) model, which combines institutional theory and resource dependence perspective, we extended the theory by adding the resource-based view to analyze the institutional factors that predict seaports' strategic responses to CS. Our findings suggest that, while CS interpretation by Portuguese seaports has an underlying acquiescence strategy, the way CS is put into practice reveals a compromise one. CS strategies are related to seaports' legitimacy and reveal great dependence on seaports from their external institutional context, resulting in a harmonious port-city relationship and promoting consistency between institutional pressures and organizational norms, voluntarily widespread in a context of great interconnectedness.