Process Of Institutional Change Research Articles

Institutional change and routine dynamics in service ecosystems

PurposeThis study aims to understand and explain how institutional change occurs at the level of value co-creation practices in service ecosystems. Despite the centrality of collective practices to the service ecosystems perspective, theoretically grounded explanations of how practices change and become institutionalized remain underdeveloped. Applying the theory of routine dynamics, this paper addresses two questions as follows: what does the institutional change mean at the level of value co-creation practices and what processes underlie these changes?Design/methodology/approachThe study develops a conceptual framework that characterizes value co-creation practices as routines involving three aspects, namely, ostensive, performative and artifactual. As a key element in institutional change, the interplay between these informs an account of institutional change processes in service ecosystems.FindingsThe proposed conceptual framework specifies the conditions for institutional change in terms of value co-creation routines. First, any such change is seen to be grounded in alignment between changing institutional rules and the ostensive, performative and artifactual aspects of routines. Second, this alignment is seen to emerge through a dialectics of planned and practice-based activities during institutional change. An empirical research agenda is proposed for the analysis of institutional change processes in different service ecosystems.Originality/valueThis conceptual framework extends existing accounts of how service ecosystems change through the contributions of multiple actors at the level of value co-creation practices.

Institutional work in diverse niche contexts: The case of low-carbon housing in the Netherlands

Literature on sustainability transitions advocates the institutionalisation of niche innovations and assigns an important role for institutional work in this respect. Previous work has conceptually and empirically substantiated a range of strategies that institutional entrepreneurs perform. However, little is known about how institutional entrepreneurs engage differently in institutional strategies across different dynamic niche contexts. We distinguish between four different niche contexts: market-based niche development, market-based regime transformation, community-based niche development and community-based regime transformation. This typology is then conceptually combined with theory on institutional entrepreneurship and institutional work to examine the diverse agential processes of institutional change through which actors shape and transform their institutional environments. The usefulness of this framework is explored in an analysis of the low-carbon building stock in the Netherlands. The analysis demonstrates that the framework offers a comprehensive approach to examine variety in the arsenal of strategies of institutional work across different contexts.

Sustainable Growth: A Circular Economy Perspective

:Since the Brundtland Report was released in 1987, research on sustainable development has become an urgent issue of common concern. To meet the present consumption without compromising the needs of future generations, it is essential for society to practice the “don’t waste waste” principle and to promote sustainable growth. As this article illustrates, sustainable growth can be understood as an institutional arrangement of regenerating circular GDP in a sustainable manner. In the circular economy system, sustainable growth is not only theoretically feasible, but also looks very promising. To promote sustainable consumption and investment, a certain degree of institutional planning (i.e., a process of progressive institutional change) initiated by a community or a government is necessary. Sustainable growth is, in essence, a dynamic process of mutually-interacting socioeconomic activities of learning and training in sustainability issues, and this requires great effort as well as the active participation of people from all walks of life.

The institutional layering arrangements of the Egyptian government’s e-payment system: An analytical case study

This paper draws on the literature on institutional layering to explore the process of institutional change relating to the Egyptian government’s ambitious plan to embed e-payments into the country’s financial system. It utilises the concept of policy layering to explain the gradual yet significant and accumulative institutional and layering changes that have taken place in the country’s payment system policy and affected the activities of actors in the public sector. The paper analyses empirical data collected from interviews with various actors within the Egyptian government’s e-payment system. Analysis of relevant regulations and other official policy documents and reports is also considered. Following this, the paper focuses on the layering of institutional arrangements, consisting of both actors and instruments. In this way, the paper focuses on the actors responsible for the internal governance and external regulation of e-payments in Egypt.

El territorio como espacio contradictorio: promesas y conflictos en torno a la actividad extractiva en Ecuador, Colombia, Perú y Chile

The conflicts over extractive activities have grown in the last decade and represent a challenge for the countries, in their desire to advance in economic growth and socio-environmental welfare. The cases of Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Chile are analyzed, placing the territory as a social space in the center. It is argued that conflicts represent a questioning of the role of both private and public agents, and press towards the implementation of processes of institutional change, which involve: a) promoting and refining legal instruments to capture surplus derived from the extractive activity, to direct them to investment in other areas of development; b) develop planning and territorial ordering instruments; c) define prior consultation processes; d) advance in decentralization and strengthening of subnational governments; and e) strengthen the articulation capacity of the actors involved to arrive at institutional arrangements for economic growth and inclusive development.

Negotiating new institutional logics

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse how processes of institutional change in environments of institutional 'voids' affect smallholder farmer market access in Zambia and Malawi, and explores the role of different dis/enabling institutional agents and logics. The authors examine this in the context of two divergent routes of institutional change – one externally imposed and the second driven from within the ecosystem itself. The authors consider how these different institutional processes impact upon smallholder farmers and how they are able to adapt to these changes.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach is used which lends itself to an analysis of multiple institutional logics that is based upon the multiple positions of market actors. It uses a comparative case study design methodology focused on two broad cases of smallholder farmers in Zambia and Malawi.FindingsThe research demonstrates the tension that multiple institutional logics can create especially amongst those most vulnerable particularly where these are not embedded in local realities and mindful of social settings.Originality/valueIt contributes to the understanding of poverty alleviation in rural developing regions, on overcoming institutional voids, market inclusivity and the role of social entrepreneurs and intermediaries, and builds on the perspective of markets as social spaces for economic exchange.

Police reform as institutional change: Symbols and dilemmas

Many police forces in Western and Northern Europe have been confronted with reform, aimed at drastic changes of their structure, organization, and governance. In this paper these police reforms are understood, not as instrumental, rational processes, but as processes of institutional change. The developments of the Dutch police reform since the late 1980s and especially the Dutch police reform of 2013 are used to show the relevance of the institutional approach. After a sketch of the main outlines of institutional theory and some of the debates that were raised by this approach, the paper concentrates on two critical aspects of institutional theory for understanding processes of police reform: reform symbols and institutional dilemmas. This analysis shows that the symbolic level is fundamental for understanding police reform. Symbols are used both to present and promote the reform, and as counter-symbols to resist it. The result is a complex interplay at the symbolic level. This paper also shows that institutional dilemmas are main drivers of police reform. But on the other hand, the police reforms did not alter these institutional dilemmas fundamentally, an example of the fact that police reform results in both change and continuity. The paper concludes with the suggestion that this institutional approach, with much attention paid to the symbolic level and to institutional dilemmas, may also be relevant for the study of innovations in policing and of the use of new technologies in police work.

The Institutional Isomorphism in the Context of Organizational Changes in Higher Education Institutions

This article deals with the institutional theory and isomorphism, from the processes of organizational change in higher education institutions. In a first phase, we analyze, through a questionnaire, the situations and causes of change in higher education institutions (HEI), more precisely in the field knowledge of Physical Education in Colombia. Afterwards, through a multiple case study, we analyze both the pressures of the environment that force HEI to change and the types of isomorphism. The results show the existence of the three types of isomorphism in a process of change where the National and Institutional governments exert coercive pressures. Other HEIs in similar situations exert mimic isomorphism while Specialized groups within HEIs, exert normative isomorphism.

"This Place Does What It Was Built For"

Whether we recognize it or not, the Internet is rife with exciting and original institutional forms that are transforming social organization on and offline. Governing these Internet platforms and other digital institutions has posed a challenge for engineers and managers, many of whom have little exposure to the relevant history or theory of institutional design. The dominant guiding practices for the design of digital institutions to date in human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, and the tech industry at large have been an incentive-focused behavioral engineering paradigm encompassing atheoretical approaches such as emulation, A/B-testing, engagement maximization, and piecemeal issue-driven engineering. One institutional analysis framework that has been useful in the study of traditional institutions comes from scholars of natural resource management, particularly that community of economists, anthropologists, and environmental and political scientists focused around the work of Elinor Ostrom, known collectively as the "Ostrom Workshop." A key finding from this community that has yet to be broadly incorporated into the design of many digital institutions is the importance of including participatory change mechanisms in what is called a "constitutional layer" of institutional design. The institutional rules that compose a constitutional layer facilitate stakeholder participation in the ongoing process of institutional design change. We explore to what extent consideration of constitutional layers is met or could be better met in three varied cases of digital institutions: cryptocurrencies, cannabis informatics, and amateur Minecraft server governance. Examining such highly varied cases allows us to demonstrate the broad relevance of constitutional layers in many different types of digital institutions.

Digital Transformation and Public Service Delivery in Brazil

This article analyzes the digital transformation process of public services in the Brazilian federal government. Based on a survey with 85 federal organizations, 1,740 public services are examined according to different factors that explain why a certain public service is digitalized. We discuss the transition from an e‐government to a digital policy, listing the limits related to agent preferences in public policies. The article discusses digital transformation in governments as a process of institutional change in public organizations, taking into account the role of agents, the contexts of choices, and the factors that explain the decision to digitize public services.

The Importance of Inclusive Leadership Practice In Higher Education Administration

This paper aims to offer empirical evidence of the importance of inclusive leadership practice in higher education administration and the role educational professionals play in the academic setting to achieve institutional goals and vision. At a time when institutions are advocating with governmental agencies for funding and the graduate unemployment rate continues to be a challenge, it is critical for educational leaders, administrators, and professionals, alike, to be diverse and competent in inclusive practices in higher education. For instance, it is undesirable for an employee of any institution, whether staff, faculty (part-time and full-time), para personnel, student worker, consultant or other professionals within the campus environment to feel alienated in the governing process of institutional change. Inclusive leadership makes professionals feel a sense of belonging in the workplace thus contributing to the vision and goals of the workplace. Keywords: Inclusive Leadership, Higher Education, Administration, Leadership Practice, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8444-8619

Structural change, institutions and the dynamics of labor productivity in Europe

The objective of this paper is to explain the reasons behind the dynamics of labor productivity (LP) growth during a process of institutional and structural change. We show - by means of a theoretical discussion and an empirical analysis, conducted on a sample of 25 European countries for the period 1995–2016 - that four main channels contribute to explaining the evolution of LP. First, the speed of investment, which incorporates innovation and favors an increase of LP growth; second, the speed of Research and Development (R&D), which allows for the creation of new ideas and shows the “dynamism of a society”, having positive effects on LP; third, the deregulation of labor markets and the increase of temporary employment, both of which encourage labor-intensive strategies by firms, with low value-added and low productivity gains; fourth, the direction of structural change, which can take place toward services industries affected by “Baumol’s disease”.

Implementation of Social Innovations in Subsistence Marketplaces: A Facilitated Institutional Change Process Model

Implementation of social innovations in subsistence marketplaces often fails as a result of not bringing about institutional change. In this article, we study the process through which social enterprises facilitate local communities in effecting the process of institutional change as they introduce social innovations. Analyzing rich ethnographic data from 19 social enterprises, we develop the process of “facilitated institutional work” for implementing social innovation. We present a process model for implementing social innovation with four distinct stages involving social enterprises—(1) legitimating themselves within local communities, (2) disrupting aspects of the local institutional environment, (3) helping re‐envision institutional norms or practices, and (4) resourcing the institutional change process. The four stages relate to important concerns that local communities have in working with social enterprises implementing social innovations. These community‐level concerns revolve around the following questions: (1) Why should we allow an external social enterprise to be involved in our affairs? (2) Why do we need to change? (3) What should we change and what should we sustain? and (4) What role should we play in implementing change (such as in mobilizing resources)? This article demonstrates that bringing about institutional change is often necessary for implementing social innovations in subsistence marketplaces. The findings depict a participatory approach in which social enterprises work with local communities to bring about the institutional conditions necessary for implementing social innovation.

Sustainability for ecotourism: work identity and role of community capacity building

ABSTRACTThis research sheds light on community organisations and how they can shape the landscape for ecotourism sustainability. It identifies work identity attributes that involve pro-environmental behaviours for achieving institutional challenges to meet sustainability for ecotourism goals. First, a framework on managing community organisations and its impact is proposed and empirically tested, which includes theoretical perspectives of work identity attributes like pro-environmental behaviours, community values and involvement for building community capacity. A conceptual model was developed to guide this study. A mixed-method study has been designed involving 28 interviews, followed by testing 266 responses, analysed through Structural Equation Modelling and Cluster Analysis. Through identifying clusters of individuals based on their demographics, behaviours and perceived individual effectiveness for supporting eco-tourism the research demonstrates that individuals with pro-environmental behaviour can act as agents of change for realising ecotourism and sustainable development goals. The research highlights that work identities require specific personal attributes to influence the change process through sustainability for ecotourism. By examining these attributes on community values and involvement, this study offers insights for institutional change processes that meet the central tenets of sustainability for ecotourism.

Coordenação de coalizões de defesa utilizando mapas cognitivos

Resumo Este artigo traz uma contribuição à análise de coalizões de defesa em processos de formulação ou mudança de políticas públicas, conjugando modelos de análise de políticas públicas e da pesquisa operacional (PO). Jenkins-Smith, Nohrstedt, Weible et al. (2014) observam, a partir dos resultados de algumas aplicações empíricas, que somente as crenças dos atores envolvidos não contam toda a história da mudança da política e ressaltam que o grau de conflito entre os atores ou as coalizões está relacionado às suas percepções quanto ao alcance das ameaças, dos objetivos ou das ações de outros atores, às suas crenças acerca de uma política. Diante do exposto, propõe-se uma abordagem para análise do grau de coordenação inter e intracoalizões políticas em processos de mudança institucional, a partir da identificação das crenças, dos objetivos declarados e das alternativas políticas dos atores, utilizando o pensamento focado no valor (value-focused thinking - VFT) associado aos mapas cognitivos causais. A partir da conjugação desses métodos, espera-se, por meio da comparação dos mapas cognitivos, identificar as coalizões políticas e caracterizar os ambientes colaborativos ou conflituosos, bem como identificar as agendas políticas com variados graus de cooperação ou conflito.

Legitimacy and the Cognitive Sources of International Institutional Change: The Case of Regional Parliamentarization

AbstractHow and under what conditions does legitimacy affect processes of international institutional change? This article specifies and evaluates three causal mechanisms by which variation in legitimacy induces institutional change in international organizations (IOs) and argues that an important, yet hitherto neglected, source of legitimacy-based change is cognitive in nature. Using survival analysis, we evaluate these mechanisms with a novel dataset on the establishment of parliamentary institutions in thirty-six regional organizations between 1950 and 2010. We find that the empowerment of supranational secretariats, engagement with the European Union, and parliamentarization in an organization's neighborhood increase the likelihood of regional parliamentarization. This suggests that legitimacy judgments that draw on cognitive referents provide an important source of international institutional change. We illustrate the underlying cognitive emulation mechanism with a case study of parliamentarization in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Smart specialization and institutional context: the role of institutional discovery, change and leapfrogging

ABSTRACTRecent years have witnessed much experimentation with smart specialization strategies (RIS3) and entrepreneurial discovery processes (EDPs) in European regions. The EDP can be seen as an opportunity to address institutional questions. Because institutional patterns can explain why some policies are eventually successful while others are not, looking at the institutional context of regional economies can increase the effectiveness of regional policy. This article argues that the EDP functions as a framework to discover institutional patterns specific to a regional economy, and to define policies either consistent with existing institutions or aiming at institutional change. The article proposes a conceptual framework to understand and analyze the two institution-related roles of the EDP, first as an institutional discovery process and second as an institutional change process. The article builds on empirical case studies in two regions (Lower Austria, Austria and South Tyrol, Italy) and two small countries (Slovenia and Croatia). The case studies focus on how these regions or countries organized the EDP that eventually led to the formulation of their RIS3, and on the institutional dynamics of the EDP in discovering and changing institutions. The article concludes with policy implications that contribute to the debate on post-2020 EU Cohesion Policy.

Monitoring effect of transparency: How does government environmental disclosure facilitate corporate environmentalism?

AbstractEnvironmental information transparency is a key policy instrument in environmental governance, which has been emphasized in most of the literature. Although a large body of research has focused on its role at the national or industrial level in the developed countries, few studies have extended it to emerging economies and tested its role in the subnational context. In this paper, we have empirically examined how government environmental disclosure shapes corporate environmentalism in the context of China. It is argued that the information transparency of government environmental disclosure can promote corporate environmentalism by providing supports for governments' decision‐making of environmental governance, the activeness of environmental nongovernment organizations, and the participation of general public in environmental issues. Especially, we have highlighted two kinds of influences on focal relationship: booster role of bureaucratic capability in the diffusion of environmental institutional pressure and receiver role of organization slack and industrial competition in the perception of environmental institutional pressure. Using a panel dataset of Chinese publicly listed firms from 2008 to 2015, a positive relationship between government's environmental information transparency and corporate environmentalism is found. In addition, our result has shown that this relationship will be stronger for regions where government bureaucracy capabilities are stronger. This study contributes to understanding of the process of firms' strategic choice facing environmental and institutional changes in emerging economies.

Collective institutional work: the case of Airbnb in Amsterdam, London and New York

ABSTRACT Given that online platforms disrupt established industries and challenge existing institutions, they can only be successful if their innovation becomes both legal and legitimate. This requires ‘institutional work’ that changes perceptions and regulations within society. Rather than only focussing on the online platform as the sole agent engaging in institutional work, our study analyses institutional work as a collective process. We investigate the case of home-sharing platform Airbnb and the process of institutional change its introduction prompted regarding short-term rental in Amsterdam, London and New York. We find, contrary to the popular view of online platforms as disruptive entrepreneurs, that the platform mainly focusses on creating new institutions rather than disrupting existing ones, and that users and non-users undertake most of the institutional work activities. We also show that different types of actors carry out different types of institutional work suggesting that the process of institutional work is highly distributed.

Políticas públicas e mobilização social no contexto do desastre no Rio Doce

Visa a analisar as mudanças na ação coletiva da sociedade civil e nos seus padrões de relação com o Estado, emergentes no contexto pós-desastre socioambiental no Rio Doce. Busca compreender as ações do Estado e a participação da sociedade civil neste contexto, considerando os instrumentos de políticas públicas e o surgimento de diversos formatos de mobilização. O objeto empírico é definido pelas decisões dos atores estatais em diferentes arenas e níveis federativos e pelos fóruns de mobilização social e audiências públicas nos municípios de Linhares, Colatina e Baixo Guandú, no Espírito Santo. Assume-se o pressuposto teórico de que as mudanças na sociedade civil, no Estado e nas políticas públicas se constituem reciprocamente e incidem nos padrões de ação coletiva e de interação com o Estado. Em termos metodológicos, a pesquisa combina métodos quantitativos e qualitativos e um conjunto de técnicas de pesquisa e instrumentos de processamento de dados. Os resultados permitem apreender os processos de inovação organizacional e de mudança institucional que não seriam possíveis em outros contextos, dada a excepcionalidade das conjunturas críticas para a produção de novas oportunidades políticas tanto para a sociedade civil quanto para o Estado.