Entrepreneurs, Institutional Entrepreneurship and Institutional Change. Contextualizing the Changing Role of Actors in the Institutionalization of Temporary Work in the Netherlands from 1960 to 2008
Entrepreneurs, Institutional Entrepreneurship and Institutional Change. Contextualizing the Changing Role of Actors in the Institutionalization of Temporary Work in the Netherlands from 1960 to 2008

Author: Bas Koene

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The intersection of entrepreneurship research and institutional theory has begun to attract increasing scholarly attention. While much recent research has studied "institutional entrepreneurs" credited with creating new or transforming existing institutions to support their projects, less attention has been paid to the institutions that constitute the menus from which choices are made, and delineate resources for entrepreneurial or other agentic activities. While models of institutionalization frequently break down the process into different categorical stages, how an evolving context affords changing agentic latitude for actors merits more attention. We study the institutionalization of 'temporary work', a new employment practice led by temporary work organizations, a new organizational form in the Netherlands from the 1960s to 2008. Our account suggests an 'ecological' imagery of institutionalization; rather than entrepreneurs' with predetermined agendas shaping and reshaping institutions, we observed distributed institutional entrepreneurship - entrepreneurs seeking change in concert and in conflict with other interdependent actors simultaneously creating, disrupting and maintaining institutions. By examining how an evolving context influences the role of "actor configurations", whose actions, interactions and counteractions can collectively lead to change, but also unintended outcomes, we highlight the non-teleological nature of institutionalization. Finally, our findings suggest that while the legitimacy of a novel practice grows with increasing institutionalization, legitimacy contests may recur and that increasing institutionalization may provide the backdrop for novel practices to emerge.

Actions of Institutional Entrepreneurship in Managing the Underlying Processes in Diffusing New Interfirm Practices
Actions of Institutional Entrepreneurship in Managing the Underlying Processes in Diffusing New Interfirm Practices

Author: Raymond Lawrence Paquin

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Abstract: This dissertation studies the detailed actions of a key institutional entrepreneur--the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme, or NISP--in facilitating the emergence and early diffusion of a novel interfirm environmental practice in the UK. The practice, industrial symbiosis, is one where production waste from one firm is converted and used as production input for another--providing economic and environmental benefits to one or both firms. As the natural environment has gained prominence in recent years, firms have had to adapt their environmental practices for both for social legitimacy and economic competitiveness. Yet, while much is known about how and why institutions are created and change, and the role of institutional entrepreneurs in these changes; we know relatively little about how they manage and support the underling processes which propel institutional change forward. Using qualitative and longitudinal social network analyses, I found that NISP engaged in three sets of action--conversation, connection, and co-creation--which differentially impacted the path of diffusion of the new practice. From this, I developed a conceptual framework around the 'actions and impacts' influencing institutional change, which influence not only whether but how the emergence and diffusion of new practices occurs. This framework extends current views of institutional change and institutional entrepreneurship by exploring those underexplored processes and mechanisms which support the processes of change over time. It also contributes to related work in strategic brokerage by showing NISP's actions as a diverse set of brokerage activities with independent yet related outcomes. This dissertation also lays the groundwork for future work to continue developing more nuanced and robust perspectives of the roles and actions of institutional entrepreneurs as they engage in the managing the underlying processes supporting institutional change.

Institutional Reform and Diaspora Entrepreneurs
Institutional Reform and Diaspora Entrepreneurs

Author: Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0190278226

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Externally-promoted institutional reform, even when nominally accepted by developing country governments, often fails to deliver lasting change. Diasporans-immigrants who still feel a connection to their country of origin-may offer an In-Between Advantage for institutional reform, which links problem understanding with potential solutions, and encompasses vision, impact, operational, and psycho-social advantages. Individuals with entrepreneurial characteristics can catalyzing institutional reform. Diasporans may have particular advantages for entrepreneurship, as they live both psychologically and materially between the place of origin they left and the new destination they have embraced. Their entrepreneurial characteristics may be accidental, cultivated through the migration and diaspora experience, or innate to individuals' personalities. This book articulates the diaspora institutional entrepreneur In-Between Advantage, proposes a model for understanding the characteristics and motivational influences of entrepreneurs generally and how they apply to diaspora entrepreneurs in particular, and presents a staged model of institutional entrepreneur actions. I test these frameworks through case narratives of social institutional reform in Egypt, economic institutional reform in Ethiopia, and political institutional reform in Chad. In addition to identifying policy implications, this book makes important theoretical contributions in three areas. First, it builds on existing and emerging critiques of international development assistance that articulate prescriptions related to alternative theories of change. Second, it fills an important gap in the literature by focusing squarely on the role of agency in institutional reform processes while still accounting for organizational systems and socio-political contexts. In doing so, it integrates a more expansive view of entrepreneurism into extant understandings of institutional entrepreneurism, and it sheds light on what happens in the frequently-invoked black box of agency. Third, it demonstrates the fallacy of many theoretical frameworks that seek to order institutional change processes into neatly definable linear stages.

Institutional Entrepreneurs Between A Rock and A Hard Place
Institutional Entrepreneurs Between A Rock and A Hard Place

Author: Farah Kodeih

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 51

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The present study contributes to the literature on institutional entrepreneurship by exploring the phenomenon of failure - particularly, how it is construed as such and de-emphasized through face-saving efforts by institutional entrepreneurs. We draw on extant research on institutional entrepreneurship in established fields and insights from social movement literature and political theories of organizations to illustrate how a French business school tried and failed to promote a new MBA program format for students with no prior work experience. The longitudinal case study reveals several mechanisms which played a central role in increasing the project's ambiguity and ultimately forced a strategic reorientation: (1) the institutional entrepreneurs' inability to mobilize collectivities and persuade them of the credibility and appropriateness of the innovation, despite their central position in the French business education field; (2) the subsequent centralization of the audience's social structure and their counter-mobilization around an alternative institutional project; (3) the expansion of organizational membership bringing in new actors who challenged the institutional innovation thereby feeding political struggles inside the organization. We also elaborate on organizational recovery from failure by showing (1) how the conjunction of intra-organizational and field-level factors led the institutional entrepreneurs to construe their innovation as unsuccessful and compelled them to acknowledge failure; and (2) how they sought to minimize the damage of a strategic U-turn and save face in the eyes of key audiences.

The Academy of Management Annals
The Academy of Management Annals

Author: James P. Walsh

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 750

ISBN-13: 080586220X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Academy of Management is proud to announce the inaugural volume of The Academy of Management Annals. This exciting new series follows one guiding principle: The advancement of knowledge is possible only by conducting a thorough examination of what is known and unknown in a given field. Such assessments can be accomplished through comprehensive, critical reviews of the literature--crafted by informed scholars who determine when a line of inquiry has gone astray, and how to steer the research back onto the proper path. The Academy of Management Annals provide just such essential reviews. Written by leading management scholars, the reviews are invaluable for ensuring the timeliness of advanced courses, for designing new investigative approaches, and for identifying faulty methodological or conceptual assumptions. The Annals strive each year to synthesize a vast array of primary research, recognizing past principal contributions while illuminating potential future avenues of inquiry. Volume 1 of the Annals explores a wide spectrum of research: corporate control; nonstandard employment; critical management; physical work environments; public administration team learning; emotions in organizations; leadership and health care; creativity at work; business and the environment; and bias in performance appraisals. Ultimately, academic scholars in management and allied fields (e.g., sociology of organizations and organizational psychology) will see The Academy of Management Annals as a valuable resource to turn to for comprehensive, up-to-date information--published in a single volume every year by the preeminent association for management research.

Contextualizing Entrepreneurship Theory
Contextualizing Entrepreneurship Theory

Author: Ted Baker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-13

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1351110616

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As the breadth and empirical diversity of entrepreneurship research have increased rapidly during the last decade, the quest to find a "one-size-fits-all" general theory of entrepreneurship has given way to a growing appreciation for the importance of contexts. This promises to improve both the practical relevance and the theoretical rigor of research in this field. Entrepreneurship means different things to different people at different times and in different places and both its causes and its consequences likewise vary. For example, for some people entrepreneurship can be a glorious path to emancipation, while for others it can represent the yoke tethering them to the burdens of overwork and drudgery. For some communities it can drive renaissance and vibrancy while for others it allows only bare survival. In this book, we assess and attempt to push forward contemporary conceptualizations of contexts that matter for entrepreneurship, pointing in particular to opportunities generating new insights by attending to contexts in novel or underexplored ways. This book shows that the ongoing contextualization of entrepreneurship research should not simply generate a proliferation of unique theories – one for every context – but can instead result in better theory construction, testing and understanding of boundary conditions, thereby leading us to richer and more profound understanding of entrepreneurship across its many forms. Contextualizing Entrepreneurship Theory will critically review the current debate and existing literature on contexts and entrepreneurship and use this to synthesize new theoretical and methodological frameworks that point to important directions for future research.

Entrepreneurship as Institutional Change
Entrepreneurship as Institutional Change

Author: Toke Bjerregaard

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This paper responds to calls to make more explicit linkages between institutional theory and entrepreneurship research through studies on how entrepreneurs navigate and work with institutions. The research examines the micro-strategies and activities through which small-scale entrepreneurs maneuver between and exploit the multiple, potentially contradictory institutional logics of the different spheres in which they operate. While much research has elucidated how institutional entrepreneurs effect change, this study illustrates how effective entrepreneurs managing and exploiting institutional contradictions engage simultaneously in practices of maintaining and changing institutions to establish a balance between the poles on which their ventures depend. We illustrate this by two cases of small-scale entrepreneurship bridging institutional contradictions from an ethnographic study conducted under the ongoing efforts to implement liberal democracy in Malawi. This transition comprises attempts to build stronger pillars for democratic governance such as the development of a market economy.

Institutional Change in Japan
Institutional Change in Japan

Author: Magnus Blomström

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-08-21

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 113418056X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This is a new analysis of recent changes in important Japanese institutions. It addresses the origin, development, and recent adaptation of core institutions, including financial institutions, corporate governance, lifetime employment, and the amakudari system. After four decades of rapid economic growth in Japan, the 1990s saw the country enter a prolonged period of economic stagnation. Policy reforms were initially half-hearted, and businesses were slow to restructure as the global economy changed. The lagging economy has been impervious to aggressive fiscal stimulus measures and has been plagued by ongoing price deflation for years. Japan’s struggle has called into question the ability of the country’s economic institutions, originally designed to support factor accumulation and rapid development, to adapt to the new economic environment of the twenty-first century. This book discusses both historical and international comparisons including Meiji Japan, and recent economic and financial reforms in Korea, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and New Zealand, placing the current institutional changes in perspective. The contributors argue that, contrary to conventional wisdom that Japanese institutions have remained relatively rigid, there has been significant institutional change over the last decade.

Institutional Work
Institutional Work

Author: Thomas B. Lawrence

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-07-16

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0521518555

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book contains a series of essays and empirical case studies exploring the nature of institutional work.

Universities and Regional Engagement
Universities and Regional Engagement

Author: Tatiana Iakovleva

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-02-28

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1000573044

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The study of universities’ role in regional engagement has traditionally been focusing on exceptional cases. This book presents a reconceptualization which embraces its underlying complexity and proposes a roadmap for a renewed research agenda. Starting from the grassroots level of universities’ everyday engagements, the book delves into the manifold ways in which university knowledge agents build connections with regional partners. Through 11 empirical chapters, the authors not only chart the diversity among case institutions, engagement mechanisms, and regional contexts but also use that diversity to advance a novel conceptual framework, centered on the process of mundaneness, for unpacking university-regions’ everyday activities, taking into account the dynamic, complex, and co-evolving interplay between (a) key social agents and institutions, (b) the contexts in which they are embedded, as well as (c) the historical trajectories and strategic ambitions underpinning context-specific social arrangements and interactions that are mediated by temporal and spatial dimensions. Drawing on evolutionary economic geography, innovation studies, management and organization studies, and historical perspectives, the volume advances a new mode of understanding university-regional engagement as a form of extendable temporary coupling, which also helps to address perennial policy and managerial questions alike of what to do with universities that do not serve local labour market needs and/or are located in regions suffering from brain drain. The book illustrates such dynamics from diverse national contexts and three continents: Brazil, Caribbean, China, Italy, Norway, and Poland. This book will be valuable reading for advanced students, researchers, and policymakers working in economic geography, regional development, innovation, and higher education management. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.