Management_Fashions_Institutional_Work.pdf (192.69 kB)
How are management fashions institutionalized? The role of institutional work.
journal contribution
posted on 2008-05-19, 12:00 authored by Markus Perkmann, Andre SpicerWe explore how transitory management fashions become institutionalized. Based on the
concepts of institutional entrepreneurship and institutional work, we postulate that fashionable
management practices acquire permanence when they are anchored within field-wide
institutions. The building of such institutions requires various types of institutional work,
including political work, technical work and cultural work. Based on a review of the empirical
literature on various management fashions, we identify the actors engaging in these different
types of works, and their skills. Our results suggest that the institutionalization effect is
stronger if more types of institutional work are deployed and if the skill sets of the involved
actors vary. We also argue that institutional construction in the case of management fashions
is likely to take the form of decentralized ‘partaking’ rather than being led by a single
dominant institutional entrepreneur. We conclude with implications for the study of
management fashions and the role of agency in institutionalization.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Citation
PERKMANN, M. and SPICER, A., 2008. How are management fashions institutionalized? The role of institutional work. Human Relations, 61 (6), pp. 811-844.Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2008Notes
This journal article was published in the journal, Human Relations (© Sage Publications) and the definitive version is available at: http://hum.sagepub.com/ISSN
0018-7267Language
- en