Creating a clear, analytical framework for readers, Institutions and Organizations: Ideas and Interests, Fourth Edition continues to reflect the richness and diversity of institutional thought, viewed both historically and as a contemporary, ongoing field of study. By presenting the differences as well as the underlying commonalities of institutional theories, this book presents a cohesive view of the many flavors and colors of institutionalism. It evaluates and clarifies developments in both theory and research while identifying future research directions.
Key Features:
- Elaborates on the three pillars of institutions as part of a larger framework and sheds light on the interplay between institutions and social systems
Includes a detailed discussion between three differing explanations and approaches of institutionalization-economic, sociological, and neo-institutional scholars in organizational studies
- Examines how symbols, relations, routines, artifacts, and other carriers transmit institutional arrangements across time and space
- Devotes a chapter to the theoretical and practical significance of organization fields
Emphasizes the best and most recent theoretical and empirical contributions in each chapter
Industry Reviews
"This book offers a comprehensive synthesis of previously divergent theoretical perspectives in the study of institutions and organizations. Concise, clear, and insightful, the book is the best short introduction to institutional theory in general and the contributions made particularly by sociologists. This book also contributes to the construction of general tools for studying institutions and organizations by providing comprehensive analytic concepts and frameworks. . . . It will be one essential tool for my research and also my coursework." -- Junmin Wang "Very well organized and logical flow of the chapters. . . . The author is very knowledgeable about the literature and does an effective job of integrating it into a framework for analysis. . . . I think it is one of the most comprehensive books on institutional theory." -- Colleen Casey "This text is an excellent example of how a theoretical framework can be used to bring order to a complex field of study. The framework is supported with theory and can be used by students and practitioners to better understand their organizations." -- Spencer S. Stober ". . . [I]t is the key overview text in the institutional field." -- David Chandler ". . . [G]ood literature on institutional theory. . . . Keep up with the good work." -- Ali Farazmand The book offers readers a thought-provoking discussion of the relationship between institutions and organizations and how this impacts studies of the emergence of agency-driven strategies based on creative ideas, changing interests and multilayered identities. Perhaps one of the greatest contributions of the book, however, is that it pays homage to a holistic approach in international business studies, thus identifying the way forward for the next generation of theoretical enquiries in this area. This reviewer can recommend this book in the strongest terms possible. It provides a highly rewarding and provocative journey into new roads within international business studies as well as within social science in general. -- Michael Jakobsen, Copenhagen Business School
