Institutional Work
Actors and Agency in Institutional Studies of Organizations

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

Thomas B. Lawrence (Edited by), Roy Suddaby (Edited by), Bernard Leca (Edited by)

9780521518550, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 July 2009

336 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.67 kg

Review of the hardback: 'The concept of institutional work is one of the most exciting conceptual developments in institutional theory in the last decade. It provides an invaluable conceptual framework for understanding the institutional effects of purposeful action and has connected conversations about institutional maintenance and change in a powerful new way. In this volume, Lawrence, Suddaby, and Leca expand on their early work on the topic and bring together an impressive group of scholars to further develop the concept through inspired theorizing and direct empirical application. This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the future of institutional theory. I highly recommend you read it today!' Nelson Phillips, Imperial College Business School

The 'institutional' approach to organizational research has shown how enduring features of social life - such as marriage and bureaucracy - act as mechanisms of social control. Such approaches have traditionally focused attention on the relationships between organizations and the fields in which they operate, providing strong accounts of the processes through which institutions govern action. In contrast, the study of institutional work reorients these traditional concerns, shifting the focus to understanding how action affects institutions. This book sets a research agenda within the field of institutional work by analyzing the ways in which individuals, groups, and organizations work to create, maintain, and disrupt the institutions that structure their lives. Through a series of essays and case studies, it explores the conceptual core of institutional work, identifies institutional work strategies, provides exemplars for future empirical research, and embeds the concept within broader sociological debates and ideas.

List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
1. Introduction: theorizing and studying institutional work Thomas B. Lawrence, Roy Suddaby and Bernard Leca
Part I. Essays on Institutional Work: 2. Institutional work and the paradox of embedded agency Julie Battilana and Thomas D'Aunno
3. Leadership as institutional work: a bridge to the other side Matthew S. Kraatz
4. Bringing change into the lives of the poor: entrepreneurship outside traditional boundaries Ignasi Marti and Johanna Mair
5. Institutional work as the creative embrace of contradiction Timothy J. Hargrave and Andrew H. Van de Ven
Part II. Studies of Institutional Work: 6. Building the iron cage: institutional creation work in the context of competing proto-institutions Charlene Zietsma and Brent McKnight
7. Scandinavian institutionalism - a case of institutional work Eva Boxenbaum and Jesper Strandgaard Pedersen
8. Institutional maintenance as narrative acts Tammar B. Zilber
9. Maintaining an institution in a contested organizational field: the work of AACSB and its constituents Christine Quinn Trank and Marvin Washington
10. Institutional 'dirty' work: preserving institutions through strategic decoupling Paul M. Hirsch and Y. Sekou Bermiss
11. Doing which work? A practice approach to institutional pluralism Paula Jarzabkowski, Jane Matthiesen and Andrew H. Van de Ven
Index.

Subject Areas: Organizational theory & behaviour [KJU]