Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 5
What is the main idea of the book Furusten (2013) - Institutional Theory and Organizational change |
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Definition
"We, as individuals and a collective, cannot isolate ourselves from what is going on around us" |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 5
What is the "institutional environment"? |
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Definition
1) "The surrounding environment that determines the conditions that org. and their managers must adapt to and manage in order to be regarded as legitimate actors in the type of business they conduct"
2) Legal, social and mental structures that ind. org. are embedded in |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 6
What is "institutionalization"? |
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Definition
| Where an activity has become so established that most of us take for granted that a certain understanding of what characterizes it; e.g. education, steel production, hospital care... |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 7
Why is it important for decision-makers to have a good understanding of the institutional environment |
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Definition
To improve their chances of making more carefully considered decisions |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 9
Give examples of indirect influence |
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Definition
- General rules for a particular industry
- Laws
- Discourses (ways of talking)
- Norms (ways of doing things) |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 13
Give ex. of "societal factors" |
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Definition
- Fashions
- Rules
- Ideas
- Knowledge
- Ideologies
- Norms
Minnesregel: FRIKIN ("Freekin'") |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 19
What is Furusten's view on 'economic man' and 'profit-maximization'? |
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Definition
| In practice, there is seldom an 'economic man'. It is rarely a matter of 'profit-maximization', but rather of security and social exchange and, consequently, of sufficient economic profit. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 21
Give example of legal strucures |
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Definition
- Swedish Companies Act:
- All companies must have: an auditor, a board, a managing director, certain amount of capital, etc.
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 25
In what sense are norms binding? |
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Definition
| Even though, from a formal standpoint, following norms is voluntary, they are still binding because it is extremely difficult to go against an established norm. At least if you want to be seen as a legitimate actor within your field. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 30
What are the key elements in the institutional environment? (Furusten's hill) |
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Definition
- The indirect environment:
- 5) Societal trends
- 4) Institutional movements
- The direct environment:
- 3) Institutional actors
- 2) Institutional products
- 1) Exchange
THE ORGANIZATION |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 29
Give example of "exchanges" in the institutional environment |
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Definition
- Business exchanges
- Financial or stakeholder exchanges, e.g.:
- customers want their goods
- suppliers want their money
- financiers want ROI
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 29
Give example of institutional products |
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Definition
- Fashions:
- management techniques
- organizational forms
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 29
Give examples of inst. actors |
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Definition
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 31
Give example of inst. movements |
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Definition
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 1, p. 31
Give example of societal trends |
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Definition
- Modernity - We strive for predicatbility, calculability, measurability, order, control and rationality (cause-effect relationships)
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 35
Fig 2.1 Institutional products |
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Definition
- Materialized
- Info: Ideas, knowledge, ideology
- Rules: Standards, codes, directives
- Social
- Services: Consultation, education
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 35
What is information? |
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Definition
| Task of informing; information produced with the aim of informing other org. and ind. about something specific. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 37
What is knowledge? |
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Definition
| The ideal form of information. Information is about something that is true. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 40
What is ideology? |
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Definition
| Specific sets of beliefs and ideas. Examples: 1) Neoliberalism (free trade, competitive markets) 2) Managerialism (certain forms of management and governance/control are seen as superior) |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 41
What is the concept "Ideas"? |
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Definition
| Information (but less complex than ideologies) with the aim to express views for others to take note of. Examples: TQM (Total Quality Management), BSC (Balanced ScoreCard), CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 43
Explain "Rules"? |
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Definition
| Rules exhort or urge. It is a matter of things that they must do. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 44
What is "directives"? |
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Definition
| A directive is formulated by a superior and is meant to apply to subordinates in the particular context. Example: 1) Management's decisions are expected to be followed be employees. 2) EU directives are expected to be followed by member states and organisations within the union. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 48
What is "Standards"? |
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Definition
| A standard is also an exhortation but following is voluntary. Example: ISO 9000 (international quality management), ISO 14000 (environmental management), ISO 26000 (Social responsibility) |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 49
What are "codes"? |
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Definition
| Codes are a special type of standard written down as requirements for membership of an association. Example: Ethical codes for lawyers, doctors and auditors. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 50
Why is Education an important component in the environment of organizations? |
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Definition
| Because in the context where education is produced and delivered, many impressions about organizing, management, etc., are transmitted. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 54
Explain "Investigation" |
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Definition
| A service to find out the current state of things; to generate facts and a basis for making decisions on various issues. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 2, p. 55-62
Give examples of two types of packaging of institutional products |
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Definition
1) Text: Packaging info in a report where a series of different actors and interests is involved in
2) Talk: Services that only exists where they are performed, i.e. they cannot be stored or textualized |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 3, p. 67
What are institutional actors? |
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Definition
| Actors who have opinions about what organizations whould do and how they should do it. Example: UN (including The World Bank, WTO, ILO), OECD, EU |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 3, p. 72-73
Give examples of rule producers |
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Definition
| Trade associations, Interest groups, EU, WTO, OECD, UN, Politicians, CEOs, Consultants |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 3, p. 73
Give examples of Information producers |
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Definition
| Trade associations, Interest groups, EU, WTO, OECD, UN, Politicians, Researchers, Consultants, CEOs |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 3, p. 73
Give examples of Service producers |
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Definition
| Teachers, Researhers, Consultants |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 4, p. 99-100
What is an "institutional movement"? |
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Definition
”A movement:
- when the same ideas are espoused by many actors at more or less the same time in many places around the world.
- Particular logics become significant for what is perceived to be relevant and reasonable in many organizations.
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 4, p. 85
Give examples of movements |
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Definition
1. Corporatization: a unit must generate profit, be productive and competitive. Ex: privatization and incorporation. Linked to inst. products such as BPR and TQM
2. Organization: in order to be a rational market actor, a unit must become a 'real' organization - i.e. have an identity, a hierarchy and a rationality, be controllable and manageable, etc.
3. Marketization: using market solutions to political contexts
4. Managementization: a demand that units have a hierarch and that certain people, i.e. managers, are given the responsibility of showing acceptable results for the process tey manage. Example: different expectations of the CEO of TeliaSonera vs. former director general of Televerket
5. Expertization: the use of experts, in our complex society, to manage different tasks and matters efficiently. Organizations are slimmed-down as much as possible and external experts must be available at times when internal capacity is not enough. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 5, p. 101
Define "societal trends"
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Definition
an indirect element that is long-lasting and deeply socialized meaning few things can be seen as true trends within the org. field. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 5, p. 102-121
Give an example of and explain a societal trend
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Definition
| Modernity (modern society, modernism): characterized by a strong belief in rationality, progress, growth and development, calculability, predictability and instrumentality. This way of thinking strongly characterizes the content of the institutional movements. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 6, p. 122
Why is decontextualization and recontextualization important?
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Definition
| Because elements in the institutional environment are not produced and spread on their own. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 6, p. 122-123
What is "decontextualization"?
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Definition
| The release of information, from its context by packaging it in a form (text or talk) that gives it the capacity to be mobile - i.e. able to be moved. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 6, p. 123
What is "recontextualization"? |
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Definition
| Introducing dextexualized information in a different context from where it was produced; diffusion of content to new situations. The information becomes local again. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 6, p. 141
What is needed for diffusion of ideas?
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Definition
| There must be actors who decontextualize and recontextualize the ideas through active actions. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 6, p. 143
How does recontextualization occur?
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Definition
- Copying: recreating something specific as exactly as possible
- Imitation: an attempt to be like something (but not copy)
1) Improvisation: a variant of imitation for forming a starting point for actions. The general ideas form the basis upon which actions then rest. Common element among professionals, e.g. doctors, lawyers, CEOs, consultants
2) Translation: attemps to imitate successful examples or generalized models through adaption to something that feels meaningful in a particular context.
3) Decoupling: separating actions from words - a fairly practical method for managing pressure from the surrounding environment. E.g. Making presentations and taking decisions of, but not implementing, a management concept such as 'lean'.
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 158
Why cannot organizations simply ignore what goes on around them / resist change or handle pressure from the institutional environment in other ways? |
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Definition
| The organization are not extended the legitimacy needed to run their activities if they violate the demande of the environment materialized by institutional actors and their products. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 160
What effect does the institutional environment have on individual organizations? |
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Definition
| The institutional environment limits individual organizations' room to act |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 162
What are the two contrasting explainations presented for why we are unable to resist certain ideas? |
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Definition
1) "Organized spirit of the time": an almost mystical force that inevitably draws us in. We simply follow the fashion; if we feel that we deviate too much from the 'ruling' fashion, a demand arises in us for a change. Not satisfactory as an explaination.
2) "Organizing in the institutional environment": It is clear that the ideas that attain wide diffusion share common denominators: first, they are firmly rooted in the societal trend of modernism; and second, they are in line with dominating institutional movements such as marketization, organization, managementization, corporatization, expertization |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 168
Explain the 'From discourse-to-standards' model |
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Definition
The model is comprised of: 1) Discourse 2) Fashion 3) Standards. A discourse is a general conversation about something. A fashion is a specification of certain expressions in the discourse, and a standard is a mobilization of forces around a fashion. The further into the model we get, the more tangible the pressure of the surrounding environment. Also, the organizing becomes more formally structured the further in we get. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 170
Give an example of we we can say that a discourse is global? |
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Definition
| A discourse i globale, for example, when we observe similarities in the books being read, how teaching is conducted, and how activities are organized in many places in the world. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 171
Name for context of particular importance where influential actors perform; i.e. context in which conversations about organization and leadership take place |
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Definition
1) Academic education
2) Seminars and courses
3) Literature
4) Consultancy/advisory services |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 172
Name three components that determine the character of discourses |
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Definition
1) WHO the actors are, and how credible what they say is
2) WHAT kind of data lies behind what they say
3) The rhetoric - i.e. HOW the arguments are constructed |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 173
How do fashions appear? |
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Definition
1) It has been argued that fashions are constructed as a result of particular activities being carried out - in interaction between academia, management consultants and the mass media, on the one hand, and those who demand the fashions, on the other.
2) However, this explaination does not paint the whole picture. Fashions are constructed from interaction between a number of actors. For an idea to become fashionable, it requires a more systematic interaction between different actors than in the case of discourses. It requires that many actors do about the same thing at about the same time. Even here, the element of spontaneity is tangible. Thus, for fashions to arise, no formal organizing - i.e. where particular organizations are assigned the responsibility of creating fashion - is required. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 185
What does the institutional environment do? |
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Definition
| It creates legal, mental and social structures that we must work within if we want to be accepted as serious, legitimate actors |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 185
What can we do if we don't like the legal, mental and social structures that we must work within if we want to be accepted as serious legitimate actors?
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Definition
1) We can acquiesce (ACCEPT something reluctently without protesting) and play the game according the rules anyway
2) We can be difficult and refuse (NOT ACCEPT) to play by the rules. The risk here being great that we will not be permitted to play, that we will be regarded as non-credible and untrustworthy, someone who cannot really be counted on
3) We can try to CHANGE the demands of the institutional environment. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 183
When something is institutionalized, it meant that... |
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Definition
| ...something whose existance we do not question has been established. An idea can lose popularity, but while we may stop talking about a certain model, its content may remain continue to be discussed under another name or occur as a taken-for-granted component in decisions and actions. It means that institutional demands having been established for what organizations should be, what they should do and how they should act - demands that org. are not free to choose to follow or not if the org. wants to be percieved as a legitimate player. |
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Term
Furusten (2013), Ch. 7, p. 186
To change the demands of the institutional environment, it is esseantial that... |
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Definition
...1) we have patience and work systematically.
2) We must operate in the circles where the demands are formulated, and acquire a position of legitimace that enables us to be regarded as credible and to make our voices heard.
3) We must mobilize others to join us, so that we are not trying to move mountains on our own |
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