Revised submission to the Academy of Management Review special issue on Language and Organization. Discourse and Institutions In this paper, we argue that the processes underlying institutionalization have not been adequately investigated and that discourse analysis provides a coherent framework for such investigation. Accordingly, we develop a discursive model of institutionalization that highlights the relationship between texts, discourse, institutions and action. Our model begins with the relationship between action and discourse, and argues that action primarily affects discourse through the production of texts that are drawn on by other actors and subsequently become embedded in broader discourses. We go on to argue that discourse affects action through the production of institutions, which are associated with self-regulating mechanisms that constrain their meaning and enforce their usage. Based on this discursive model, we propose a set of conditions under which institutionalization processes are most likely to occur and conclude the paper with an exploration of the model's implications for other areas of research.

The question of how new organizational forms are created remains an unsolved problem in new institutional theory. We argue that one important way that new organizational forms emerge is through a process of bridging institutional entrepreneurship, which involves an institutional entrepreneur combining aspects of established institutional logics to create a new type of organization underpinned by a new, hybrid logic. Building on an in-depth case study of a social enterprise in the United Kingdom, we present a model of the institutional work required for this type of institutional entrepreneurship. The model highlights the multilevel nature of bridging institutional entrepreneurship, showing that it entails institutional work at the micro-, meso-, and macrolevels. The study contributes to the literature by examining an important way that institutional entrepreneurs create new organizational forms; shedding light on the relationship between individual, organizational, and societal level institutional processes; and exploring the relationship between entrepreneurship and institutional entrepreneurship.

In this paper, we explore how discourse can be used as a strategic resource. Using an illustrative example of Mère et Enfant, an international NGO operating in Palestine, we show how an individual brought about strategic change by engaging in discursive activity. We use this to outline a model of how discourse can be mobilized as a strategic resource. The model consists of three circuits. First, in circuits of activity individuals attempt to introduce symbols aimed at connecting objects to particular concepts. Second, for circuits of activity to be successful, they must intersect with circuits of performativity i.e. the concept is grounded in a period and context in which it has meaning; the subject position of the enunciator warrants voice; and the symbols used possess receptivity. Third, circuits of connectivity occur when the new discursive statements "take".

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 Inter-organizational collaboration has been linked to a range of important outcomes for collaborating organizations. The strategy literature emphasizes the way in which collaboration between organizations results in the sharing of critical resources and facilitates knowledge transfer. The learning literature argues that collaboration not only transfers existing knowledge among organizations, but also facilitates the creation of new knowledge and produce synergistic solutions. Finally, research on networks and interorganizational politics suggests that collaboration can help organizations achieve a more central and influential position in relation to other organizations. While these effects have been identified and discussed at some length, little attention has been paid to the relationship between them and the nature of the collaborations that produce them. In this paper, we present the results of a qualitative study that examines the relationship between the effects of interorganizational collaboration and the nature of the collaborations that produce them. Based on our study of the collaborative activities of a small, nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Palestine over a four-year period, we argue that two dimensions of collaboration -embeddedness and involvement -determine the potential of a collaboration to produce one or more of these effects.