Historical Institutionalism

Conceptualizing Historical Organization Studies

“…However, this does not mean that the potentialities of history in organization studies have gone unnoticed. Organizational theories implicated by history that exhibit historical awareness include path dependence (David, 1985;Arthur, 1989;Sydow, Schreyögg & Koch, 2009) and cognate theories such as imprinting (Stinchcombe, 1965;Johnson, 2007) and structural inertia (Hannan & Freeman, 1984); the resource based view of the firm (Wernerfelt, 1984) and dynamic capabilities (Teece, Pisano, & Shuen, 1997); organizational ecology (Hannan & Freeman, 1977;Nelson & Winter, 1982;Ruef, 2004;Ruef & Patterson, 2009); institutionalism (Leblebici et al, 1991;North, 1990;Rojas, 2010;Suddaby et al, 2014); postmodernist and Foucauldian perspectives on genealogy (Foucault, 1979;Newton, 2004); organizational memory (Rowlinson, Booth, Clark, Delahaye, & Procter, 2010); and strategy and strategic change (Raff, 2000). Several prominent theoretical strands within organization studies are informed by a historical dynamic, albeit often unstated.…”

Ambiguity in the Identity Transformation of Public Health Organizations

“…Understanding the historical context allowed situating the conversion process within a framework that includes the hospice's past, the changes experienced by the Chilean society and the political role of the state (Bucheli & Kim, 2014;Moulian, 1997;Salazar & Pinto, 1999;Suddaby et al, 2014). Throughout the dictatorship and during the democratic regime, the state's influence has strongly impacted the geriatric identity even though governmental support to this identity has been erratic, precarious and intermittent considering the scope of the project.…”

“…It also explores the organizational strategies that allow keeping a public health institution functioning under high levels of ambiguity. Historical institutionalism, constructivism, and hermeneutics are the main theoretical perspectives employed in this study (Alvesson, 2013;Alvesson et al, 2008;Boje, 2001;Dutton & Dukerich, 1991;Ravasi & Schultz, 2006;Suddaby, Foster, & Mills, 2014).…”

On the Spatiality of Institutions and Knowledge

“…There is a nascent line of research in neoinstitutional theory, which extends this line of reasoning to suggest that the axial division of institutional space not only impacts meaning but also alters the understanding of time and history (Suddaby, Foster, & Mills, 2013). There are two components to this emerging strand of neoinstitutionalism.…”