Organizational Imitation in Identity Transformation

Sevón, Guje; Czarniawska, Barbara

doi:10.1515/9783110879735.49

Cited by 167 publications

(95 citation statements)

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“…Latour uses these terms in describing power, but the concepts apply as well to routines. An ostensive definition of a concept is one that exists in principle (Sevon 1996). It is created through the process of objectification as it is studied.…”

Section: Performative Routinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change

Feldman

2000

Organization Science

1,455

1,333

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In this paper I claim that organizational routines have a great potential for change even though they are often perceived, even defined, as unchanging. I present descriptions of routines that change as participants respond to outcomes of previous iterations of a routine. Based on the changes in these routines I propose a performative model of organizational routines. This model suggests that there is an internal dynamic to routines that can promote continuous change. The internal dynamic is based on the inclusion of routine participants as agents. When we do not separate the people who are doing the routines from the routine, we can see routines as a richer phenomenon. Change occurs as a result of participants' reflections on and reactions to various outcomes of previous iterations of the routine. This perspective introduces agency into the notion of routine. Agency is important for understanding the role of organizational routines in learning and in processes of institutionalization.

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Section: Performative Routinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change

Feldman

2000

Organization Science

1,455

1,333

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“…The ostensive aspects of routines are abstract patterns created through these performances. The concept of the ostensive is drawn from work by Wittgenstein (2001) and Latour (Latour 1986, Sevón 1996, who discuss the ostensive definition as constituted of "things" to which we can refer (Wittgenstein 2001, pp. 30-31) and which can come to have a conceptual existence of their own (Latour 1986).…”

Section: Dynamic Nature Of Coordinating Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a Theory of Coordinating: Creating Coordinating Mechanisms in Practice

Jarzabkowski

Lê

Feldman

2012

Organization Science

250

217

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T his paper uses a practice perspective to study coordinating as dynamic activities that are continuously created and modified in order to enact organizational relationships and activities. It is based on the case of Servico, an organization undergoing a major restructuring of its value chain in response to a change in government regulation. In our case, the actors iterate between the abstract concept of a coordinating mechanism referred to as end-to-end management and its performance in practice. They do this via five performative-ostensive cycles: (1) enacting disruption, (2) orienting to absence, (3) creating elements, (4) forming new patterns, and (5) stabilizing new patterns. These cycles and the relationships between them constitute a process model of coordinating. This model highlights the importance of absence in the coordinating process and demonstrates how experiencing absence shapes subsequent coordinating activity. IntroductionThis paper is about the process of coordinating. We show that coordinating mechanisms are dynamic social practices that are under continuous construction. Despite some preoccupation in the literature with specifying the standards, rules, and schedules that comprise coordinating mechanisms, organization theorists have long noted that these mechanisms are not stable entities (e.g., Galbraith 1977, Lawrence and Lorsch 1967, March and Simon 1958, Thompson 1967. Indeed, scholars have shown that mechanisms fluctuate to adapt to conditions of uncertainty, novelty, and change when existing ways of organizing activities are disrupted and must be accomplished in new ways (Adler 1995;Argote 1982;Crowston 1997;Feldman 2000Feldman , 2003Pentland 1992). There are thus increasing calls for research to examine the dynamic nature of coordinating mechanisms as they are constructed within the activities of interdependent actors as they perform organizational tasks over time (Adler 1995, Ching et al. 1992, Jarzabkowski 2004, Malone and Crowston 1994, Okhuysen and Bechky 2009. By shifting the analytic focus from coordinating mechanisms as reified standards, rules, and procedures to coordinating as a dynamic social practice, our research provides insight into the microprocesses involved in coordinating.We study the coordinating of a major structural change at Servico, a Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 company, through the performance of a specific coordinating mechanism, end-to-end management (E2E). Drawing on performative and ostensive concepts as developed in the literature on organizational routines (e.g., Feldman 2000, Feldman and Pentland 2003, Pentland and Feldman 2005, Howard-Grenville 2005, Levinthal and Rerup 2006, Rerup and Feldman 2011, Zbaracki and Bergen 2010, we examine how actors iterate between the abstract concept of end-to-end management and their performance of it in practice. We explain how these performances enact what the actors come to identify as end-to-end management and how they use it as part of accomplishing a major coordinating task: restructuring the core who...

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“…In the diffusion of ideas by imitation between organizations, there is a tendency of organizations to implement the latest ideas (Sahlin-Andersson, 1996;Sevón, 1996). Ideas like those of Fair Trade travel with actors such as standardization organizations, consultants, media, and academics and are translated into organizations by a transformation of the original idea (Sevón, 1996;Czarniawska and Joerges, 1996).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ideas like those of Fair Trade travel with actors such as standardization organizations, consultants, media, and academics and are translated into organizations by a transformation of the original idea (Sevón, 1996;Czarniawska and Joerges, 1996). In the study the Fair Trade idea is one expression of Sustainable Development or CSR, which could be seen as a master idea translated into a Fair Trade label and standard.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Societal entrepreneurship contextualized: the dark and bright sides of Fair Trade

Schwartz¹

2012

Societal Entrepreneurship

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The paper is based on a study of how the Swedish Fair Trade textile company Oria interplays with other organizations such as business customers, Fair Trade suppliers in India, and NGOs, and how they act as societal entrepreneurs to change the situation in India as regards social and environmental issues. The aim is to understand how different organizations and companies acting in different contexts like Sweden and India work to change the business society according to the idea of Fair Trade. Both dark and bright sides emerge from the results of the actors" behaviour. The study shows that the societal entrepreneurship processes of Fair Trade in Sweden and India are dependent on actions driven by the actors" contextualized values and norms. The Swedish actors focus on Western management models such as standards and certifications, since they regard control and legitimacy as important. The Indian Fair Trade supplier adapts to the standards and certifications, but the dark side of his adaption could be explained as postcolonial coercive forces. A brighter side is the supplier"s ability to understand and combine the possibilities in both the European and Indian contexts. A challenging perspective on societal entrepreneurship is expressed in the Fair Trade paradox and is shown by the identity dilemmas the CEO of the Fair Trade company Oria struggles with in her daily practice of entrepreneurship.

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Organizational Imitation in Identity Transformation

Cited by 167 publications

References 0 publications

Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change

Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change

Toward a Theory of Coordinating: Creating Coordinating Mechanisms in Practice

Societal entrepreneurship contextualized: the dark and bright sides of Fair Trade

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