Workshop/Conference on The Present and Future Status of Institutional
Theory, June 2nd and 3rd, 2006.
The Department of Strategic Management and Organization, School of Business,
University of Alberta is hosting a 2 day meeting on whether institutional
theory is likely to continue serving as a useful way of understanding future
circumstances. Or, is it past it's 'sell by' date? There is no doubt that
institutional theory is one of the most widely used theoretical perspectives
since it was developed in the late 70s and early 80s.
It is approaching two decades since Scott (1987) reported 'considerable
variation in the types of concepts and arguments employed' within
institutional accounts of organizations and declared the theory as in its
'adolescence'. Papers are invited that deal with any aspect of two
fundamental questions: (a) to what extent has institutional theory matured
into a coherent body of scholarship? And (b) what is its likely future
relevance? The first question will take stock of institutional theory
dealing with its development in the past several decades and assessing its
current coherence. Does what we have produced add up to a coherent and
informative interpretation of organizational behaviour? What insights has it
provided? What questions does it address well? Which questions are ignored
or poorly addressed? Taking stock, however, is more than retrospection. We
need to consider future relevance. How far will institutional theory and/or
the institutionalist perspective continue to provide important means of
making sense of events in future decades?
These questions are dealt with in two different ways. The first way is
through the involvement in the workshop of invited participants, namely,
Renate Meyer, Christine Oliver, Woody Powell, Huggy Rao, Dick Scott, and
Lynn Zucker.
The second way is through the various papers that will be presented. This
call emphasizes the need for debate, especially between the 'optimists' and
'pessimists' of institutional theory. For some, the idea that institutional
theory might have reached its 'expiration date' is premature. The theory is
seen as robust, with an array of issues and problems around levels of
analysis (social systems, organizational fields, organizations and
intra-organizational units), change and innovation (institutional
entrepreneurs) and the role of actors, all of which are central to our
understanding of organizations, and, for all of which, institutional theory
has concepts and theories to develop them further.
For others there may be a more cautious view. They will argue that
institutional theory has become too broad and has lost its distinctive
focus. It has also tended to become somewhat insular and thus 'impoverished'.
The argument is that institutional theory should not incorporate new issues,
such as social movement theory, power, and contingent rationality, but
restrict itself to its original and seminal focus. Institutional theory has
become so broad and encompassing that it risks the danger of losing sight of
its core contributions. Thus, the future of the theory is in disappearing
as it become indistinguishable from the generality of approaches to
understanding organizations in the 21st century.
We aim to have approximately 40 participants. Local costs for accommodation
and subsistence will be covered by the School of Business for the up to 3
nights/days. If you are interested in participating please send an abstract
of your potential paper/presentation of no more than 500 words by January
31st to Michelle Mclean at
mdm1@ualberta.ca
Royston Greenwood and Bob Hinings