The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis

Abstract

Nearly three decades ago, the first neo-institutional arguments were formulated by John Meyer and colleagues such as Brian Rowan in 1977 and Richard Scott in 1983, and by Lynne Zucker in 1977. This new orientation proposed that formal organizational structure reflected not only technical demands and resource dependencies, but was also shaped by institutional forces, including rational myths, knowledge legitimated through the educational system and by the professions, public opinion, and the law. The core idea that organizations are deeply embedded in social and political environments suggested that organizational practices and structures are often either reflections of or responses to rules, beliefs, and conventions built into the wider environment.