Institutional isomorphism and performance management: exploring the linkage and relationship in English social housing

Abstract

This paper investigates institutional isomorphism within English social housing through the theoretical lens of strategic performance management. By employing a multiple case study analysis, we uncover how external isomorphic pressures are sensed within the organization as a strategic dissonance through its strategic performance management system. Housing Associations (HAs) need to respond to these ‘sensed’ external changes by adapting their internal strategic performance management, which are then measured and reported in a rapidly changing external environment. We argue that by focusing on changes in managing performance, organizational performance can become a lens by which the internalization of isomorphic pressures in social housing can be studied. A conceptual framework for social housing has been developed to study how HAs manage their performance in a rapidly changing context.