From Press to E-Media? The Transformation of an Organizational Field

The dynamics of field transformation is an under-investigated topic within organization theory. Drawing on the new institutional theory of organization, field transformation dynamics is examined, focusing on four change factors—external shocks, changes at the field periphery, ineffective isomorphic pressures and rearrangement of field boundaries. The impact of and interplay between these change factors is investigated within the business press field in Denmark and Italy over the last four decades. Four propositions are suggested and explored to analyse the relevance of change factors in the transformation of the business press field. The evidence from the Danish and Italian cases reveals how changes from the field periphery have minor impact on the field transformation, whereas external shocks, ineffective isomorphic pressures and boundary rearrangements play a major role. Based on these findings, a research agenda is suggested encompassing theory-driven attempts to define change factors and identify patterns of field change in cross-country comparisons in the same field.

[1]  D. Light.  Institutional change and healthcare organizations: from professional dominance to managed care , 2002, International Journal of Integrated Care.

[2]  W. Scott,et al.  INSTITUTIONAL THEORY AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE: INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL RESEARCH FORUM , 2002 .

[3]  Carmelo Mazza,et al.  Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter: The Popular Press and the Diffusion of Management Practices , 2000 .

[4]  R. Langer,et al.  Business news as an institution: an historical analysis of the Danish business press , 2000 .

[5]  J. Alvarez,et al.  THE MANAGEMENT PUBLISHING INDUSTRY IN EUROPE , 1999 .

[6]  James D. Westphal,et al.  Customization or Conformity? An Institutional and Network Perspective on the Content and Consequences of TQM Adoption , 1997 .

[7]  Sten Jönsson.  Institutions and Organizations , 1997 .

[8]  F. Dobbin,et al.  The Social Invention of Collective Actors , 1997 .

[9]  Paolo Murialdi.  La stampa italiana dalla liberazione alla crisi di fine secolo , 1995 .

[10]  Gerald F. Davis,et al.  The Decline and Fall of the Conglomerate Firm in the 1980s: The Deinstitutionalization of an Organizational Form , 1994 .

[11]  J. Goodstein.  Institutional Pressures and Strategic Responsiveness: Employer Involvement in Work-Family Issues , 1994 .

[12]  F. Weil,et al.  In an Age of Experts: The Changing Role of Professionals in Politics and Public Life. , 1997 .

[13]  Frank Dobbin,et al.  Forging Industrial Policy: The United States, Britain, and France in the Railway Age , 1994 .

[14]  Howard E. Aldrich,et al.  Fools Rush in? The Institutional Context of Industry Creation , 1994 .

[15]  Rosabeth Moss Kanter,et al.  The Challenge of Organizational Change , 1992 .

[16]  E. Romanelli,et al.  The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis , 1992 .

[17]  W. Powell.  Expanding the Scope of Institutional Analysis , 1991 .

[18]  C. Oliver.  STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO INSTITUTIONAL PROCESSES , 1991 .

[19]  Neil Fligstein,et al.  FROM THE TRANSFORMATION OF CORPORATE CONTROL , 2021, The New Economic Sociology.

[20]  Pamela S. Tolbert,et al.  Institutional Sources of Change in the Formal Structure of Organizations: The Diffusion of Civil Service Reform, 1880-1935 , 1983 .

[21]  Robert N. Stern,et al.  The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. , 1979 .

[22]  John W. Meyer,et al.  Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony , 1977, American Journal of Sociology.

[23]  Mark S. Granovetter.  The Strength of Weak Ties , 1973, American Journal of Sociology.

[24]  P. Hirsch.  Processing Fads and Fashions: An Organization-Set Analysis of Cultural Industry Systems , 1972, American Journal of Sociology.

[25]  W. Powell,et al.  The iron cage revisited institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields , 1983 .