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The purpose of this paper is to offer a new analysis and understanding of the notion of deinstitutionalization. Deinstitutionalization of taken-for-granted practices as a natural consequence of ever-increasing entropy seems to directly contradict the major institutional thesis, namely, that over time isomorphic forces increase and, as a result, possibilities for deinstitutionalization decrease culminating in the impossibility of abandoning in highly institutionalized fields.

This paper is conceptual in nature. Oliver’s 1992 paper on deinstitutionalization is taken as a key text on the subject and as a starting point for building an alternative theory of deinstitutionalization. More broadly, institutional theory and organizational literature on diffusion/adoption are reviewed and synthesized.

The authors argue that possibilities for deinstitutionalization have been overestimated in institutional literature and offer a revisited account of deinstitutionalization vs institutional isomorphism and institutionalized vs highly diffusing-but-not-institutionalized practices. A freedom for choice between alternative practices exists during the pre-institutional stage but not when the field is already institutionalized. In contrast, institutionalized, taken-for-granted practices are immutable to any sort of functional and political pressures and they use to persist even when no technical value remains, thus deinstitutionalization on the basis of a functional dissatisfaction seems to be a paradox.

By revisiting the nature and patterns of deinstitutionalization, the paper offers a better conceptual classification and understanding of how organizations adopt, maintain and abandon organizational ideas and practices. An important task of this paper is to reduce the scope of application of deinstitutionalization theory to make it more focused and self-consistent. There is, however, still not enough volume of studies on institutional factors of practices’ abandonment in institutional literature. The authors, therefore, acknowledge that more studies are needed to further improve both the former deinstitutionalization theory and the framework.

The authors offer a solution to this theoretical inconsistency by distinguishing between truly institutionalized practices and currently popular practices (highly diffused but non-institutionalized). It is only the latter that are subject to the norms of progress that allow abandoning and replacing existing organizational activities. Deinstitutionalization theory is, thus can be applied to popular practices that are subject to reevaluation, abandonment and replacement with new optimal practices while institutions are immutable to these norms of progress. Institutions are immutable to deinstitutionalization and the deinstitutionalization of optimal practices is subject to the logic of isomorphic convergence in organizational fields. Finally, the authors revisit a traditional two-stage institutional diffusion model to explain the possibility and likelihood of abandonment during different stages of institutionalization.

Institutional theory assumes practice adoption and subsequent decoupling. However, there is a range of alternative organizational theories that challenge this view and offer instead their reinterpretation, extension and modification of institutional predictions with regard to the adoption and possible range of various responses and processes that follow the decision to adopt. This paper aims to review this spectrum of theories and suggest how they clarify, supplement, correct, restrict and/or abandon some institutional explanations and predictions.

Extensions and alternatives to institutional theory are mainly motivated by the need to have a theory of practice adoption and variation, and a plethora of alternative practice adoption theories currently exists in the literature. The authors review these theories and compare them against institutional theory and against each other.

The analysis revealed shortcomings and advantages of alternative theories compared to institutional theory and against each other. It is suggested which theory is most useful in each domain of application. The authors review and compare institutional theory, Scandinavian institutionalism, management fashion theory, virus theory and institutional inertia theory and analyze how and whether they are able to reproduce the success of institutional theory and successfully address and resolve its shortcomings and gaps. The authors conclude by discussing whether regular emergences of new theories that account for the idea-handling stage of diffusion signals institutional theory’s limit of validity in this domain.

The problem of idea emergence/diffusion/disappearance and adoption/variation/use are fundamentally different, but both of them motivated researchers to go beyond institutional theory. Despite being the dominant theory of organizations internally consistent and explaining a wide range of empirical observations, it is evident that institutional theory is not a complete theory. This paper contributes to this problem by exploring and comparing existing candidates for practice variation theory.

The study aims to explore the digital fashion trend within the Metaverse, characterized by non-fungible tokens (NFTs), across Twitter networks. Integrating theories of diffusion of innovation, two-step flow of communication and self-efficacy, the authors aimed to uncover the diffusion structure and the influencer's social roles undertaken by social entities in fostering communication and collaboration for the advancement of Metaverse fashion.

Social network analysis examined the critical graph metrics to profile, visualize, and cluster the unstructured network data. The authors used the NodeXL program to analyze two hashtag keyword networks, “#metaverse fashion” and “#metawear,” using Twitter API data. Cluster, semantic, and time series analyses were performed to visualize the contents and contexts of communication and collaboration in the diffusion of Metaverse fashion.

The results unraveled the “broadcast network” structure and the influencers' social roles of opinion leaders and market mavens within Twitter's “#metaverse fashion” diffusion. The roles of innovators and early adopters among influencers were comparable in collaborating within the competition venues, promoting awareness and participation in digital fashion diffusion during specific “fad” periods, particularly when digital fashion NFTs and cryptocurrencies became intertwined with the competition in the Metaverse.

The study contributed to theory building by integrating three theories, emphasizing effective communication and collaboration among influencers, organizations, and competition venues in broadcasting digital fashion within shared networks. The validation of multi-faceted Social Network Analysis was crucial for timely insights, highlighting the critical digital fashion equity in capturing consumers' attention and driving engagement and ownership of Metaverse fashion.

The aim of this conceptual study is to analyze the effects of state-of-the-art research streams on supply chain risk management (SCRM) based on organizational theoretical background and direct future research toward the use of other related organizational theories. This paper seeks to provide a framework for understanding various organizational theories that can impact the understanding of SCRM.

A systematic literature review on articles published from 1998 to 2020 was conducted manually in the following databases: Emerald, Science Direct, Taylor & Francis Online, and Wiley online library. Among these articles, the paper by Smeltzer and Siferd (1998) is the first article published on the topic. Therefore, that serves as a starting point for the papers' analysis. A total of 109 articles have been selected and reviewed in detail.

The results of the study indicate that the articles which utilize theories in SCRM research have been mostly published in the last three years. The quantitative and case studies have been prevalently applied methods in the articles. In total, 34 theories are listed from the investigated articles. The four commonly studied theories among these are the information processing theory, transaction cost theory, contingency theory, and resource-based view.

This paper is the pioneer in the sense that the paper specifically and directly reviews the SCRM literature in terms of organizational theory usage. For future research, this study offers a diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory that explains the factors which can affect the adoption or diffusion of SCRM practices.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceived benefits of integrated reporting (IR) and factors influencing the motives that supervisory board members (SBMs) have for advocating a change towards IR implementation.

An exploratory survey study was conducted to investigate the influence of external market conditions, internal organizational conditions and observed benefits on the motivation to advocate IR adoption in companies that have not yet implemented IR. A unique set of survey data from 62 SBMs of Dutch companies was used for analysing the propositions derived from IR literature and based on institutional theory, legitimacy theory and diffusion of innovation theory.

The respondents indicated to be supportive of IR adoption. SBMs who had experienced the implementation of IR observed that IR offers benefits. Their motives for advocating a change towards IR in companies that had not implemented IR were influenced most by the observed benefits in IR companies. SBMs only involved in companies that had not adopted IR are motivated to support IR adoption to a similar extent. These findings suggest that directly observed benefits by SBMs need to exceed a considerable minimum level before these SBMs are more motived to advocate IR than their peers who have not witnessed the implementation of IR and that experiences are shared across companies. The motivation of both groups is influenced by external market conditions but not by internal organizational conditions.

The findings have implications for potential IR adopters and institutions promoting the further diffusion of IR as they emphasize the need for tangible benefits of IR and confirm that sharing good practices and benefits of IR can provide a catalyst for IR adoption. The findings contribute to the understanding of the motivation of SBMs as an important organizational condition for implementing IR as this study provides insights in the factors that drive this motivation of key actors influencing the decision to implement IR. Furthermore, the finding that these factors predominantly comprise tangible results and external market conditions is relevant from an organizational change perspective.

Understanding the mechanisms of IR-adoption decisions provides a relevant basis for deploying programmes promoting IR as a general reporting standard. This could provide society and a broad range of stakeholders with access to information incorporated in integrated reports. It could ultimately have a major impact on society by improving decision-making and increasing the long-term sustainability of organizations and their relations with stakeholders.

This study provides preliminary empirical evidence concerning the perspectives of SBMs on their motives for advocating IR, based on a unique sample from a country that has been involved with IR from its start.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the thermo-diffusion process in a semi-infinite nonlocal fiber-reinforced double porous thermoelastic diffusive material with voids (FRDPTDMWV) in light of the fractional-order Lord–Shulman thermo-elasto-diffusion (LSTED) model. By virtue of Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory, the governing equations for the considered material are developed. The free surface of the substrate is governed by the inclined mechanical load and thermal and chemical shocks.

With the aid of the normal mode technique, the solutions of the nondimensional coupled governing equations have been obtained.

The expressions of field variables are obtained analytically. By using MATHEMATICA software, various graphical implementations are presented to describe the impacts of angle of inclination, fractional-order and nonlocality parameters. The present model is also validated on the basis of some comparative studies with some preestablished cases.

As observed from the literature survey, many different studies have been carried out by taking into account the deformation analysis in nonlocal double porous thermoelastic material structures and thermo-mechanical interaction in fiber-reinforced medium under fractional-order thermoelasticity theories. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research emphasizing the thermo-elasto-diffusive interactions in a nonlocal FRDPTDMWV has been carried out. Moreover, the effect of fractional-order LSTED theory on fiber-reinforced thermoelastic diffusive half-space with double porosity has not been illuminated till now, which significantly defines the novelty of the conducted research.

The purpose of this paper is to show that research on policy diffusion mechanism of Government Procurement of Public Services (GPPS) is beneficial to improve the efficiency of policy formulation and implementation.

In view of the four dimensions which are internal demand, external pressure, policy innovation environment and service characteristic, a system of factors affecting policy diffusion is established. On this basis, a Multilayer Fuzzy Cognitive Map (MFCM) model for policy diffusion of GPPS is constructed. Nonlinear Hebbian Learning algorithm and genetic algorithm are applied to optimize the two components of the MFCM model, which are relationship between nodes at the same layer and influence weights between nodes at different layers, respectively. Taking Nanjing municipal government purchasing elderly-care services in China as the empirical object, simulation of policy diffusion based on the MFCM model is carried out, aiming to obtain the key factors influencing policy diffusion and the dynamic diffusion mechanism of GPPS policy.

Research results show that, compared with monolayer Fuzzy Cognitive Map, the MFCM model converges faster. In addition, simulation results of policy diffusion indicate that economic development level of jurisdiction, superior pressure, administrative level and operability of services are key influencing factors which are under four dimensions correspondingly. And the dynamic influencing mechanism of key factors has also been learned.

This paper constructs the MFCM model, which is a new approach based on several monolayer FCMs, to study the policy diffusion mechanism.

This systematic literature review aims to explore the adoption, global acceptance and implementation of human resources (HR) analytics (HRA) by reviewing literature on the subject. HRA adoption can assist HR professionals in managing complex procedures and making strategic human resource management (SHRM) decisions more effectively. The study also aims to identify the applications of analytics in various disciplines of management.

The review is conducted using a domain-based structured literature review (SLR), emphasizing the diffusion of innovative thinking and the adoption process of HRA among early adopters. The philosophical stances are analyzed with the combination of research onion model and PRISMA protocol. Secondary data are gathered from published journals, books, case studies, conference proceedings, web pages and media stories as the primary source of information.

The study finds that skilled professionals and management assistance can significantly impact adoption intentions, enabling professionals to deal with analytics. The examples and analytical models provided by early adopters allow managers to manage complex processes and make SHRM decisions.

The study suggests that the lack of use of quantitative techniques is a key limitation and should be considered in future studies. Despite the rise in the number of research papers on HRA, its application in the workplace remains limited.

This research can assist managers in implementing HRA and help resolve complex and inefficient processes, making SHRM decisions.

This study adds to the existing body of knowledge on how HRA can aid a company's efficacy and performance and can be considered one of the first to link adoption and HRA.

The aim of the study is to review the extant literature on International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) adoption in emerging economies (EEs) and low-income countries (LICs) (“what do we know?”), and to propose an agenda for future research (“what do we need to know?”).

An analytical framework that builds on diffusion theory is developed. The authors follow the “PRISMA Flow Diagram” to reduce a total of 427 articles from four databases to a final sample of 41 articles. These studies are examined, aided by the analytical framework.

The authors find that IPSASs are a relevant issue for EEs/LICs. Overall, existing research is often explorative. The authors discover that the majority of articles rely on secondary data collection. While two-thirds of the studies perform a content analysis of pre-existing material, about one-fifth of the articles each collect primary data through means of interviews and questionnaires. The findings offer a holistic understanding of where and at what stages IPSAS reforms stand in EEs/LICs, and what factors influence the progression of reforms to the next stage of diffusion.

The authors outline a number of avenues for further research after discussing the dominating trends and structuring the literature based on our analytical framework. These stem from looking at the blank spots and an identified need to contextualise IPSASs adoption in EEs/LICs.

Diffusion of innovations, defined as the adoption and implementation of new ideas, processes, products, or services in health care, is both particularly important and especially challenging. One known problem with adoption and implementation of new technologies is that, while organizations often make innovations immediately available, organizational actors are more wary about adopting new technologies because these may impact not only patients and practices but also reimbursement. As a result, innovations may remain underutilized, and organizations may miss opportunities to improve and advance. As innovation adoption is vital to achieving success and remaining competitive, it is important to measure and understand factors that impact innovation diffusion. Building on a survey of a national sample of 654 clinicians, our study measures the extent of diffusion of value-enhancing care delivery innovations (i.e., technologies that not only improve quality of care but has potential to reduce care cost by diminishing waste, Faems et al., 2010) for 13 clinical specialties and identifies healthcare-specific individual characteristics such as: professional purview, supervisory responsibility, financial incentive, and clinical tenure associated with innovation diffusion. We also examine the association of innovation diffusion with perceived value of one type of care delivery innovation – artificial intelligence (AI) – for assisting clinicians in their clinical work. Responses indicate that less than two-thirds of clinicians were knowledgeable about and aware of relevant value-enhancing care delivery innovations. Clinicians with broader professional purview, more supervisory responsibility, and stronger financial incentives had higher innovation diffusion scores, indicating greater knowledge and awareness of value-enhancing, care delivery innovations. Higher levels of knowledge of the innovations and awareness of their implementation were associated with higher perceptions of the value of AI-based technology. Our study contributes to our knowledge of diffusion of innovation in healthcare delivery and highlights potential mechanisms for speeding innovation diffusion.