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The authors discuss the microfoundations of institutional theory, specifically as microfoundations are manifested in this volume of Research in the Sociology of Organizations. The authors argue that the main interest seems to be in better understanding macrofoundations: top-down forces from institutions to actors. Furthermore, throughout the volume institutions themselves are definitionally layered – in problematic ways – with a large array of other macroconstructs, including fields, logics, practices, habitus, situations, routines, and so forth. The authors argue that there is an opportunity to more carefully delineate microfoundations for institutional theory, by focusing on lower-level heterogeneity, agency, as well as the aggregate and emergent social processes that animate microfoundational explanation.

This double volume presents the state of the art in research on the microfoundations of institutions. In this introductory chapter, we develop an overview of where the emerging microfoundational agenda in institutional theory stands and in which direction it is moving. We discuss the questions of what microfoundations of institutions are, what the “micro” in microfoundations represents, why we use the plural form (microfoundations vs microfoundation), why microfoundations of institutions are needed, and how microfoundations can be studied. Specifically, we highlight that there are several traditions of microfoundational research, and we outline a cognitive, a communicative and a behavioral perspective. In addition, we explain that scholars tend to think of microfoundations in terms of an agency, levels, or mechanisms argument. We delineate key challenges and opportunities for future research and explain why we believe that the debate on microfoundations will become a defining element in the further development of institutional theory.

The growing interest in the microfoundations of institutions is a significant, yet surprising development given that the theoretical tradition’s original insight was to account for macro, institutional influences on lower-level units. The call for microfoundations has gone on without really clarifying what institutionalists mean by microfoundations. Some reflections on the usefulness or purpose of establishing the microfoundations of institutional theory are in order. The authors advocate for treating the micro as part of pluralistic and multi-level accounts of institutional processes. Central is the conceptualization of actors as more or less institutionalized identities and roles.

Identities provide a human link between macro-level mechanisms and microfoundations of institutions. Yet, as the literature on identity within the microfoundations of institutions has developed, scholars have begun to shift their understanding of “who” populates the microfoundations of institutions. This chapter offers a historical review of this niche, but growing, area of research. More specifically, the author identifies and discusses three phases of research on identity within the microfoundations of institutions, their ontological and epistemological assumptions, and their implications for the area. To conclude, the author reflects on the possible theoretical avenues for future research on identities within the microfoundations of institutions.

Microfoundations have become an effective approach for capability scholars to explore the heterogeneity of organizational results. Since the early pioneering work of scholars such as Felin and Foss, the microfoundations of strategic organization had not been extensively studied until 2010. The theoretical and empirical literature associated with the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities has developed rapidly. However, the diversity and fragmentation of micro-elements lead to a lack of a relatively consistent understanding of microfoundations, the study purpose is to aggregate the associated scattered terminology into a cohesive discussion.

A systematic literature review was conducted on research papers published between 2000 and 2022 using a hybrid methodology that included bibliometric and content analysis.

The authors suggest that this line of research can be divided into three stages. The study further develop a framework delineating the main components and mechanism involved in the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities, which in turn help us distill research gaps and opportunities for future work.

The authors construct a framework that can serve as a coherent research platform for further knowledge development. In the framework, the authors highlight that the research of group constructs, culture and leadership, data-driven topics are valuable for our understanding of the microfoundations of dynamics capabilities.

The purpose of this study is to theorize and test the relationships among lean operations and lean supply chain practices, learning- and innovation-oriented lean cultures and dynamic capabilities (DCs) microfoundations. Further, this study aims to assess the association of DCs microfoundations with process innovation.

The researchers combine primary data collected from 153 manufacturing firms located in five continents using a survey designed for the purpose of this study with archival data downloaded from the Bureau Van Dijk Orbis database and test the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modelling.

Results support the contribution of lean operations and lean supply chain practices to the development of DCs microfoundations, which further lead to greater process innovation. Additionally, while a learning-oriented lean culture positively moderates the relationships between both lean operations and lean supply chain practices and DCs microfoundations, an innovation-oriented lean culture only moderates the relationship between lean operations practices and DCs microfoundations.

This study identifies DCs microfoundations as the key mechanisms for firms implementing lean practices to achieve greater levels of process innovation and the important role played by lean cultures. This study provides direction for managers to put in place DCs through lean implementations, enabling their firms to be ready to respond to challenges and opportunities generated by environmental changes.

While previous research has confirmed the positive effects of lean practices on efficiency, the role of lean practices and cultures in developing capabilities for reacting to environmental dynamism has received little attention. This study offers an empirically supported framework that highlights the potential of lean to adapt processes in response to environmental dynamics, thereby extending the lean paradigm beyond the traditional focus on operational efficiency.

Microfoundations have received increasing attention in several management disciplines. This study aims to outline the uniqueness of microfoundations research in innovation, look at where it comes from and where it is going and provide rich opportunities for future work.

To advance research in this area, this study conducted a systematic literature review combining mixed methods and creating a mapping framework to take stock of progress in the innovation microfoundations research field.

This study shows how distinct subfields have formed around key ideas expressed in subsets of seminal articles, shedding light on the relational nature of knowledge creation – uncovering these subfields’ characteristics, evolution and future trajectories.

This study develops a framework that reflects a critical analysis of the microfoundations of innovation within dos three research levels – individual, process and interaction and structure – and highlights the research gaps and potential research questions for future research that reflect the broad spectrum of approaches in the microfoundations of innovation literature.

The relationship between individuals and institutions is a core feature of the microfoundations of institutional theory. This chapter analyzes the role of conceptual metaphors, a standard ingredient of theory building, in shaping how we theorize this relationship. Using illustrations from the emergent literature on emotions in institutional theory, the author shows the significance of conceptual metaphors for theory building and argues for selecting conceptual metaphors that help craft a dynamic, recursive relationship between individuals and institutions, respecting core premises of institutional theory and offering new creative insights into this relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to show how entrepreneurial initiatives in organizations serve as a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities and, thus, foster change in organizations.

This paper revises and applies conceptual and empirical research on dynamic capabilities, their microfoundations and corporate entrepreneurship. In addition, it develops a model of how entrepreneurial initiatives, operative routines and capabilities interact.

The paper develops a model of how entrepreneurial initiatives in organizations represent a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities. First, the model shows that environmental dynamism reduces fit of operative routines and capabilities. Second, the model states that entrepreneurial initiatives are triggered by operative routines and capabilities with respect to environmental dynamism. Third, the model suggests that entrepreneurial initiatives disrupt operative routines and capabilities and, thus, restore their fit in dynamic environments. The paper contributes to current research on dynamic capabilities, their microfoundations and corporate entrepreneurship.

This paper addresses the tension between routinization and the entrepreneurial nature of dynamic capabilities. Considering entrepreneurial initiatives as a microfoundation shows that dynamic capabilities might be entrepreneurial, but still preserve their patterned nature enabling repeated execution. This approach provides a way to reconcile the two sub-streams in dynamic capability research and preserve their ontological assumptions. Moreover, this paper extends the literature on dynamic capabilities by ascertaining how individual and group level entrepreneurial initiatives operate within a broader context.

A paucity of studies has used a microfoundation lens to examine servitization processes in internationalized knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) companies. The research aims to bridge this gap by considering knowledge sharing as a form of both codified knowledge and informal feedback knowledge; it also assesses whether the adoption of knowledge transfer and translation practices in a servitization process positively moderates the effect of knowledge transformation on knowledge sharing for internationalized KIBS companies.

By adopting a microfoundation lens, the research offers an empirical analysis to identify the relations between codified and tacit knowledge in servitization processes within internationalized KIBS companies. The study is based on 326 respondents from 30 KIBS companies. A multiple regression analysis was used for hypotheses testing.

The authors found significant relations among the use of electronic documents in the servitization process (formal codified knowledge), personal advice in servitization (informal feedback knowledge) and knowledge sharing in internationalized KIBS companies. Findings also support the indirect effect assumed in the hypothesis between knowledge transformation and knowledge sharing in internationalized KIBS companies, which is positively moderated by the adoption of cross-cultural knowledge practices in the servitization process.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research provides the first conceptual model of the use of a microfoundation lens to examine knowledge sharing in internationalized KIBS companies. The micro level features individual knowledge sharing in the servitization process, while the meso level focuses on knowledge transformation in KIBS companies and the adoption of knowledge transfer and translation practices in the servitization process.