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This paper presents a new mixed methods approach which allows researchers to scan industry sectors for institutional change periods and to locate periods of significant institutional change agency.

The approach is grounded on the institutional logics perspective and on institutional entrepreneurship theory and combines an automated quantitative content analysis with a cognitive mapping exercise.

The paper describes the development of this approach and its application to the urban water management sector of Australia. Three periods of significant institutional change agency are identified, described and discussed.

The paper puts forward a new methodological approach that enables a robust and objective identification of actor-driven institutional change periods which can be used as a precursor for more targeted qualitative inquiries into institutional change research.

This study investigates in depth how decision-making of different organisational members is shaped by various management control systems (MCSs) that reflect different institutional logics, how the entire organisation deals with the arising institutional complexity and which role different management controls as a system play in such situations.

A case study was conducted on a German Mittelstand firm whose MCSs were shaped by three different logics over time: a family logic, a stakeholder logic and a shareholder logic.

This paper shows how different actors of an organisation confronted with institutional complexity used selective coupling of different MCS components and compartmentalizing MCS components to deal with clashing institutional logics. Thereby, it was possible for the actors to balance different sub-communities within the firm that were shaped by conflicting but yet complementary logics that were required for organisational survival.

This study contributes to the understanding of how an MCS can be exploited for organisational structural responses to multiple logics. Due to this research design, the present study deals with challenges of ex post rationalization.

The results show options for organisational leaders to deal with different kind of worldviews (i.e. logics) that shape employees’ behaviour. Particularly, this paper explains how leaders can restructure their MCSs to influence human behaviour in times of radical change.

This paper contributes to the literature on MCSs by showing what role MCSs play in structural responses to institutional complexity.

A Swedish framework law has enabled integration between public agencies in vocational rehabilitation. With the support of this law, coordination associations can be formed to fund and organize joint activities. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how the law has been interpreted and translated into local coordination associations and how local institutional logics have developed to guide the organization of these associations.

Data was collected through observations of meetings within two coordination associations and supplemented with documents. The material was analyzed by compilation and examination of data from field notes, whereupon the most important aspects were crystallized and framed with institutional organization theory.

Two different translations of the law were seen in the associations studied: the association as an independent actor, and as an arena for its member organizations. Two subsequent institutional logics have developed, influencing decisions on autonomy, objectives and rationality for initiating and organizing in the two associations and their activities. The institutional logics are circular, further enhancing the different translations creating different forms of integration.

Both forms of integration are legitimate, but the different translations have created integration with different degrees of autonomy in relation to the member organizations. Only a long‐term analysis can show whether one form of integration is more functional than the other.

This article is based on an extensive material providing insights into a form of interorganizational integration which has been scarcely researched. The findings show how different translations can influence the integration of welfare services.

Drawing on institutional logics theory, this paper aims to examine the determinants of entrepreneurs’ planning behavior in the first years of 212 Spanish new firms. Additionally, this study identifies four different planning profiles: systematic planner, early planner, late planner and non-planner.

This study’s data structure is a (yearly) pooled cross-sectional time series. This paper investigates the determinants of planning behaviors among entrepreneurs, as well as the impact of that activity on new firm performance (i.e. employment growth).

The results confirm the relevance of institutional forces in explaining the involvement of founders of new firms upon planning activities. Institutional factors, in the form of public external support seem to explain early- and systematic-planner behavior while the influence of entrepreneurial family background does so with late-planner behavior.

The authors focus their attention on two key moments of a new venture’ life: the first year of operation and once the firm has overcome the four-year hurdle that is often used to distinguish new from established businesses. Four different patterns emerge: systematic planner (those who consistently plan over time), early planner (those who engage in planning activities in the early moments of the firm’s life but not later), late planner (those who do not plan at the beginning but end up conducting planning activities a few years later) and non-planner (those who never get involved in planning activities). This new division is an interesting additional feature of this study.

Utilizando la teoría de lógica institucional, el presente artículo analiza los factores determinantes del comportamiento planificador de los emprendedores durante los primeros años de operaciones, por lo que se refiere a sus negocios. A tal efecto, identificamos cuatro perfiles planificadores: sistemático, temprano, demorado y no-planificador.

A partir de una muestra de 201 emprendedores españoles se examinan los determinantes del comportamiento planificador y el efecto subsecuente en el desempeño de las empresas.

Los resultados de este artículo ponen de relieve la importancia de las fuerzas institucionales, a la hora de explicar la involucración de éstos en cuanto a la planificación de actividades se refiere. Por un lado, factores institucionales en forma de apoyo público, tienden a explicar el comportamiento del planificador temprano y sistemático, mientras que la influencia del contexto familiar definiría el modo de actuar del planificador-demorado. Asimismo, en este artículo se analiza el impacto de los diferentes perfiles planificadores en el desempeño del crecimiento de empleo de las empresas.

El presente artículo intenta examinar de manera inédita el comportamiento planificador de los emprendedores usando la teoría de lógica institucional. Además, los resultados sugieren que planificar aporta un efecto positivo en el desempeño de las iniciativas emprendedoras.

Tendo por base teórica as lógicas institucionais, este estudo analisa as estratégias de planeamento de empreendedores e seus determinantes nos primeiros anos de atividade. Adicionalmente, identificamos quatro perfis diferentes dependo do tipo de planeamento feito pelo empreendedor: planeador sistemático, planeador antecipado, planeador demorado, e não-planeador.

Com base numa amostra de 201 empreendedores Espanhóis, examinamos os determinantes de comportamentos de planeamento dos empreendedores e os seus impactos no desempenho das empresas.

Os resultados confirmam a relevância de forças institucionais na explicação do envolvimento de fundadores de novas empresas em atividades de planeamento. Fatores institucionais, sob a forma de apoio externo público, parecem explicar comportamentos de planeamento antecipado e sistemático, enquanto que a influência do contexto familiar do empreendedor tende a explicar planeamentos mais demorados. O estudo também analisa o impacto destes perfis de planeamento no desempenho das novas empresas (i.e., crescimento do emprego).

O presente artigo tenciona examinar de uma forma inédita o comportamento de planeamento dos empreendedores com base na teoria da lógica institucional. Adicionalmente, os resultados sugerem que planear tem um efeito positivo no desempenho das iniciativas empreendedoras.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of shared cognitive frames, in particular, that of institutional logics, on the deployment and use of performance measurement systems (PMSs) in the public sector.

Using novel priming techniques derived from behavioral and social psychology, three institutional logics – the public, market-managerial and professional logics – are differentially surfaced in three independent experimental groups. The influence of these primed institutional logics on performance measurement use preferences are then empirically assessed using appropriate analysis of variance techniques.

Contrary to theoretical predictions, the paper reveals logic congruence regarding some uses of PMSs in the public sector, and divergence regarding others. Individuals applying a public logic were more likely to propose performance measurement use for strategic planning or strategic alignment; while those applying a professional logic were more likely to propose performance measurement use for learning, compared to otherwise primed individuals.

Considering the sample size and the novelty of the priming tools, it is feasible that other potentially significant effects may have been missed.

The paper addresses a gap in literature regarding the influence of shared cognitive frames on performance measurement use in public sector organizations. The paper further presents priming techniques embedded within an experimental design as an appropriate method for the micro-level study of attitudes, preferences and judgments in the public sector.

This paper aims to analyse how processes of institutional change in environments of institutional 'voids' affect smallholder farmer market access in Zambia and Malawi, and explores the role of different dis/enabling institutional agents and logics. The authors examine this in the context of two divergent routes of institutional change – one externally imposed and the second driven from within the ecosystem itself. The authors consider how these different institutional processes impact upon smallholder farmers and how they are able to adapt to these changes.

A qualitative research approach is used which lends itself to an analysis of multiple institutional logics that is based upon the multiple positions of market actors. It uses a comparative case study design methodology focused on two broad cases of smallholder farmers in Zambia and Malawi.

The research demonstrates the tension that multiple institutional logics can create especially amongst those most vulnerable particularly where these are not embedded in local realities and mindful of social settings.

It contributes to the understanding of poverty alleviation in rural developing regions, on overcoming institutional voids, market inclusivity and the role of social entrepreneurs and intermediaries, and builds on the perspective of markets as social spaces for economic exchange.

This paper aims to contribute to our understanding of the impact of regulation on management control practices. It explores the processes by which the institutionalised properties of certain management controls are adapted to organisational contexts and underpin organisational routines. The authors are interested in the voluntary adoption of management controls with highly developed institutional logics, how organisations respond initially to the institutional logics of new management controls and by what means those logics become a workable basis for institutionalising controls in the organisation.

The paper explores some of the ways in which the institutional logics of management control come to have organisational effects, studying a seemingly simple organisational response to institutional processes: compliance. The argument is illustrated with examples from university accreditation as a management control institution that combines cultural and administrative controls. The paper is based on participant observation in three universities.

The authors find that compliance requires considerable organisational meaning-making and that organisational work of compliance separates into adaptation and execution. Moreover, the process of compliance produces distinctions between experts of the accreditation logic, users of the accreditation logic, agnostics and sceptics. Rather than passive acquiescence, compliance with regulated management control is a creative process of arranging and translating general prescriptions for use in a specific context.

This is the first study of university accreditation as a management control institution. It adds to a still emerging literature on the effects of institutional logics, and in particular regulatory logics, on organisational management control.

This paper explores how conflicting institutional logics shape the behaviors of macro- and micro-level actors in their use of a calculative practice. Thereby, this paper explains how quantification can undermine the intended purpose of a governance system based on a single number.

The study draws upon the literature on calculative practices and institutional logics to present the case of how a single number—specifically the conversion factor for Atlantic Cod, established by macro-level actors for the purposes of governance within the Norwegian fishing industry—is interpreted and used by micro-level actors in the industry. The study is based on documents, field observations and interviews with fishers, landing facilities, and control authorities.

The use of the conversion factor, while intended to protect fish stock and govern industry actions, does not always align with the institutional logics of micro-level actors. Especially during the winter season, these actors may seek to serve their interests, leading to potential system gaming. The reliance on a single number that overlooks seasonal nuances can motivate unintended behaviors, undermining the governance system’s intentions.

Integrating the literature on calculative practices with an institutional logics perspective, this study offers novel insights into the challenges of using quantification for the governance of complex industries. In particular, the paper reveals that when the logics of macro- and micro-level actors conflict in a single-number governance system, unintended outcomes arise due to a domination of the macro-level logics.

This paper contributes to the social pillar of sustainable supply chain management. It does so by investigating how women managers in the maritime sector handle work-family conflict, thereby acting as institutional entrepreneurs to create a work-family balance logic. The maritime sector is a male-dominated supply chain management environment, which suffers from a talent gap of a lack of women executives. One reason for this problem is work-family balance issues that deter women from staying in the workforce.

The authors interviewed 35 women working as port managers in different developing countries. The authors analyzed their strategies in coping with the conflict between family and work to create a work-family balance logic.

The authors found four different types of strategies to handle work-family conflicts. Responses showed that women executives in this sector can be institutional entrepreneurs. Based on the findings, the authors were able to confirm and contribute to the existing model proposed by Silva and Nunes (2021) on sustainable supply chain logic. The authors also provided recommendations for these women as institutional entrepreneurs and for policymakers to retain women talent in the supply chain management.

The research focuses on a specific supply chain management sector, which is the maritime sector. It also relies exclusively on interview data.

The authors propose recommendations to develop a work-family balance logic and retain talented women in the supply chain industry based on monitoring equality and supporting their need for a work-family balance, both in the short and long terms.

The authors interviewed women executives in one of the most male dominated sectors. The authors studied their ability to cope with work-family conflicts and identified four ways to create a work-family balance logic. These findings enabled us to show the contribution and limits of women executives as institutional entrepreneurs for work family balance logics in male dominated sectors.

The paper introduces a multi-level model to reduce prejudice through supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the institutional, organizational, and individual levels. The purpose of the model is to provide theoretically undergirded pathways to explain how societal events calling for systemic changes in DEI practices can engage and inculcate such systemic changes in organizations and institutions.

The model draws upon macro-level (i.e. institutional theory and institutional logics) theories from sociology and strategic management, meso-level theories from leadership and strategy, and micro-level organizational behavior and human resource management theories.

Resting on open systems theory (Katz and Kahn, 1966) as a backdrop, the authors address how institutional changes result in organizational level changes driving multi-level outcomes of increased DEI, reduced prejudice in work-related settings, and performance gains. The authors suggest the recursive nature of the model can trigger institutional level shifts in logics or result in isomorphic pressures that further change organizational fields and organizations.

The contribution rests in a multi-level examination to help understand how environmental pressures can motivate organizations to enact broader changes related to social justice, specifically increasing efforts in DEI inside the operational aspects of the organization. By enacting these changes, the authors suggest the resultant positive changes in organizations will enhance culture and performance, creating isomorphic pressure for industry wide changes that may begin to move the needle on addressing systemic problems that feed prejudicial behavior in the workplace.