David Wicks

Institutionalized Mindsets of Invulnerability: Differentiated Institutional Fields and the Antecedents of Organizational Crisis

Building on Scotts (1995) institutional theory framework, this article uses a micro institutional approach to develop a model of the institutionalization of mind-sets in a differentiated institutional field. This model is grounded in textual data involving the 1992 explosion at Westray Mines, illustrating how regulative, normative and cognitive elements contributed to the institutionalization of a harmful mindset of invulnerability that clouded individual perceptions of the inherent risks in daily work practices. This process culminates in organizational crisis.

Institutional Bases of Identity Construction and Reproduction: The Case of Underground Coal Mining

In this article I use institutional theory to illustrate the process of identity formation and reproduction in the context of a male-dominated work environment. Based on a case study of an underground colliery in Nova Scotia, Canada, I will illustrate the functioning of powerful institutions in two distinct senses. First, social obligations rooted in a ‘logic of appropriateness’ (March and Olsen, 1989) dictated appropriate behaviours for miners in their roles as underground miners and patriarchs. Second, internalized understandings of reality rooted in a ‘logic of orthodoxy’ (Scott, 1995) formed a set of constitutive rules to which miners adhered because it was inconceivable to do otherwise. I use a microinstitutional perspective (Zucker, 1991) that highlights the constraints embedded in many work contexts that serve to tacitly yet powerfully regularize behaviours in problematic ways. Social and historical conditions are therefore incorporated into this analysis as constitutive forces that are a product of human action. This manner of theorizing gender is consistent with Connell’s (1987) ‘theory of practice’ that seeks to understand social structure by focusing on what people actually do, the way human agency shapes history, and how practice itself is necessary for institutions to maintain their hegemony and resist change.

Successfully increasing technological control through minimizing workplace resistance: understanding the willingness to telework

Technological change has permitted organizations to design jobs in different ways and control work performed in remote locations. This article examines how telework can be used to provide benefits to organizations and their members. In it I present the findings of a study of a large Canadian financial services organization preparing to introduce telework into its sales and customer service operations. These findings highlight the role of expectancy in forming attitudes toward telework, most importantly: the extent to which face‐to‐face communication prevents important social needs from being satisfied and prevents workers from developing a sense of belonging and commitment to the organization; and the belief that telework will bring improved performance results by creating a work environment with fewer distractions and new, more objective performance measures based on output. This exploration of individuals’ willingness to telework is apt because it points to potential sources of resistance to the implementation of new technologies of production and control in the workplace.

What Cultures Exist in the Tattooing Collectivity? Ambiguity, Membership and Participation 1

This study explores the presence of cultures in the apprenticed and self‐taught collectivities of tattooists. Adopting a fragmentationist perspective of culture we accept and explore ambiguities within and across these collectivities. Distinguishing between membership and participation enhances our understanding of culture in at least three ways. Firstly, individual tattooists can be members of single (for example, self‐taught or apprenticed) or multiple (for example, self‐taught and apprenticed), overlapping collectivities. Secondly, individuals can be members of a collectivity, but not participants in the cultures. For example, not all individuals in the apprenticed collectivity participate in the cultures emerging from this collectivity. Finally, individuals can enact cultural identities from multiple, overlapping cultures. Apprenticed tattooists participate in cultures evident in both their own collectivity espousing values of professionalism and tradition, as well as in other collectivities privileging artistry and creativity. By distinguishing between membership and participation we advocate a cultural perspective that envisions cultural boundaries as fluid and blurred.

The Experiences of White Women on Corporate Boards in Canada

Hegemony: a complex web of conceptual and material arrangements that produce the fabric of everyday life and which work through pervading common sense, consent and by becoming part of the ordinary way of seeing the world, understanding one’s self and experiencing needs (Alvesson and Deetz, 1996)

The institution of tenure: freedom or discipline?

Tenure, the permanency of employment offered to university professors, is discussed in the context of an institutionalized practice. This article examines the bases of legitimacy of this institution, specifically as a mechanism to protect academic freedom and trade‐off for higher pay. An analysis of the cases of two Canadian academics suggests that both of these bases of legitimacy are an institutional myth. By rendering the untenured faculty member highly visible and subject to measurement and classification, they are susceptible to intervention and management. As such, the preservation of tenure is rationalized in a rule‐like way that espouses its benefits and obfuscates its dark side. The resulting experiences indicate some negative consequences of tenure that do not receive widespread attention.

Competitive advantage as a legitimacy-creating process

Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon interviews with key actors in the firms under study to explore their experiences with consumers and other constituents in determining how competitive advantage is constructed in this environment. These data are complemented data with interviews with governmental representatives and material from secondary sources. Findings – The results reveal efforts of firms to construct and increase organizational legitimacy through the prominence of discourses of professionalism based on artistry and medicine/public health. These bases of competitive differentiation are not the clear result of exogenous pressure, rather they arise through the active efforts of the firm to construct value guidelines for consumers and other constituents. Practical implications – Strategic management in small firms is a complex and dynamic process that does not necessarily mirror that of large organizations. Constructing competitive advantage is an interacting process between key actors of small firms and various constituents. Originality/value – The paper extends the application of institutional theory in strategic management by illuminating the active role that firms play in creating industry norms, especially in industries where norms are not well established or no longer entrenched. Moreover, exploring an alternative site of study offers a means through which to see well-studied issues in new ways.

Gendered organizational cultures in Canadian work organizations: implications for creating an equitable workplace

Results of a survey of Canadian work organizations reveal a broad set of gendered values embedded in organizational cultures. The findings of this study show stereotypically masculine values in the culture of these organizations and a desired change toward a culture that is more friendly, less accepting of established authority and less dominant. In addition, current cultures are perceived to reward men and women differently in terms of the values shown in their behavior, contributing to a discriminatory climate that makes many women feel unwelcome and uncomfortable. This makes many organizational change efforts particularly difficult.

The consequences of outness: gay men’s workplace experiences

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the positive and negative workplace experiences of gay men that they perceive to be a consequence of their sexual identity. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses in-depth interviews of a diverse group of university educated white collar men employed full-time in the public and private sector. Its findings are based on a thematic content analysis of these interviews. Findings Despite experiencing some negative consequences of being out at work, their positive and neutral experiences show encouraging signs of increasingly tolerant workplaces. Some of the challenges encountered that respondents believe to be a consequence of their sexual identity are, however, not dissimilar to those faced by workers with non-traditional families. Research limitations/implications As with any small sample exploratory qualitative research, this paper’s findings cannot necessarily be generalized to larger populations. The uniqueness of the sample (ethnically/culturally homogenous, university educated, public/private sector employees, residents of medium-sized Canadian city) allow for display of certain experiences not representative of the population at large. Originality/value This paper contributes to the relatively small but growing body of research on the experience of sexual minorities in the workplace. Its findings challenging the notion that sexual minorities are uniquely advantaged in the workplace, and that research on sexual minorities in the workplace is misguided in focusing on the problematic aspects of sexual identity/orientation.

Online Surveys may be Hazardous to your Corporate Health: A Framework for Assessing and Improving Market Research Survey Quality

This paper identifies a number of difficulties associated with interpreting the results of online surveys used to gather market research data. Because of the nature of data collection, researchers are able to exert little control over who completes these surveys and how often they do so. As a result, findings based on online survey data can be very misleading. We highlight several problematic aspects of online market research surveys (unspecified objectives, unknown probability of selection, non-response bias, accessibility and privacy issues) and suggest that any or all of these possess sufficient potential to destroy the credence of any research findings the online survey may generate. We conclude by outlining ways to maximize the utility of research findings of this increasingly popular mode of survey administration.