Jesper Strandgaard Pedersen

In Search of Identity and Legitimation: Bridging Organizational Culture and Neoinstitutionalism

In the late 1970s, neoinstitutional and organizational culture theorists challenged prevailing rationalist organizational paradigms by introducing social constructionism to the field of organizations. Despite their common foundation, these approaches built on seemingly contradictory empirical observations. Institutionalists observed that organizations actively copy one another’s practices, resulting in substantial isomorphism, whereas culture theorists observed that organizations institutionalize distinctive cultures comprising practices that set them apart from others. These seemingly contradictory findings reflect processes of organizational identity formation and interorganizational construction of legitimacy as they have evolved since the rise of the corporate form in the 19th century. Formation of identity through uniqueness and construction of legitimacy through uniformity are two sides of the same coin. Research on management schools suggests organizations pursue individuation through uniqueness and legitimacy through commonality simultaneously and that organizations bridge the two processes in four ways, which the authors dub imitation, hybridization, transmutation, and immunization.

25 Gbit/s QPSK Hybrid Fiber-Wireless Transmission in the W-Band (75–110 GHz) With Remote Antenna Unit for In-Building Wireless Networks

In this paper, we demonstrate a photonic up-converted 25 Gbit/s fiber-wireless quadrature phase shift-keying (QPSK) data transmission link at the W-band (75-110 GHz). By launching two free-running lasers spaced at 87.5 GHz into a standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) at the central office, a W-band radio-over-fiber (RoF) signal is generated and distributed to the remote antenna unit (RAU). One laser carries 12.5 Gbaud optical baseband QPSK data, and the other acts as a carrier frequency generating laser. The two signals are heterodyne mixed at a photodetector in the RAU, and the baseband QPSK signal is transparently up-converted to the W-band. After the wireless transmission, the received signal is first down-converted to an intermediate frequency (IF) at 13.5 GHz at an electrical balanced mixer before being sampled and converted to the digital domain. A digital-signal-processing (DSP)-based receiver is employed for offline digital down-conversion and signal demodulation. We successfully demonstrate a 25 Gbit/s QPSK wireless data transmission link over a 22.8 km SSMF plus up to 2.13 m air distance with a bit-error-rate performance below the 2 × 10-3 forward error correction (FEC) limit. The proposed system may have the potential for the integration of the in-building wireless networks with the fiber access networks, e.g., fiber-to-the-building (FTTB).

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.

European Constructions of an American Model Developments of Four MBA Programmes

In this article we study the patterns of proliferation, circulation and transformation of MBA programmes in Europe. The article seeks to address two important questions: First, why is it that the label MBA has travelled from the USA to Europe?, and second, to what extent does this label signify the proliferation of similar programmes across the Atlantic? We show that even though the label MBA has diffused around the globe, closer studies of a selection of MBA programmes show that the way in which these local programmes have been formed, clearly reflects their local contexts. Hence, this study is an example of local translations of globalized models. Moreover, the study suggests that we should not take labels as clearly signifying local practices. Instead, while labels of various kinds seem to travel easily and rapidly across the globe, local variations and distinctions remain. Based on case studies of four MBA programmes in Denmark, Italy, Spain and Sweden, we analyse how similarities and differences coexist among MBA programmes. While these case studies clearly show that programmes—in some aspects—are becoming increasingly similar, variations and distinctions among them remain. A few elements of MBA programmes remain stable (the ‘model’) as other elements change as they spread. Therefore, the circulation of a vague model—like an MBA in the management education field—allows for both variance in the local application and stabilization of specific elements. With the proliferation of programmes, the field as a whole displays homogenization as well as heterogenization. Two homogenizing forces, and two heterogenizing forces are identified.

The Social Invention of Collective Actors: On the Rise of the Corporation

Since the middle of the 19th century, the formal organization has been constructed as a legitimate collective actor in and of itself. How did it rise to sit alongside the nation-state as one of the principal forms of collective action in modern society? The authors argue that the scientific epistemology of the Enlightenment provided a model in which the social world, like the natural world, was to be understood through the classification of forms and the enumeration of particular instantiations. Individuals deliberately created the modern organization by asserting a universal form through the symbolization of isomorphism and by enumerating individual identities through the symbolization of cultural identity. Neoinstitutional theory documents the first process, whereas organizational theory documents the second. The authors argue that these two theories highlight different aspects of a single process: the social invention of the organization as collective actor.

From Label to Practice: The Process of Creating New Nordic Cuisine

This article examines the process of creation of new Nordic cuisine (NNC) as a culinary innovation, focusing on the main stages, actors, and mechanisms that shaped the new label and its practices and facilitated its diffusion in the region and internationally. Fast-paced diffusion was possible because NNC was conceived as an identity movement, triggered by active involvement of entrepreneurial leaders from the culinary profession, high-profile political supporters, legitimating scientists, disseminating media, and interpreting audiences. It was facilitated by three mechanisms: First, the use of an “empty” label, without a previous meaning in food, yet with positive connotations in other domains, allowed establishing a positive abstract notion open to interpretations and different practices. Second, the invitation for participation and financial support for innovative initiatives allowed for more actors and institutions to develop practices associated with the NNC label. Third, organized dissemination allowed the excitement and engagement with the new label to spread quickly.

Real-Time Effects of Central Bank Interventions in the Euro Market

This paper investigates the real-time effects of foreign exchange intervention using official intraday intervention data provided by the Danish central bank. Denmark is currently pursuing an active intervention policy under the provisions of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) and intervenes on a discretionary basis when considered necessary. Prior participation in ERM II is a requirement for adoption of the Euro. Therefore, our study is of particular relevance for the new European Union member states that are either currently participating in ERM II or expected to do so at a later date as well as for Denmark. Our analysis employs the two-step weighted least squares estimation procedure of Andersen, Bollerslev, Diebold and Vega (2003) and an array of robustness tests. We find that intervention exerts a statistically and economically significant influence on exchange rate returns when the direction of intervention is consistent with fundamentals and intervention is carried out during a period of high exchange rate volatility. We also show that the exchange rate does not adjust instantaneously to the unannounced and discretionary interventions under study. We conclude that intervention can be an important short-term policy instrument for exchange rate management.

Misfits, Mavericks and Mainstreams: Drivers of Innovation in the Creative Industries

Creative industries are among the fastest-growing and most important sectors of European and North American economies. Their growth depends on continuous innovation, which is important in many industries and also challenging to manage because of inherent tensions. Creative industries, similar to many industries, depend not only on novelty to attract consumers, but also on familiarity to aid comprehension and stabilize demand for cultural products. Agents in the creative industries play with these tensions, generating novelty that shifts industries’ labels and boundaries. This tension and agency makes them a valuable setting for advancing theoretical ideas on who drives innovation, from mavericks that challenge conventions to mainstreams that build upon them. We trace this history and then turn to the five papers in the special issue, which examine in depth how mavericks, misfits, mainstreams and amphibians in various creative domains, from artistic perfumery to choreography, engage with innovation and address tensions. These processes of innovation point to future research that explores and exploits the role of materiality in meaning making, the role of capitals in translation processes and the dynamics of value and evaluation.

Introduction: Institutions in the Making: Identity, Power, and the Emergence of New Organizational Forms

Thirty years ago, new institutional theory challenged the then dominant functionalist explanations of organizational behavior by pointing to the role of meaning in the production and reproduction of organizational practices (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Meyer & Scott, 1983). But new institutional theory was soon subject to both internal and external criticism for having, among other things, replaced the invisible hand of the market with the invisible hand of culture. In effect, it was difficult for the theory to explain how institutions change and develop in different directions because actors were subjugated to institutions (Powell & DiMaggio, 1991). The result was an oversocialized conception of humanity, in Wrong’s (1961) terms, in which institutions shaped all behavior and, thus, seemed to arise and evolve on their own accord. The criticism has led to various attempts to introduce a theory of action compatible with the main precepts of the new institutionalism (Scott, 1994). One approach has been to argue for a rational actor in a constructed world (e.g., DiMaggio, 1988). A second approach has been to combine the theory of organizations with the theory of individuals by developing a middle-range theory of how processes of interest articulation and organizational decision making have been institutionalized (e.g., Fligstein, 1996). A third approach has been to develop a constructionist view in which actors themselves are historically created and variable, with different notions of self, of identity, and of connection to the group over time (e.g., Meyer, Boli, & Thomas, 1987).

Actors and Institutions: Editors' Introduction

Over the past two decades, neoinstitutional theory has challenged the dominant functionalist explanations of organizations and has become one of the most creative and promising new paradigms in the social sciences.