A context-based institutional normative environment

We explore the concept of an agent-based Electronic Institution including a normative environment that supports electronic contract formation by providing a contextual normative background. We formalize the normative state using first-order logic and define institutional rules and norms operating on that state. A suitable semantics regarding the use of norms within a hierarchical context structure is given, based on norm activation conflict and defeasibility. Norm activation relies on substitution as in first-order logic. Reasoning about the fulfillment and violation of deadline obligations is formalized using linear temporal logic; implementation with institutional rules is discussed. Examples exploiting the normative environment are given. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009

Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention: Perspectives on Institutional Theory

Entrepreneurial intentions have been considered a critical element understanding the formation of new venture creations that have been seen in creating jobs and economic growth in a country. This study draws upon institutional environment theory to clarify and test the model using multiple linear regression on entrepreneurship education and three determinants of institutional environment dimensions, namely, regulatory, cogni-tive, and normative dimensions toward entrepreneurial intentions in the context of Esto-nia. A questionnaire-based survey on 265 Estonian university students was conducted to validate the hypotheses of the study. The results suggest that entrepreneurship education has a significant influence on university students’ entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, all three institutional environment determinants moderate the positive relationship be-tween entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. Interestingly, interaction terms among normative environment, entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurial intention are statistically significant. Therefore, the results of this study advance institu-tional theory and its application in entrepreneurship research in the context of Estonia. Research paper Keywords: Entrepreneurship education, Entrepreneurial intentions, Institutional environment theory, Estonia, University students Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Wannamakok, W., & Liang, W. (2019). Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention: Perspectives on Institutional Theory, Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 7(2), 106–129.&nbsp

Constraint rule-based programming of norms for electronic institutions

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The Institutional Field Of Learning From Project-Related Failures – Opportunities and Challenges.

Learning from past project failures presents opportunities for firms working within the construction sector to ‘build back wiser’ because, if lessons from these experiences are absorbed, they offer benefits such as mitigation against future failures, and enable the development of resilient project teams. However, instead of using sector-wide perspectives for organisational learning, Project-Based Organisation (PBOs) typically implement internal technological and strategic mechanisms in both learning and project management. Additionally, little attention is given to the institutional context within the sector. Hence, this study focuses on how learning within a PBO is influenced by the external environment by adopting an Institutional theory perspective. Via exploratory research, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 UK construction industry professionals and then analysed using thematic analysis. Findings reveal that there exists an institutional field of learning within which PBOs operate based on interactions with their external environment. These include: regulatory pillar-related organisations – such as government bodies, and regulatory bodies (e.g., the Health and Safety Executive); Normative pillar-related organisations (professional bodies such as APM and CIOB), and; cultural-cognitive pillar-related organisations (such as peer PBOs, suppliers and the wider supply chain). The study contends that each of these pillars offer lessons for the sector. Findings further reveal that cross organisational learning is hampered mostly by competition and fragmentation. Hence, to ‘build back wiser’ it is important that the sector brings together the identified institutional field members to better learn from project-related failures. Thus, PBOs need to build better institutional networks by viewing other organisations within the institutional field as sources of knowledge and embracing collaboration instead of competition

SMEs and Certified Management Standards: The Effect of Motives and Timing on Implementation and Commitment

Existing research on certifiable management standards (CMS) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) tends to focus on large companies and is characterised by disagreement about the role of these standards as drivers of CSR. We contribute to the literature by shifting the analytical focus to the behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that subscribe to multiple CSR related standards. We argue that, in respect of motive and commitment, SMEs are not as different from large companies as the literature suggests, as they are guided by similar institutional and economic motives. Results, based on ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified SMEs in Greece, demonstrate that later adopters are more susceptible to coercive and mimetic motives and are less likely to commit fully to the CMS requirements, while earlier adopters react to normative motives and considerations of internal efficiency gains and tend to carry out CMS requirements with greater diligence

Organisational Legitimacy, Capacity and Capacity Development

The European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) has undertaken a study of capacity development, with a focus on organisational change and performance enhancement. Both individual organisations and networks of organisations have been studied with the aim of identifying important relationships among endogenous change factors (e.g. ownership, commitment and managerial style), key internal organisation variables (e.g. structures, procedures, staffing and management systems), performance and sustainability outcomes, and external environmental factors (e.g. policy frameworks, resource availability, politics, stakeholders, governance regimes, etc.).To date, the ECDPM study team has conducted 16 case studies (see Appendix). Among the findings that have emerged from several of the cases is the presence of an organisation's legitimacy as a factor contributing to successful capacity and performance. To delve in more detail into the concept of legitimacy, and to identify the implications for capacity building, ECDPM commissioned a working paper on the topic. This exploratory paper reviews the relevant literature and examines: differing definitions, types and sources of legitimacy; the links between legitimacy and organisational capacity, performance and sustainability; and management strategies for building and maintaining legitimacy. It discusses a selected set of the ECDPM cases in terms of the legitimacy concept

Corporate social responsibility in the Russian energy industry

Purpose - The paper looks into the institutional factors that shape CSR adoption in the Russian energy industry. Underpinned by theoretical foundations, this paper helps to understand which of Scott’s (1995) three institutional pillars dominate the structuring of CSR in the Russian energy industry. CSR understanding depends heavily upon the institutional context of the countries (Kim et al. 2013). CSR is now employed internationally, facing various institutional contexts, with different cultures, regulations, norms and behaviours (Hira and Hira, 2000). Different motivational factors and value systems shape CSR internationally (Kim et al.2013). Institutions are formal or informal rules, regulations, norms and understandings that constrain and enable behavior (North, 1990). This study employs neo-institutional theory to explore the specific factors that shape CSR in the context of the Russian energy industry. A neo-institutional framework provides an approach for the understanding different attitudes and practices in a specific social context (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991; Scott, 1995). The study is a detailed qualitative analysis of CSR in Russia, a country with different value and political systems from the U.S where CSR was initially developed (Campbell, 2007). This study employs the three ‘pillars of institutions’ regulative, normative and cognitive to identify pressures on CSR actions (Scott, 1995; Kostova and Roth,2002). Design/methodology/approach - Qualitative research is appropriate for this study as it enables to develop a deep understanding of people’s hidden interpretation, motivations and understanding (Subhasis and Siva, 2014). Semi-structured interviews are conducted as it allows the employees to raise and discuss matters of importance to them (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). Following Miles and Huberman (1994), qualitative content analysis technique is used to analyse the interviews to identify themes in the data. Preliminary Findings – The findings reveal so far that CSR practice in Russian is not related to any single institutional pressure. However, for a post-communist economy such as Russia, a regulation implementation might be weak and may not play an important role in forming CSR. In fact, the non-regulatory processes such as normative influence may have a greater impact instead. The companies have been under media pressure over the social and environmental consequences over the past several years. Companies need to meet expectations of internal stakeholders such as employees, and external such as community where the company wants to perform. Russia has a strong traditional ideology of collectivism, which places strong obligations on employers for their employees (Mamontov et al. 2014). Companies are expected to provide various social benefits to employees in terms of healthcare, education, housing. This is taken-for-granted common social belief, which is embedded in culture and specific for this particular context (Bashtovaya, 2014). This belief has been inherited from the communist era where companies were considered as ‘social caretakers’, constantly providing social benefits (Fifka and Pobizhan, 2014). This belief is culturally formed unlike the regulative and the normative pillars (Scott, 2008). Practical Implications – This paper offers an understanding on why Russian energy companies adopt CSR and what institutional factors shape their adoption. This sheds more light on institutional logics that underline CSR practices, and puts forward implications for managers and policy makers to construct more effective CSR strategies. In particular, this helps multinational companies to construct effective CSR strategies and not just adopt their CSR from home country. Value -This paper looks into institutional factors in particular, which of three institutional pillars seem more relevant in shaping CSR in the Russian energy industry. The theoretical contribution from this research is to neo-institutional theory and three pillars of institutions, and its application to understand CSR in the Russian context. Based on a wide range of literature review, I integrate literature on CSR, neo-institutional theory, and post-communist economy. Thus theoretically conceptualizing the effects of three institutional dimensions such as regulative, normative and cognitive on CSR at international level. Although prior literature suggests a connection between CSR and institutions, I attempt to extend the theoretical framework by looking at a new contextual environment. Crotty and Rodgers (2012) argue CSR research requires to be more contextualised by tacking into consideration characteristics of the country. I attempt to broaden the Western interpretation about CSR by considering the post-communist economy of the country. If contextualisation is not in place, than the type and nature of CSR undertaken in non-western contexts might be diminished and misinterpreted

Determinants of social and institutional beliefs about internet acceptance within developing country’s context: A structural evaluation of higher education systems in Pakistan

This study aims to extend a model of technology acceptance to suit in developing country’s context. The model attempts to identify relationship between social and institutional factors over behavioural intention and usage. Recently, ‘acceptance and adoption of information technology (IT) in multicultural setting’ is becoming topic of interest for IS researchers. In this line, numerous theories and models are proposed to contribute in examining factors of IT acceptance and reluctance. It is argued that the models in published literature are found culturally biased, which successfully present results in only American and European context, however, their validity became questionable when they were tested in south Asian countries context. Additionally, lack of research is observed to predict individual’s cognitive behaviour of acceptance, which are influenced by social factors (i.e. peer influence and superior influence, voluntariness, experience) and institutional factors (i.e. local institutional management influence and top-level governmental policies influence). This study used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) based on Partial Least Square (PLS) method to analyse the data. The results reveal that the proposed conceptual model achieves acceptable fit and the hypothesised paths are valid

Seeking legitimacy through CSR: Institutional Pressures and Corporate Responses of Multinationals in Sri Lanka

Arguably, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are influenced by a wide range of both internal and external factors. Perhaps most critical among the exogenous forces operating on MNEs are those exerted by state and other key institutional actors in host countries. Crucially, academic research conducted to date offers little data about how MNEs use their CSR activities to strategically manage their relationship with those actors in order to gain legitimisation advantages in host countries. This paper addresses that gap by exploring interactions between external institutional pressures and firm-level CSR activities, which take the form of community initiatives, to examine how MNEs develop their legitimacy-seeking policies and practices. In focusing on a developing country, Sri Lanka, this paper provides valuable insights into how MNEs instrumentally utilise community initiatives in a country where relationship-building with governmental and other powerful non-governmental actors can be vitally important for the long-term viability of the business. Drawing on neo-institutional theory and CSR literature, this paper examines and contributes to the embryonic but emerging debate about the instrumental and political implications of CSR. The evidence presented and discussed here reveals the extent to which, and the reasons why, MNEs engage in complex legitimacy-seeking relationships with Sri Lankan institutions