Breaking the wave: The contested legitimation of an alien organizational form

Organizational forms imbued with values of modernity – that is, rationality, efficiency and equity – diffuse rapidly around the world. Nonetheless, when sustained by beliefs, norms and regulations contrasting with those prevalent in the receiving country, their adoption may be delayed, and within-country legitimation may not proceed smoothly. We study the diffusion of multiplex cinemas – a form conceived in the US and attuned to the cinema-as-commerce logic – across Europe, where the cinema-as-art logic prevails. Our findings reveal that the cultural meanings embodied by multiplexes shaped the founding rates of this organizational form in three ways. First, countries with larger normative and regulative distance from the US retarded the adoption of the first multiplex. Second, camouflaged entries and, at increasing density, opposition from local interest groups were observed. Third, the embodiment of global cultural scripts of progress and modernity allowed multiplexes to overcome local opposition. The normative distance of the country from the US amplified the fluctuating dynamics of within-country legitimacy. A new specification of density-dependent legitimation is presented to model the cultural-cognitive legitimacy of rationalized but alien organizational forms

Reputation Management, Social Embeddedness, and Rationalization of Universities.

Reputation management or branding, has become increasingly important for universities in the last decades. This is partly reflecting increasing social embeddedness and the global pressure toward increasing formalization and rationalization of the universities. Accordingly, the book tries to answer the following questions: What is typical for the reputation management of the universities, as reflected by their websites? What are the core symbols—related to their performance record, professional qualities, moral features and procedural features—balanced and changing over time? How is social embeddedness reflected in the institutionalization in universities over time of diverse organizational features, exemplified by the emergence of development offices, diversity units and legal units? What explains differences between universities with respect to reputation management and the institutionalization of new organizational units