The standardization of organizational forms as a cropping-up process

Abstract

This article looks at the way homogeneity and heterogeneity arise in the forms adopted by organizations. It is argued that under modern conditions a traditional diffusion model is not always very useful in helping us to understand such processes. As an alternative a "cropping-up" model of standardization is presented. This model is particularly apt for explaining the following types of situation: when a certain form appears simultaneously in organizations which have no contact with one another or a common transmitter; when knowledge of possible organizational forms is not a scarce resource: when common forms are invented locally in many organizations rather than resulting from the imitation of others; and when the organizations which adopt similar forms do not seem to share any other fundamental common attribute. The model is based on empirical studies of organizational reforms.Standardization organizational forms reform diffusion fashion