Cyclonic Change: How Tracy Shaped Australian Loss Adjusters’ Break from Britain

Abstract

The professional institutions of loss adjusting in Australasia were shaped by a range of postcolonial developments, including adhesion to the British badge of organizational prestige, the Royal Charter. The aim of this paper is to explore how a single exogenous shock to the institution of loss adjusting in Australia enhanced a sense of national identity, altering the future of those institutions. Our conclusions are based on over sixty interviews with loss adjusters in three countries and the archives of several Australasian loss adjusting institutions dating back to the late 1800s. Archival material included correspondence, meeting minutes, various memorandum, newspaper clippings, membership lists, criteria for barriers to entry, records of lobbying efforts, disciplinary actions, and educational material. Reus-Smit (2002, 2017), Bell (2009), and Rae (2017) have developed the understanding of the role collective cultural and national identities play in institutionalism, whereas Suddaby et al. (2007, 2011) have contributed to the theory of field-level institutional change. Building on the literature of Suddaby et al., this paper appraises how a single historic natural event triggered normative changes impacting the institution of loss adjusting in the region.