Toward a Situated Stance in Organizational Institutionalism

Abstract

Organizational Institutionalism is gradually embracing a more situated, actor-centered stance that is prompting empirical inquiry into how embedded actors respond to institutional complexity. French Pragmatist Sociology can contribute to this endeavor because it provides a situated, relational, and practice-oriented framework for studying how actors negotiate and justify actions through shared moral “worlds” that are akin to institutional logics. French Pragmatist Sociology can help illuminate three questions that are key to a situated stance in Organizational Institutionalism: (a) How free are individuals to engage with non-institutionalized mind-sets? (b) How institutionally determined are individual interests? and (c) How deliberate are individuals about provoking institutional effects? The discussion includes concrete proposals for empirical study as well as limitations and potential pitfalls that should be taken into consideration.