Call for Applications

Purpose

The overall purpose of this pre-Colloquium Paper Development Workshop (PDW) is to facilitate a conversation on the role of experiments in the development of institutional theory. Experiments may complement the methodological toolkit available to institutional theorists and contribute to better explicate the assumptions on which institutional theory research is based. Furthermore, experiments enable scholars to more rigorously test the fundamental propositions and conditions specified in institutional theory, especially at the micro-level of analysis. Experiments may thus add to the integration of psychological and social-constructionist viewpoints within an ideational paradigm that will open the "black box" of institutional processes (Zucker, 1991, p. 104).

Although scholars have frequently encouraged applying experiments to scrutinize institutional dynamics (see e.g. Meyer & Rowan, 1977 on decoupling), this recommendation has been rarely implemented. The reluctance to engage actively with experimental methods is possibly due to a lack of training and familiarity with experiments among institutional theorists. Therefore, the workshop seeks to address this issue by familiarizing participants with experimental methods.

This PDW will follow a tripartite format, involving (1) opening remarks by Lynne Zucker, (2) an expert panel discussing opportunities and challenges of experimental research in institutional theory, and (3) a project development workshop.

The workshop will take place on Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 09:00am–14:00pm.

Facilitators

• Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, USA
• Vern L. Glaser, University of Southern California, USA
• Marius Meeus, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
• Aafke G.M. Raaijmakers, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
• Roy Suddaby, University of Alberta, Canada
• Pamela Tolbert, Cornell University, New York, USA

Application

All scholars interested in institutional theory are invited to apply. However, preference will be given to PhD students/early career scholars. To be considered as an early-career scholar, the applicant needs to have completed his/her doctoral/PhD thesis within the last three years.

Please submit – via the EGOS website! – a single document of application (.doc, .docx or .pdf file) that includes:

• On the first page: a short letter of application containing full details of name, address (postal address, phone and email), affiliation (date of PhD completion for early career scholars), and a statement of why you consider it valuable to attend this PDW;
• A CV;
• A two-page proposal of the project idea outlining the research question and its relevance. The proposal should also motivate why an experiment is needed to answer the research question and specify the dependent and independent variable(s) in the experiment. Please note: the experiments can be carried out after the PDW. The purpose of the Round Table sessions in this PDW is to discuss project ideas, not fully developed papers.

References 

Meyer, J.W. & B. Rowan (1977): "Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony." American Journal of Sociology, 83, pp. 340–363.

Zucker, L. (1991): "Postscript: The role of institutionalization in cultural persistence." In W.W. Powell & P.J. DiMaggio (eds.): The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 103–107.