Resumo

Institutional theorists are interested how newly arising ideas are institutionalized within a field. While the traditional neo-institutional theorists use the concept of isomorphism, the “Scandinavian Institutionalists” propose a processual translation approach accounting for agency and variation across the field. While the first approach does not allow for processual in-depth analysis, the latter suffers from limited generalizability. Trying to combine the best of both worlds, recent scholars started to conceptualize a rule-based translation

Rule-based translation advanced the understanding on spreading institutional change by providing a conceptual account for field level variation and agency on the one hand while considering a degree of similarity on the other. So far, theory is based on contextual factors, leaving the individual level undertheorized. However, institutional change is enacted by individuals and hence, this level of analysis must be considered. This paper includes individual perception by introducing the concept of local rationalities and sketches out a processual framework operationalizing translation rules.

The article draws on institutional organization theory and more specifically on the concepts of translation as a performative process to enact institutional change locally. Departing form the strict heterogeneity assumption, some scholars theorize a rule-based translation uniting the assumptions isomorphism and translation. To complement the theory with an individual layer, socially constructed rationalities defined as pre-existing cognitive frames to act as intra-organizational constituent for the translation process are introduced into the framework.

This theoretical article strives to contribute to the literature on rule-based translation by first, including an intra-organizational layer to the existing typology of translation-rules. To this end, rationalities as socially constructed pre-existing cognitive patterns are introduced. In a second step, a processual framework is being developed to operationalize the rule-based translation. This framework assumes that the pre-existing rationalities influence the entire translation process. The framework draws on a systematic literature review in translation and institutional micro-foundations.

The inclusion of the individual perception into the framework of rule-based translation provides an additional layer to the analysis of the employment of certain patterns. The higher the extent to which local rationalities are aligned with the newly arising institutional demands, the higher the similarity of field level idea and local enactment. Misalignment indicates opposition to its implementation. Multiple local rationalities indicate political processes with ambiguous results for the rule-selection. The processual framework allows for operationalization of translation.

Introducing the rationalities into the framework adds an intra-organizational element to the rule-based translation. Individual perception seems to be an important determinant for the selection of a given pattern. The inclusion of rationalities offers not only an additional layer to the framework of rule-based translation, it implicitly connects the field level with the individual level and therefore prepares the ground for a multi-level analysis of how institutional change disseminates across the field. However, the framework needs further elaboration and testing in an empirical context.

Schedler, K., & Rüegg-Stürm, J. (2013). Multirationales Management: Der erfolgreiche Umgang mit widersprüchlichen Anforderungen an die Organisation. Bern: Haupt.; Czarniawska, B., & Joerges, B. (1996). Travels of Ideas. In B. Czarniawska & G. Sevón (Eds.), Translating Organizational Change (pp. 13-48). Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. Røvik, K. A. (2016). Knowledge Transfer as Translation: Review and Elements of an Instrumental Theory. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(3), 290-310. doi:10.1111/ijmr.12097 Sahlin-Andersson, K. (1996). Imitating by Editing Success.