Abstract:
This dissertation examines how alternative organizations in highly institutionalized and mature fields can deviate from institutions. Institutions are socially constructed rules, norms, and beliefs that result in taken-for-granted practices and routine-like behavior. Mature institutions, characterized by strong rules and norms and highly taken-for-granted practices, are particularly more powerful making it extremely difficult for organizations to deviate from institutionalized practices. In such highly institutionalized and mature fields, can organizations deviate from institutions? I explore this theme through new-institutionalism theory, particularly through the concepts of institutional logics and institutional work.
