Language and Institutionalization of Practices: Usage of White-Collar Crime, 1939-2001

Posted: 14 Feb 2008

See all articles by Abhijeet K. Vadera

Abhijeet K. Vadera

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - College of Business

Ruth V. Aguilera

Northeastern University - Department of International Business and Strategy

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

Institutional theorists have recently begun to examine the role of agency in influencing institutionalization of practices. We extend this work by qualitatively investigating how institutional actors' use of a particular language can facilitate institutionalization. We find that a particular set of vocabularies enters an institutional field through bricolage and then undergoes a sensemaking process whereby institutional actors try to "make sense" of the language. Our quantitative analysis suggests that these processes of bricolage and sensemaking facilitate the institutionalization process. However, once the language, and the practice associated with it, is institutionalized, there exists a loose coupling between the language and the practice. We uncover these findings by exploring the language of "white-collar crime" and the practice of investigating white-collar crime by various law enforcement agencies.

Keywords: institutionalization, bricolage, white collar crime, sensemaking

Suggested Citation

Vadera, Abhijeet K. and Aguilera, Ruth V., Language and Institutionalization of Practices: Usage of White-Collar Crime, 1939-2001 (2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1093162

Abhijeet K. Vadera (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - College of Business ( email )

Champaign, IL 61820
United States

Ruth V. Aguilera

Northeastern University - Department of International Business and Strategy ( email )

Boston, MA 02115
United States

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