Linking Organizational and Field Level Analyses: The Diffusion of Corporate Environmental Practice

Organization & Environment, 14 (2): 133-156

Ross School of Business Paper No. 1354

48 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2017

See all articles by Andrew John Hoffman

Andrew John Hoffman

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Date Written: March 2001

Abstract

This paper examines the diffusion of corporate environmental practice in the context of field level dynamics. It builds a conceptual model that makes links between:

(1) the complex constituency of the institutional field driving environmental concerns,

(2) the multiple cultural frames that emerge from that constituency, and

(3) the corresponding structural and cultural routines that become enacted within firms.

It offers contributions for research in the domains of both environmental practice and institutional theory. For environmental practice, this paper attends to the genesis and diffusion of environmental practice that go beyond individual organization level. For institutional theory, this paper moves beyond the traditional focus on isomorphism and elaborates the processes of field-level dynamics. It shows how field level heterogeneity can occur by depicting inertia, traditionally a phenomenon attributed to the field, as the result of individual organization level dynamics that resist change.

The paper concludes with ideas for future research.

Keywords: institutional field, institutions, culture, cultural frames, occupational communities, environmental protection

Suggested Citation

Hoffman, Andrew John, Linking Organizational and Field Level Analyses: The Diffusion of Corporate Environmental Practice (March 2001). Organization & Environment, 14 (2): 133-156, Ross School of Business Paper No. 1354, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2944037 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2944037

Andrew John Hoffman (Contact Author)

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.andrewhoffman.net/

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