Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413www.elsevier.com/locate/geoforum

Everyday eVects, practices and causal mechanisms of ‘culturalembeddedness’: Learning from Utah’s high tech regional economy

Al James

Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN, England, United Kingdom

Received 2 June 2006; received in revised form 30 September 2006

Abstract

In recent years, economic geographers have drawn extensively upon notions of ‘cultural embeddedness’ to explore how spatially vari-able sets of cultural conventions, norms, values and beliefs shape Wrms’ innovative performance in dynamic regional economies. However,our understanding of these causal links remains partial, reinforced by an ‘over-territorialised’ conception of cultural embeddedness whichsidelines the role of institutional actors operating outside and across the boundaries of ‘the local’. So motivated, this paper oVers a theo-retically-informed – and theoretically informing – empirical analysis of the high tech regional economy in Salt Lake City, Utah to explorethe everyday causal mechanisms, practices and processes – both local and extra-local – through which Wrms’ cultural embedding withinthe region is manifested, performed and (un)intentionally (re)produced. In so doing, this paper aims to further our understanding of theconstitutive entanglement and complex interweaving of cultural/economic practices, and to contribute to the development of an in-depthempirical corpus of work which compliments the exciting conceptual developments that have largely dominated cultural economic geog-raphy over the last decade.© 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Embeddedness; Innovation; Culture/economy; Region; Mechanisms; Salt Lake City

1. Introduction

Received wisdom in economic geography has long held‘economy’ and ‘culture’ as separate spheres, each with theirown discrete set of institutions, rationalities and conditionsof existence. However, since the early 1990s, economicgeographers have increasingly rejected these economy ‘ver-sus’ culture dualisms in favour of a range of more Xuid andhybrid conceptions that emphasize the mutual constitutionof these two spheres (see e.g. Castree, 2004; Crang, 1997;Gibson-Graham, 1996; Lee and Wills, 1997; McDowell,2000; Ray and Sayer, 1999). In so doing, scholars havebrought to the centre of their analyses the so-called ‘soft’sociocultural aspects of economic behaviour previously

E-mail addresses: al.james@geog.cam.ac.uk, aj210@cam.ac.uk

0016-7185/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2006.10.001

ignored in conventional economic analyses but which fun-damentally organise the workings of the space economy(Wolfe and Gertler, 2001). This shift has been particularlyapparent within the post-Fordist regional learning andinnovation literature in economic geography. Here, schol-ars have drawn extensively upon the concept of ‘culturalembeddedness’ to explore how Wrms’ production processesoperate within, and impact on, the spatially variable setsof social conventions, norms, attitudes, values and beliefs ofthe societies within which economic decisions and practicestake place. Indeed there has now emerged a strong consen-sus that it is simply impossible to explain the continuingadvantage of some regional economies over others ifwe fail to take into account the ways in which Wrms’ activ-ities are culturally constituted (Storper, 1997; Saxenian,1994).

However, despite the widespread popularity of this con-cept, the economic consequences of cultural embeddedness,

394 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

along with the causal mechanisms and practices throughwhich Wrms come to be culturally embedded, remain poorlyunderstood. The nature of this knowledge gap morebroadly has been usefully summarised by Paivi Oinas:

‘We need to understand the various ways in whichWrms as collective actors and various individuals orgroups of them are embedded, and the ways inwhich these diVerent embeddednesses are related toeconomic outcomes, both at the level of Wrms andtheir spatial environmentsƒ Empirical studies areneeded, to open up the richness of “embeddedness”in comprehensive studies ƒ to reveal the processesthrough which economic action and outcomes areaVected by “embeddedness”’ (1997, p. 30, empha-ses added).

Taking up Oinas’s call, this paper aims to advance ourunderstanding of ‘cultural embeddedness’ by means of atheoretically informed – and theoretically informing –empirical analysis of the regional high tech industrialagglomeration in Salt Lake City, Utah, a region widely rec-ognized as the heartland of ‘Mormonism’, the distinctiveculture associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-ter-day Saints (informally, the ‘Mormon Church’). Notonly does this regional case study oVer a particularly visible(and hence measurable) instance of regional cultural econ-omy, but in common with many other regions around theworld, economic development oYcials in Utah have them-selves increasingly recognised the fundamental role of cul-tural norms, values and conventions in shaping andconditioning regional economic competitiveness as theyhave sought to emulate Silicon Valley’s spectacular growthdynamic over the last three decades.

The paper begins with a brief review of how diVerentnotions of cultural embeddedness have been variouslyemployed by economic geographers to understand unevenpatterns of regional economic development, their concep-tual divergence from Polanyi’s (1944) and Granovetter’s(1973, 1985) original formulations, and the ongoing limitsto our understanding (Section 2). This is followed by anintroduction to, and epistemic justiWcation of, the Salt Lakecase study (Section 3). Section 4 summarises the main waysin which the behaviour of Utah’s high tech Wrms can beseen as constituted through, and diVerentially shaped by,the socially constructed norms, values and evaluative crite-ria within Mormonism, and also measures the conse-quences of that ‘cultural embedding’ for Wrms’ abilities tolearn, innovate and compete (i.e. why cultural embedded-ness matters). Section 5 then unpacks the multi-scaled set of‘everyday’ practices, causal mechanisms and tangibleagents through which Mormon cultural values come todeWne Wrms’ systems of organisational control, rule sys-tems, decision-making processes, and observed behaviour –that is, it seeks to explain how cultural embeddedness is(re)constructed over time. Finally, Section 6 explores thewider signiWcance of this analysis in terms of its overcomingsome persistent limitations within the regional learning and

innovation literature, and also identiWes some importantdirections for future research.

2. Connecting ‘cultural embeddedness’ to regional economic development

Over the last two decades, in the context of the widelydocumented (although by no means uncontested) shift to aglobalised post-Fordist knowledge economy, a majorresearch agenda within economic geography has developedaround the local determinants of entrepreneurship. Build-ing on an earlier interest in agglomeration economies and‘traded’ input–output linkages (e.g. Scott, 1986, 1988; Stor-per and Walker, 1989), scholars have broadened their anal-yses to examine how ‘untraded’ sociocultural, institutionaland relational characteristics of regional industrialagglomerations foster and support conditions conducive toknowledge creation, inventiveness, information dissemina-tion, and learning. The regional innovation and learningliterature is now extensive (see MacKinnon et al., 2002 andCumbers et al., 2003 for useful recent reviews), but at thebroadest level the advantages of agglomeration are arguedto emerge from: localised information Xows; technologicalspillovers; collective learning; and the creation of specia-lised pools of knowledge and skill premised on formal andinformal networks of collaborative interaction betweenWrms and their employees which aid the circulation of tacitknowledge within the region (Capello, 1999; Malmbergand Maskell, 1997, 2002). Crucially, scholars have alsofocused on the qualitative rules, conventions, and normson which actors draw to combine varied skills, competen-cies and ideas to create new knowledge and so underpininnovation. Innovation is therefore increasingly regardedas a fundamentally interactive, and hence unavoidablysocio-cultural, process (Asheim, 2001; Malecki and Oinas,1999).

One of the most common approaches within thisregional learning and innovation literature has involved thegeographical application and operationalisation of the con-cept of ‘embeddedness’ – although of course, the regionalscale is by no means the only spatial logic of embeddedness!(see e.g. Coe et al., 2004; Hess, 2004; Lewis et al., 2002; Liu,2000; Mol and Law, 1994). Embeddedness is broadly deW-ned as the set of social relationships between economic andnon-economic actors (individuals as well as aggregategroups of individuals, i.e. organizations), which in turn cre-ate distinctive patterns of constraints and incentives foreconomic action and behaviour (see e.g. Hess, 2004; Jessop,2001; Zukin and DiMaggio, 1990). The concept was Wrstput forward by Polanyi (1944) in his book ‘The GreatTransformation’ which explicitly rejected the then domi-nant view of the economy as ‘natural’, pre-given, self-regu-lating and inevitable in form, instead arguing that marketsare socially constructed and governed. Polanyi also dis-tinguished between three types of economic exchange insociety (reciprocal, redistributive and market) each charac-terised by a distinct form of embeddedness in social and

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 395

cultural structures.1 Polanyi’s ideas were later reworkedand reintroduced to social science in the mid-1980s byMarc Granovetter in reaction to: (i) an undersocialisedview of economic action represented by neoclassical eco-nomics which ‘assumes rational self-interested behaviourminimally aVected by social relations’ (1985, p. 481); and(ii) an oversocialised view in modern sociology which con-ceives of ‘people as obedient to the dictates of consensuallydeveloped systems of norms and values, internalisedthrough socialisation, so that obedience is not perceived asa burden’ (p. 483).2 Taking a route through the middle,Granovetter instead stressed the concrete and ongoingnature of the social relations in which economic actors areenmeshed, and outside of which it is impossible to under-stand fully their economic activities. In so doing, Granovet-ter shifted the analytical focus of embeddedness away fromPolanyi’s earlier focus on abstract economies and societiesonto individual people, groups, organisations and networksof interpersonal relationships (Emirbayer and Goodwin,1994). These ideas were Wrst applied in economic geographyin the early 1990s (see Dicken and Thrift, 1992), and havesince given rise to an important research agenda within thesub-discipline.

Regional economic geographical scholars have exploreda number of diVerent dimensions of embeddedness, whichcan usefully be grouped together under three broad (albeithighly overlapping) headings, as recently typologised byHess (2004, pp. 176–181). First, societal embeddednessrefers to the ways in which the perceptions, strategies andactions of economic actors are inXuenced and shaped bytheir social, cultural and political backgrounds, both at theindividual level and at the aggregate level of the Wrm (e.g.Dicken and Thrift, 1992; Harrison, 1992). Second, networkembeddedness describes the composition, structure andarchitecture of formal and informal relationships amongdiVerent sets of individuals and organizations that a personor organisation is involved in, and how that in turn shapestheir economic activities (e.g. Crewe, 1996; Park, 1996).Third, territorial embeddedness refers to the extent towhich economic actors are ‘anchored’ in local territorialnetworks of institutions, and to how those actors are inXu-enced by the economic activities and social dynamics thatalready exist in those places (e.g. Cooke, 2002; Markusen,1996; Phelps et al., 1998; Scott, 1988; Tödtling, 1994;Turok, 1993).

Arguably, it is Saxenian’s (1994) work on the divergenteconomic trajectories of Silicon Valley and Boston’s Route128 through the 1980s is one of (if not the most!) widely

1 SpeciWcally, while non-market economies based on ‘reciprocal andredistributive exchange were constituted on the basis of shared values andnorms that had their roots in social and cultural bonds rather than mone-tary goals, societies based on market exchange reXect only those underly-ing values and norms that consider price’ (Hess, 2004, p. 168).

2 In the undersocialised account, atomisation results from the utilitarianpursuit of self-interest; in the oversocialised account, it results from behav-iour patterns having been internalised such that ongoing social relationshave only a peripheral eVect on the behaviour of economic actors (p. 485).

cited example of the ways in which embeddedness mattersin a regional context. Controlling for industrial sector,products, historical period, business cycle position, politicalevents, and nation-state, Saxenian highlighted the impor-tance of local cultural societal determinants of industrialadaptation, their inXuence on interWrm networks of associa-tion, and their territorial manifestations. In Silicon Valley,Wrms’ embeddedness in a distinctive regional Californiancounter culture characterized by a willingness to embracerisk, and loyalties to transcendent technologies over indi-vidual Wrms, underpinned a regional network-based indus-trial system based on blurred interWrm boundaries andXexible adjustment among producers of complex relatedproducts.3 In contrast, Wrms’ embeddedness in a traditionalconservative East Coast business culture in Route 128 isargued to have sustained relatively integrated corporations,lesser interaction, and lower rates of economic growth.Scholars have subsequently built upon Saxenian’s work toexamine further how ‘cultural embeddedness’ shapes pat-terns of corporate behaviour, local production and employ-ment relations, industrial adaptation and economicdevelopment in other regions4 (e.g. Amin and Thrift, 1994;Malecki, 1995; Morgan, 1997; Storper, 1995, 1997).

However, while ‘cultural embeddedness’ has quicklybecome established as a conceptual lynchpin of the regionaldevelopment literature, our understanding of the causalmechanisms and everyday practices through which spatiallyvariable sets of socio-cultural conventions, norms, attitudes,values and beliefs shape and condition Wrms’ economic per-formance remains under-speciWed. Indeed, despite its popu-larity, even Saxenian’s (1994) study fails to outline fully thecausal links between the competitive culture described inSilicon Valley and the success of this regional economy –and nor does Saxenian measure those causal links (Marku-sen, 1999). Additionally, regional learning accounts havetended to ‘dehumanise’ processes of cultural embedding,instead misrepresenting cultural embeddedness as some-thing ethereal and eternal, divorced from everyday materialpractice, or else have misconstrued ‘it’ as a self-perpetuatinginherited tradition that determines contemporary economicactivities (see Gertler, 1997, 2004). Critics have also arguedthat these problems are compounded by a tendency withinthe regional learning literature to sideline the importance ofwider extra-local structures (Lewis et al., 2002; MacKinnonet al., 2002; Markusen, 1999; Oinas, 2002), which reinforcesa partial view of the structures and forces shaping processesof Wrms’ sociocultural embedding, based on a misplacedconception of regions as ‘closed systems’ or mere ‘containers

3 Saxenian’s (1994) account has been contested by Florida and Kenney(1990).

4 Arguments have therefore aligned themselves with the earlier Xexiblespecialisation school accounts of successful industrial districts in North-Eastern Italy (e.g. Becattini, 1978; Brusco, 1982; Piore and Sabel, 1984),which placed heavy emphases on trust, cooperation, and artisanal produc-tion, to develop a theory of economic co-operation, where social ties andcommunity relationships shape economic behaviour.

396 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

of intangible assets and structures’ (Yeung, 2005, p. 47).5

Indeed, this restrictive focus on locally bounded economicactivities means that our currently ‘over-territorialised’notions of cultural embeddedness have lost sight of Pola-nyi’s original notions of ‘societal’ embeddedness (Hess,2004, p. 173).

In seeking to overcome these limitations, this paperexplores the everyday mechanisms, practices and emergenteVects at the local and extra-local scales through whichWrms’ cultural embedding is manifest, performed and(un)unintentionally (re)produced.6 The paper also exploresthe interactions between diVerent mechanisms and prac-tices of cultural embedding and their territorial manifesta-tions. In so doing, the paper aims to further ourunderstanding of the constitutive entanglement and inter-weaving of cultural/economic practices by grounding‘cultural embeddedness’ in people’s everyday work-lifeexperiences (following e.g. Dyck, 2005; Holloway and Hub-bard, 2001; Smith, 2002). The next section introduces theSalt Lake City/Mormon case study and explains how – onthe one hand – it oVers a particularly visible case for explor-ing these culture/economy issues, yet – on the other hand –it is by no means a unique case.

3. Case Study: Salt Lake City (high tech meets Mormonism)

Salt Lake City is the main centre of population onUtah’s Wasatch Front, an urban corridor of four counties(Salt Lake, Weber, Davis and Utah) that runs north andsouth between the foot of the Wasatch Mountains to theeast and Great Salt Lake to the west. High tech growth hasoccurred here in three waves: a defense industry build-up inthe 1960s; growth of software and services in the 1980s(when many Silicon Valley Wrms began to move variousfunctions to Utah); followed by a cascade of start-ups inthe 1990s. This region is now home to over three quarters ofUtah’s total population of 2.38 million (Table 1) with over3400 high tech Wrms employing over 67,000 people across arange of subsectors (Utah Department of Workforce Ser-vices, 2004a; see also Table 2). ‘Computer software and sys-tems design’ (formerly SIC 737) is Utah’s lead high techsubsector in terms of employment and number of establish-ments and therefore forms the focus of this analysis.

SigniWcantly, the Wasatch Front is also the geographicalheartland of Mormonism, the distinctive culture associatedwith the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS

5 Arguably, this narrow approach results from a particular form of ‘clo-sure by space’ (Massey, 1999, p. 263) in which case studies are delimitedand deWned according to the same administrative boundaries within whichhighly accessible contextual data is initially available (typically at thecounty or Metropolitan Statistical Area level). Fundamentally, however,we cannot assume that the key processes that shape and condition our casestudies similarly obey those same (often arbitrary) administrative bound-aries.

6 Here I employ the language of Hudson (2005) whose work explores theproduction of ‘old industrial regions’ (through the case study of NorthEast England).

Church). Mormons comprise over 75% of the state’s totalpopulation (LDS Church/Deseret News, 2000; Eliason,2001), the same population from which Utah’s high techworkforce is drawn. Indeed, for its entire history as a politi-cal entity, Utah has been ‘Mormon Country’ (Poll, 2001, p.164). Mormon culture is conservative by popular standardswith strong family and community impulses (May, 2001). Itincludes prohibitions against alcohol and drug use, a com-mitment to fasting and prayer, modesty in dress, an empha-sis on family and obedience to parents, and concerns for theelderly and the poor. The church also opposes abortion,divorce and premarital sex, whilst also emphasizing theProtestant ethics of diligence, education and the attainmentof skills (Cornwall, 2001). Three key elements of Utah’sMormon culture make it especially suited to this research.First, Mormonism is more than simply a creedal faith; it isa whole way of life requiring an almost total commitmentin customs, values, and lifestyle (see Kotkin, 1993). More-over, many commentators argue that Mormon culture is sostrong that there also exists a Mormon ethnicity (Abram-son, 1980; May, 2001; Mitchell, 2000). Second, the demo-graphic dominance of Mormons in Utah creates adenomination-speciWc domination of Utah’s general cul-ture7 – indeed, over 90% of all church members in Utah areLDS (Young, 1996). Third, Mormonism’s central tenets areeasily articulated and well known, and its ideologies written

7 While I am aware of the dangers of essentialising Mormon culturalpractices and playing down the role of non-Mormon sub-cultures withinUtah, it is worth noting that the dominance of Mormon culture in Utah ismanifest in a range of secondary data at the state level. First, Utah hasbeen a Republican political stronghold since the 1960s, consistent with thetime when LDS Church leaders began outspokenly to favour conservativepositions on key social issues (Burbank et al. (2001)). Indeed, studies usingpublic opinion data to summarise the ideological and partisan orientationsof citizens by state have identiWed Utah as the most conservative andRepublican state in the US on average (Erickson et al., 1993: 14–19;Wright et al., 2000: 41). Second, Utah’s fertility rate is approximately onethird higher than the US national rate, a function of Utah having more ba-bies per woman (c.f. US average) and a higher proportion of Utah’s femalepopulation being in child-bearing years compared with females nationally(Perlich, 1996). Both are consistent with Mormon family values whichencourage marriage followed by childbearing (Cornwall, 1996; Smith andShipman, 1996). Moreover, consistent with Mormonism’s discouragementof divorce and bearing children out of wedlock (Smith and Shipman,1996), male and female Utahns alike are more likely to be married thanindividuals in the US at any age (ibid.).

Table 1Utah and Wasatch Front populations and labourforce, 2003

Source: US Bureau of the Census (2004), Utah Department of WorkforceServices (2004a,b).

Population Labourforce

Utah State 2,378,696 1,184,385Salt Lake City/Ogden MSASalt Lake County 924,826 512,293Davis County 255,343 124,837Weber County 205,802 109,497Provo/Orem MSAUtah County 422,409 181,832

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 397

down and easily accessible. Moreover, the Utahn regionalvariant of Mormonism has been recognized as particularlyvisible, on the basis of the unique institutional history ofthis region (Salt Lake City was founded by the Mormons in1847 and remains the worldwide administrative centre forthe LDS Church) and the physical isolation of Salt LakeValley itself (Poll, 2001).

As such, Utah oVers a very visible case study to explorethe everyday causal mechanisms and practices throughwhich Wrms’ cultural embedding within regional economiesis manifested, performed and (un)intentionally (re)pro-duced, and hence through which we might further ourunderstanding of the constitutive entanglement and com-plex interweaving of cultural/economic practices. Cruciallyhowever, while this is a very visible case study, it is by nomeans unique. Rather, there are thousands of regionaleconomies worldwide similarly premised on strong cohe-sive regional cultures (be those based on gender, ethnicity,trade unions, or particular sectoral specializations forexample) which unavoidably shape and condition local pat-terns of entrepreneurship and regional economic develop-ment trajectories. At the same time, some of the mostcelebrated examples of regional industrial economies in thegeographical literature are themselves also based on reli-gious regional cultures. These include Boston’s Route 128,embedded in New England’s Protestant culture which hasbeen shown to sustain conservative business cultures inlocal large electronics Wrms (Saxenian, 1994); the ethnicimmigrant networks in Silicon Valley premised on Bud-dhist, Hindu and Shintoist culture, which connect localWrms to dynamic growth regions in South–East Asia (e.g.Saxenian, 1999; Saxenian et al., 2002); and the embedded-ness of the military industrial complex in Colorado Springs

in a strong Christian Evangelical regional culture (Grayand Markusen, 1999). These religious cultural examples arelinked by a high degree of visibility, which in turn hasoVered scholars an important means of analysing culture–economy interactions feasibly, and hence facilitated thedevelopment of conceptual understandings which mightthen be applied to other regions with regional cultures thatare less visible (and hence amenable to study) in the Wrstinstance. Herein, therefore, lies the wider relevance of theUtah case to the established regional learning and innova-tion literature.

3.1. Methodology

This research was carried out between 2000 and 2004.Initially, an industrial survey of the leading 105 computersoftware Wrms by 2000 revenue (10% sample) was con-ducted across the four counties of the Wasatch Front.8

Firms in the survey dataset employ 7585 people in Utah,and in 2000 generated a combined revenue of $1031 millionfrom their Utah operations. SigniWcantly, almost three-quarters (69%) of the Wrms in the survey sample are Mor-mon founded; 68% have a Mormon majority managementteam; and 58% are Mormon founded and managed. (Argu-ably, these Wgures represent the broadest indicator of Wrms’

8 SpeciWcally, the survey focused on Wve key areas of the Wrm: (i) occupa-tional structure and workforce composition; (ii) interWrm relationshipsand external orientation; (iii) Wnancing histories; (iv) Wrms’ in-house tech-nological capabilities and innovative R&D processes (v) competitive ‘per-formance’ and growth. I achieved an overall response rate of just over50%, and as such the survey dataset covers the top 20% of software Wrmson the Wasatch Front by 2000 revenue.

Table 2Utah’s high tech subsectors, 2000 and 2003

Source: Utah Department of Workforce Services (2004a,b).

NAICS Description Establishments Employment

2000 2003 2000 2003

325413 In-vitro diagnostic substance manuf. 5 5 15 25333314 Optical instrument and lens manuf. 7 7 187 1543341 Computer and peripheral equipment manuf. 26 23 3942 11583342 Communications equipment manuf. 30 29 2398 25183344 Semiconductor and electronics manuf. 59 51 4618 29703345 Navigational, measuring & electromedical manuf. 53 58 3313 3813335991 Carbon and graphite product manuf. 4 2 371 3213364 Aerospace product and parts manuf. 50 44 7472 63023391 Medial equipment supplies manuf. 184 185 7430 75125112 & 5415 Software and computer systems design 1512 1588 19,598 16,05551211 Motion picture and video production 185 192 3003 232251219 Postproduction and related activities 15 22 45 205172 Wireless telecommunications carriers 87 78 1459 7195174 Satellite telecommunications 11 13 91 875179 Other telecommunications 5 7 82 535181 Internet service providers 250 246 3779 315054133 Engineering services 583 641 5710 597554138 Testing laboratories 107 107 1187 120854171 R&D in physical engineering and life sciences 227 246 3060 3722

TOT 3400 3544 67,715 57,354

398 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

cultural embedding in the region). Second, in-depth inter-views and group discussions were conducted with employ-ees in 20 case study Wrms, selected in order that these Wrmscover the spectrum of non/Mormon founding and manage-ment (Mormon majority, intermediate, and non-Mormonmajority9), and be evenly split between Salt Lake Countyand Utah County to facilitate an exploration of the role oflocal demographic context in shaping Wrm behaviour: UtahCounty has the highest LDS population of all counties inUtah (90% LDS) in contrast to Salt Lake County which islocally regarded as the most cosmopolitan county (64%LDS). In the case study sample, the survey deWnition of‘Mormon’ Wrms (Mormon founding and management) wasexpanded to include the proportion of Wrms’ total Utahemployees that are active Mormons. Mormons compriseapproximately 69% of Wrms’ total employees in the casestudy sample. In 2000 these Wrms employed 1009 people inUtah and their Utah operations generated a combined rev-enue of over $111.3 million, and all have 20–99 employees,the dominant size category in the survey sample. Qualita-tive data were generated for these Wrms through semi-struc-tured interviews (following Schoenberger, 1991; Markusen,1994), targeting employees in technical and non-technicalpositions in a range of job positions. A range of industrywatchers and other government, church and economicdevelopment oYcials were also interviewed, giving a totalof 100 interviews and over 130 hours of taped materialupon which the analysis presented here is largely based.10

Each Wrm case study was further developed using a numberof secondary data sources (annual reports, memos, etc.) aspart of a source triangulation strategy.

4. Exploring how and why Wrms’ cultural embedding in the region matters

The most striking manifestations of how the observedbehaviour of Mormon founded and managed softwareWrms in Utah’s high tech economy is constituted throughand shaped by Mormon cultural conventions and normsinclude: management practices of praying over strategiccorporate direction and fasting for the company; explicitlyaligning software products with LDS Church teachings andneeds (especially education, translation and internet pri-vacy); turning down ‘immoral work’ in non-alignment withLDS teachings; and oVering pay and remuneration pack-

9 The case study sample of 20 Wrms was divided into four categories: 6MORMON FIRMS (Mormon founded, Mormon managed and Mormonmajority workforce); 6 NON-MORMON FIRMS (non-Mormon found-ed, non-Mormon managed and non-Mormon majority workforce (con-trol); 4 INTERMEDIATE I FIRMS (Mormon founded and Mormonmajority workforce but non-Mormon managed); and 4 INTERMEDI-ATE II FIRMS (non-Mormon founded but Mormon managed and Mor-mon majority workforce).10 The sample of research participants interviewed comprised 75 males

and 25 females (representative of the gender breakdown of Utah’s hightech workforce). The total sample of 100 research participants included 62active Mormons, 5 inactive Mormons, and 21 non-Mormons.

ages explicitly designed to allow for the maintenance of tra-ditional Mormon nuclear family units among employees(see James, 2003).11 However, the economic implications ofthis cultural embedding for Wrms’ competitive performanceare best understood in terms of a series of sustained ten-sions, between self-identiWed Mormon cultural traits alsomanifest within local Wrms, versus key elements of corpo-rate and industrial cultures that have been consistentlyshown in the regional learning literature as positivelyunderpinning Wrms’ abilities to innovate. Previous work hasexplored some of these tensions, including Mormon Wrms’lesser willingness to seek venture capital growth Wnance(within Utah and in other US states) relative to their non-Mormon counterparts as a function of Mormon ethics ofanti-debt and frugality (James, 2005) and reduced workhours relative to non-Mormon Wrms in respect of Mormonteachings on the primacy of family (James, 2006a). In con-trast, this section focuses speciWcally on the consequencesof this embedding for Wrms’ abilities to access externalsources of knowledge and competencies, and to use newknowledge once it enters the Wrm.

4.1. Consequences for Wrms’ external relationships

Over the last decade, scholars have shown that success-ful learning and innovation require that Wrms maintainlocal and extra-local networks of external association (seee.g. Camagni, 1991; Florida, 1995; Cooke and Morgan,1998; Maillat, 1995; Oinas and Malecki, 2002; Gertler andLevitte, 2005). When individuals with partially overlappingknowledges come together and articulate their ideas collec-tively, they are forced to derive more adequate ideas aboutthe technology they are trying to develop (Lawson andLorenz, 1999, p. 312). Additionally, interaction also pro-vides a basis for comparison of evolving ideas with otherpractices not internally generated. SigniWcantly, Mormon-ism is itself characterized by strong ethics of unity, reciproc-ity and mutual commitment which shape the nature ofinteraction among its members and are explicitly cultivatedby the LDS Church leadership (Arrington and Bitton,1992; Dunn, 1996).12 One way to examine the extent towhich local Wrms exhibit these Mormon cultural traits is totrack the extent to which Mormon ownership and manage-

11 Prevalence of prayer acknowledged as a valid basis for decision-mak-ing at the management level (in 5 Wrms in the case study sample, all 5 havemajority Mormon workforces and Mormon management teams); fastingfor the company (in 3 of the Mormon founded and managed case studyWrms); software products aligned explicitly with LDS Church teachings (in2 of the 6 Mormon Wrms in the case study sample, no non-Mormon Wrms);pay packages explicitly designed to maintain traditional Mormon nuclearfamily units (in 4 of the 6 Mormon case study Wrms, but no non-MormonWrms).12 This group spirit is induced not only by the belief that unity is a Chris-

tian virtue, but also by the trying times that the Mormon pioneers experi-enced (Arrington, 1992). The settlement of the barren, harsh desertenvironment of the Salt Lake Valley necessitated a co-operative irrigationeVort in an environment that would not have yielded to more individualis-tic eVorts (Toth, 1974).

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 399

ment aVect Wrms’ choice of strategic partners. SigniWcantly,the Mormon founded and managed Wrms in the case studysample do have a higher proportion strategic partnerswithin Utah who are similarly Mormon founded and man-aged (67.5%) than do their intermediate Mormon counter-parts (57%) and non-Mormon counterparts (50%).Likewise, when we examine Wrms’ extra-local relationshipswith strategic partners beyond Utah,13 the Mormonfounded and managed Wrms again have a higher proportion(13.5%) of partners who are similarly Mormon foundedand managed than do their Mormon intermediate (8%) andnon-Mormon (5%) counterparts.14 Subsequent interviewsuncovered how Mormon customs, conventions and socialnorms generate a ‘cultural closeness’ between Wrms thataids working alliances (see James, 2006a). However, whilstthis helps sustain interaction between like Wrms, it simulta-neously excludes non-Mormon Wrms, constraining Mor-mon founded and managed Wrms’ abilities to learn fromthese non-like companies.

Additionally, interWrm alliances allow Wrms to broadentheir capacities more widely by combining their own com-petencies with those of a partner to create a competitiveposition that neither could have achieved alone. Thus, inthe context of increased complexity and intersectoralnature of new technologies, and shortening product life-cycles, partnerships allow Wrms to speed the pace of prod-uct introduction, improve product quality, and move morequickly into new markets (Hutt et al., 2000). In contrast,Mormon culture is characterized by strong emphases onindividual self-suYciency, independence and self-reliance(Ludlow, 1992), ethics rooted in the Mormon pioneer expe-rience when Utah’s hostile physical environment forcedMormon families to hone the virtue of self-suYciency inorder to survive (Young, 1996). Interview discussionsuncovered how these Mormon traits often form the basisfor management decisions within local Wrms: while Mor-mon Wrms have a higher propensity to interact with otherMormon Wrms, their overall levels of interWrm networkingare reduced relative to non-Mormon Wrms. Strikingly, theMormon founded and managed Wrms in the survey andcase study samples have on average around half as manystrategic partner Wrms as their non-Mormon counterpartsin each Wrm size category. These patterns are apparent forWrms’ Utahn partners, and when their extra-local relation-ships with partners outside Utah are included in the analy-

13 Limits on the length of the survey instrument precluded a detailedanalysis of the exact location of these partner Wrms, however, subsequentin-depth interviews with local industry watchers and other economicdevelopment oYcials suggested that the vast majority are US-based, witha particular dominance by California.14 These patterns are also consistent with a lesser willingness among

Mormon founded and managed software Wrms to seek early-stage Wnanc-ing from sources outside Utah relative to their non-Mormon counterparts.This is true for all three Wrm size categories: (i) survey sample: Micro cate-gory: 38.9 c.f. 44.4%; Medium category: 57.1 c.f. 63.4%; (Medium-large cat-egory: 62.5 c.f. 100%); (ii) case study sample: 33.3 c.f. 50%.

sis.15 Many research participants were aware of the limits ofsuch an introverted approach, consistent with previousstudies which have demonstrated that where Wrms relymainly on internal resources their individual performanceis weakened, along with that of the entire regional system(see e.g. MacPherson, 1992; Wiig and Wood, 1997). Rarelydoes a single Wrm have superior capabilities in all phases ofthe production process, and so it is imperative that theytake advantage of the synergies that Xow from sharedenterprise. As such, the introvertedness of particular Mor-mon founded and managed Wrms can be viewed as a secondpotential constraint on their innovative capacities.

4.2. Consequences for Wrms’ absorptive capacities

Continuous technological learning and innovation aretherefore highly dependent on Wrms’ abilities to accessexternal sources of information and knowledge. Funda-mentally however, they are also dependent on Wrms’ abili-ties to assimilate, reconWgure, transform and apply newinformation to commercial ends. DiVerent ‘absorptivecapacities’ (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990) are not random.Rather, the ability to absorb new knowledge will alwaysdepend on socio-cultural constructions of what is accept-able and desirable (Schoenberger, 1997; Westwood andLow, 2003). The innovation and learning literature has con-sistently highlighted a set of cultural norms that, if widelyshared by the members of a Wrm, actively promote the gen-eration of new ideas and help in the implementation of newapproaches. These include a climate of openness in whichdebate and conXict are encouraged; a willingness to breakwith convention; widespread support for trying new things;the right of employees to challenge the status quo; and mul-tiple advocacy, that learning requires more than one ‘cham-pion’ if it is to succeed (Deal and Kennedy, 2000; DiBellaet al., 1996). Firms’ abilities to innovate therefore presumea necessary relationship between learning and activeemployee involvement at all levels; that all employees canact as independent agents, take responsibility, experiment,and make mistakes as they learn (Spender, 1996).

However, these traits contrast with Mormonism in fourways. First, Mormon culture is characterized by culturalemphases on unity and individual sacriWce for the com-mon good, which previous studies highlight as sustainingstrong tendencies towards group conformity (Shupe, 1992).Second, these are reinforced by a pervasive respect for

15 Strategic partners deWned in terms joint product development and/orR&D, or other self-identiWed formal alliances as outlined on Wrms’ corporatewebsites and subsequently conWrmed by research participants working inUtah’s software industry. Utah only strategic partners for Mormon foundedand managed Wrms compared with non-Mormon founded and managedWrms: (i) survey sample: Micro category: 0.8 c.f. 1.5; Medium category: 1.4 c.f.2.3; (Medium-large category: 0.7 c.f. 3.0); (ii) case study sample: 0.2 c.f. 0.8. Allstrategic partners (Utah and beyond) for Mormon founded and managedWrms compared with non-Mormon founded and managed Wrms: (i) surveysample: Micro category: 4.1 c.f. 7.0; Medium category: 3.5 c.f. 7.1; (Medium-large category: 4.9 c.f. 12.0); (ii) case study sample: 4.2 c.f. 7.8.

400 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

established ideas and church operating procedures(Ostling and Ostling, 1999). Third, the LDS Church orga-nizational system is also based on predominantly top-down Xows of information, in which leadership decisionare never challenged, only supported by the wider Mor-mon populace – that ‘when the Prophet speaks the thinkinghas been done’ (Ludlow, 1992). Fourth, these culturalemphases of reverence for established ideas and leadershipauthority are in turn reinforced by wider Mormon empha-ses on being passive, non-confrontational and neverdemeaning another person.

SigniWcantly, these distinctive Mormon cultural traitsare also manifest in the Wrms in the case study sample.Approximately 40% of these Wrms are self-identiWed by theindustry research participants as having corporate culturesthat place a premium on unity within the Wrm, and a ‘followthy leader’ mentality. This includes two thirds of the Mor-mon founded and managed Wrms, half of the Mormonintermediate Wrms, but only one of the non-Mormon Wrms.Indeed, over half of the non-Mormon industry researchparticipants identiWed their Mormon colleagues andemployees as generally less willing to question ideas andleadership authority. Additionally, almost one third of the(47) active Mormon industry research participants alsoidentiWed this trend among their fellow Mormon employeesand colleagues generally, arguing that Mormon managersand employees raised in the LDS Church simply ‘borrow’from the models that are familiar to them.

Research participants outlined multiple ways in whichthese Mormon-inXected corporate cultures are advanta-geous. First, they suggested that a common value basemakes it easier for the Wrm to mesh as a team, consistentwith norms highlighted in the innovation literature as pro-moting corporate implementation of new ideas, namely:teamwork, a shared vision and a common direction uponwhich Wrms can build consensus, mutual respect and trust(O’Reilly, 1989). Second, there was also widespread appre-ciation among Mormon and non-Mormon research partici-pants alike of the more friendly and less stressful workenvironments that these Mormon-informed corporate cul-

tures sustain. However, research participants also identiWeda number of disadvantages of these same corporate cul-tures, in terms of Mormon cultural traits of respect forestablished ideas, unity and top-down leadership authoritypotentially undermining the processes of creative dissent,constant questioning and multi-directional knowledgeXows that underpin innovation in Wrms.16 Indeed many ofthe Mormon industry research participants were them-selves aware of these limits (see James, 2006a).

Overall therefore, while in some cases the Mormon cul-tural constitution of Wrms’ individual corporate culturespotentially enhances and reinforces their innovative capaci-ties; in other cases it potentially constrains them. To get ahandle on the overall meaning and implications of thesetensions for Wrms’ economic performance, Wve metrics wereemployed:17 (i) linear revenue growth since start-up; (ii)assumed exponential revenue growth since start-up; (iii)R&D intensity I (R&D expenditure to annual revenue); (iv)R&D intensity II (R&D employment to total employment);and (v) productivity in terms of revenue per employee. Theresults are shown in Table 3.

The data in Table 4 show that for four of the Wve metricsof Wrms’ economic performance, the non-Mormon Wrmsoutperform their Mormon counterparts (highlighted inbold). These diVerences are not likely to be a function ofage (that the non-Mormon Wrms are simply older and morewell established) because the age distributions of the Mor-mon and non-Mormon Wrms are almost identical for eachof the employee size categories employed. Nor are thesediVerences a function of Mormon and non-Mormon Wrmsbeing in diVerent market niches: all Wrms are classiWedunder the same NAICS code. While limits of space preclude

16 I am nevertheless aware of the debates surrounding the need for con-structive confrontation in the Wrm, given the success of Japanese Wrmsbased on very non-confrontational work cultures (see e.g. Ouchi, 1981; Pa-scale and Athos, 1982; Suzuki et al., 2002).17 Indicators used follow Gertler et al., 2000 and Williamson and Verdin

(1992). Also see Williamson and Verdin (1992) for a discussion of the linksbetween age, growth and experience as sources of business unit advantage.

Table 3Measuring the economic performance of Mormon versus non-Mormon founded and managed computer software Wrms on Utah’s Wasatch Front (fromJames, 2005)

Metric of Wrm competitiveness Survey sample (105 Wrms) Case study sample (20 Wrms)

Micro (1–19 emp) Medium (20–99 emp) (20–99 emp)

Mormon Non Mormon Non Mormon Non

(i) Revenue growth since start-up(a) Linear (2000 UT revenue/age) 0.16 0.32 0.78 1.05 0.18 0.73(b) Exponential (2000 UT revenue/Fage) 0.28 1.05 1.70 1.68 0.56 1.57

(ii) R&D intensity type I(R&D expend as % of sales revenue) 0.23 0.24 0.22 0.53 0.29 0.59

(iii) R&D intensity type II(R&D emp as % of total emp) 0.55 0.57 0.40 0.58 0.57 0.34

(iv) Productivity($1000 revenue/employee) 60.47 155.71 123.69 88.82 88.74 103.83

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 401

a step-by-step analytical discussion here (see James, 2005)the most striking diVerences in economic performance atthe survey level include: exponential growth rates, wherethe non-Mormon Wrms outperform their Mormon counter-parts three times over (micro category); Type I R&D inten-sities (non-Mormon Wrms, medium size category, two timesgreater): and productivity (non-Mormon Wrms, micro sizecategory, over two times greater). At the case study level,

the most striking diVerences include: linear growth rates,where the non-Mormon Wrms outperform their Mormoncounterparts four times over; and exponential growth rates(non-Mormon Wrms three times greater). Thus while theresults are not monolithic, they lend support to the thesisthat the Mormon cultural inXection of the corporate cul-tures of the Mormon founded and managed computer soft-ware Wrms in the survey and case study samples (i.e. their

Table 4Measuring the signiWcance of the ‘key individuals’ mechanism of cultural embedding

Note: The two letter abbreviations at the head of the second and third columns (e.g. AN, PQ, IE, etc.) are the anonymised labels assigned to each of the 20case study Wrms.

MORMON FIRMS NON-MORMON FIRMS

MANIFESTATION OF EMBEDDING (Mormon founders AND(SELF-IDENTIFIED) Mormon management)

(Non-Mormon founders AND Non-Mormon management)

AN PQ IE QD EC JE UG LJ BW NN FN XH

BELIEF IN DIVINE INTERVENTION IN THE FIRM Praying Over Corporate Strategic Direction - Firm Level Fasting for the company – individual employees Seeking revelation at the Temple w.r.t. the company

TURNING DOWN IMMORAL WORK Firms unwilling to work on unwholesome content Vocalised as Mormon cultural issue Firm as money-making entity < firm as vehicle for good

MORMON ORIENTATED SOFTWARE PRODUCT As deliberate corporate strategy

EXPLICIT FAMILY ORIENTATION Pay levels to maintain Mormon family units amongst employeesFirms aware of competitors as people with families

CO-OPERATION AND TRUST Mormon partners dominant

SELF-SUFFICIENCY < half the mean total partners (UT and beyond) NO Utah partners

RESPECT FOR ESTABLISHED IDEAS / AUTHORITY High value placed on unity over creative dissent in firm

DEBT AVOIDANCE Internal financing strategy from start-up… …to make a MORAL decision Reservations wr.t. non-Mormon VCist on board

FAMILY (THEN CHURCH) ABOVE ALL Short work weeks (less than half mean average) Above US average holiday lengths Sunday working totally restricted

% POSSIBLE CELLS FILLED 61 12

402 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

‘cultural embeddedness’) has a constraining eVect on localcorporate economic performance, consistent with the con-straints on Wrms’ innovative capacities outlined above.18

5. Unpacking the causal mechanisms and everyday practices of cultural embedding

The cultural embedding of Mormon-founded and man-aged software Wrms on Utah’s Wasatch Front therefore hasimportant consequences for local corporate forms,observed patterns of behaviour, innovation activities and,hence, competitive economic performance. In turn, this begsthe question: what are the everyday causal mechanisms andpractices through which Wrms’ cultural embedding withinthe region is manifested, performed and (un)intentionally(re)produced, and how are these locally instituted in Utah’shigh tech regional economy? Importantly, this attributionof responsibility is necessary to avoid the perpetuation of‘cultural embeddedness’ as a fuzzy concept (see Markusen,1999). Five major mechanisms are identiWable in the Utahcase and these are detailed below.

5.1. Corporate decision makers and opinion leaders

The major mechanism through which Wrms’ behaviour isconstituted through, and unavoidably shaped by, sociallyconstructed cultural norms, values and evaluative criteriacentres on members of a particular regional culture whoalso occupy positions of power within local Wrms. Scholarshave traditionally focused on Wrms’ founders in this contextwho have clear vision of how the Wrm should operate, andhow their personal values, priorities, ideas and values arereadily transmitted to new employees, becoming acceptedwithin the Wrm and often persisting over time (Deal andKennedy, 2000; Schein, 1992). However, the Utah case alsohighlights a range of other everyday ‘opinion leaders’ and‘culture carriers’ including Mormon managers, lead soft-ware engineers and other personnel who by virtue of theirstrong personality or previous achievements have signiW-cant inXuence on the opinions and behaviour of others.Fundamentally, because what the Wrm understands itself tobe is produced through the actions of its employees, the cul-tural identities and commitments of these key individualsare closely entwined with (although not identical to) corpo-rate identities and commitments (Schoenberger, 1994,1997). As such, Mormon cultural values and conventionsinform decision-making processes, corporate strategy and

18 These results for the computer software sector are consistent with con-cerns raised by several local industry commentators at interview regardingthe (under)performance of Utah’s high tech economy more generally overthe last decade. However, the metrics used in the analysis presented hereare based on a narrow economic deWnition of competitiveness. In contrast,increasingly workers and families are being challenged in new ways tocombine the activities of production and reproduction, in an attempt toachieve what has become known as ‘work/life balance’. As such, futureanalyses might usefully include metrics on the social sustainability of cul-turally-informed work practices.

observed behaviour, through deWnitions of what has valueand what does not.

The importance of this ‘key individuals’ mechanism ofembedding is shown in Table 4. This matrix shows how thevarious manifestations of Wrms’ embedding in Mormonism –whose consequences for Wrms’ economic performance werediscussed in Section 4 – are mutually reinforcing among thecase study sample of Wrms. Not unsurprisingly, the Wrmswith Mormon founders, managers, and CEOs exhibited ahigher degree of cultural embedding than their Non-Mor-mon founded and managed counterparts, as measured interms of the proportion of possible matrix cells Wlled foreach type of Wrm (61% for the Mormon Wrms; versus 26%for the Intermediate Mormon Wrms; versus 12% for theNon-Mormon Wrms).

The signiWcance of this mechanism was also conWrmedin the interviews, the majority of research participants Wnd-ing it impossible to draw a line between their cultural iden-tity and their work, instead outlining how Mormonismprovides them with a strong core of values upon which theydraw in the workplace:

‘We try to build the company on what we feel aregood values of the [Mormon] church, because it’sonly natural that the lifestyles that our key employeesare accustomed to inXuence the way we do business,you can’t just leave them on the doorstep. Work is anopportunity for people to see you as an example ofwhat you believe in’. CEO and Co-Founder, activeMormon male

Moreover, for the majority of research participants, theapplication of their religious values within the workplacewas not only regarded as acceptable, but also a ‘natural’thing for them to do, consistent with previous studies (e.g.Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997) which havedocumented how individuals setting up an organizationtypically borrow from models or ideals that are familiar tothem:

‘While it’s not been a passive thing, it’s not been anactive decision to keep the company’s culture in linewith Mormon values either. It’s like no-one inEngland starts a company and say’s everyone’s gonnabe a little reserved and stiV upper-lipped. It’s just theEnglish way of doing things. This is just the Mormonway of doing things’. Director of Brand Manage-ment and User Experience, active Mormon male

Thus, to understand how and why Wrms’ organisationalstructures, workplace norms, decision making processesand observed patterns of behaviour come to be constitutedthrough, and diVerentially shaped by, the socially con-structed norms, values and evaluative criteria within a par-ticular regional culture, we need to engage with thescientists, engineers, programmers and other professionalswhose personal values and commitments become trans-formed over time into deeply-held, implicit shared values,norms and assumptions within the Wrm concerning appro-

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 403

priate behaviour and ways of thinking (Schoenberger,1997).

5.2. Strength in numbers (intra- and inter-Wrm)

In addition to key individuals and opinion leaders, a sec-ond major mechanism through which Wrms come to be cul-turally embedded in the region – as evidenced in the Utahcase – centres on a workforce majority who share similarcultural values to the Wrm’s opinion leaders. Research par-ticipants highlighted three everyday workplace practiceswhich can be grouped together as a ‘strength-in-numbers’mechanism. The Wrst involves conformity to group normsthrough daily associations with others, whose attitudes andbehaviour patterns either reinforce or proscribe (‘punish’)one’s own. On one level, conWdence in one’s own attitudesand beliefs is bolstered when others share the same perspec-tives (Bahr, 1994). At the same time, if we want to beaccepted at work we try to live up the expectations of ourcolleagues, pay attention to their actions and take them asour cue when we are uncertain of what to do (O’Reilly,1989). The greater the proportion of a workforce who sharea set of cultural values, the greater the likelihood that thosevalues become the norm that newcomers take as their cue,and hence that these values become dominant in the Wrm.Second, this is reinforced by observation in the workplaceby other members of one’s own culture. Control comesfrom the knowledge that someone who matters to us is pay-ing close attention to what we are doing and will tell us ifour behaviour is appropriate or inappropriate (O’Reillyand Chatman, 1996, p. 161). The more members of a partic-ular culture in a Wrm’s workforce therefore, the greater thatcontrol. A third practice involves the group ratiWcation ofculturally informed corporate decisions. Because culture isWrst and foremost a group property (Stark, 1996), whatcounts in terms of particular cultural values conditioningWrm behaviour, is not only whether the Wrm’s decision-makers embody those values, but also whether those valuesare ratiWed by the wider work group as a valid basis foraction. If most of the Wrm’s employees do not share thosevalues, even if individuals do bring particular cultural con-siderations into corporate decision-making processes, thesewill rarely strike a responsive chord in most of the othersand instead be smothered by group indiVerence. Researchparticipants in Utah conWrmed the importance of this tri-partite ‘strength in numbers’ mechanism of embedding, butalso stressed the constraints upon its functioning:

‘We [Mormons] are always taught that it is an ethicalsystem we are learning, not just a Sunday morningprocedure. At the same time, the people you see onSunday are a lot like the people you see at work, soit’s easier to carry over that value system into theworkplace’. Lead Programmer, active Mormon male

‘With the majority sharing the same culture, it allowsus to base some of our company decisions on Mor-mon values. And the decisions are pretty easy because

we are all on the same page religiously. But just a cou-ple of key personnel who aren’t Mormon would beenough to swing the pendulum’. Director of Tech-nology and Co-Founder, active Mormon male

Additionally, this tri-partite ‘strength-in-numbers’ mecha-nism also operates at the inter-Wrm level, as shown in Table5. This matrix compares the incidence of the various mani-festations of Wrms’ embedding in Mormonism discussed inSection 4 for case study Wrms in two diVerent counties. Sig-niWcantly, the Mormon founded and managed Wrms inUtah County exhibit a higher degree of cultural embeddingthan do their Salt Lake County counterparts (Table 5 righthand side), with Mormon Wrms in the former Wlling 72% ofthe embeddedness matrix cells, compared with 49% for theirSalt Lake County counterparts. In Utah County, Mormonscomprise 89% of the general population and average 82% ofWrms’ total workforces, compared with Salt Lake Countyequivalent Wgures of 65% and 52% (James, 2003). As such,there is a higher chance that a Mormon Wrm in UtahCounty will be surrounded by other similarly Mormonfounded and managed Wrms from whom its employeesmight receive peer support and group ratiWcation of theirculturally-inXected business patterns, than might a MormonWrm in Salt Lake County, along with inter-Wrm practices ofmutual observation and social control:

‘You see the same people turning up all over. So itwould be awfully strange for me to act totally diVer-ent in business than I do at Church – that visibilityfactor is an accountability factor; if you’re Mormonthen you’d better behave!’ Director of Technologyand Co-Founder, active Mormon male

These data also show a similar pattern for the non-Mor-mon Wrms (see Table 5 left-hand-side), with non-MormonWrms in Utah County evidencing a higher degree of embed-ding (19% of embeddedness matrix cells Wlled) than theirSalt Lake County counterparts (5% of embeddednessmatrix cells Wlled). The pattern for the Mormon Intermedi-ate Wrms reaYrms the signiWcance of the strength-in-num-bers mechanism of embedding, with Intermediate Wrms inUtah County evidencing a higher degree of embeddingthan their Salt Lake County counterparts (Wgures of 33%and 17% respectively).

5.3. Labour recruitment and job search practices

The everyday practices underpinning the ‘key individu-als’ and ‘strength-in-numbers’ mechanisms of culturalembedding outlined above are themselves shaped by aseries of labour recruitment and job search practices which,in the Utah case, reinforce the Mormon cultural constitu-tion of Wrms’ workplace conventions, decision-making pro-cesses, and observed patterns of behaviour. Previously,scholars have suggested that Wrms’ founders have a clearnotion, based on their own cultural history and personality,of how things ought to be in their new Wrm, and use that as

404 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

the basis for their selection of group of people to create acore management team that shares their original vision(Schein, 1992; Furnham and Gunter, 1993). The Utahresults are consistent with these ideas. On one level, thedegree to which Wrms are Mormon founded positively cor-relates with the degree to they are Mormon managed(rxyD 0.510). At the same time, the proportion of Wrms’

total workforces that are Mormon is positively correlatedwith the proportion of Mormons in their founding teams(rxyD 0.687) and management teams (rxyD0.773). Theinterviews highlighted three sets of practices which explainthese patterns: (i) Wrms actively seeking employees thatmatch their own values; (ii) employees actively seekingWrms that match their personal values; and (iii) diYculties

Table 5Measuring the signiWcance of the (inter-Wrm) ‘strength-in-numbers’ mechanism of cultural embedding

Note: the two letter abbreviations at the head of the second and third columns (e.g. AN, PQ, IE, etc.) are the anonymised labels assigned to each of the 20case study Wrms.

MORMON FIRMS NON-MORMON FIRMS

(Mormon foundedAND managed)

MANIFESTATION OF EMBEDDING (Non-Mormon founded AND managed)

(SELF-IDENTIFIED)

UTAH SALT LAKE UTAH SALT LAKE

AN PQ IE QD EC JE UG LJ BW NN FN XH

BELIEF IN DIVINE INTERVENTION IN THE FIRM Praying Over Corporate Strategic Direction - Firm Level Fasting for the company – individual employees Seeking revelation at the Temple w.r.t. the company

TURNING DOWN IMMORAL WORK Firms unwilling to work on unwholesome content Vocalised a Mormon cultural issue Firm as money-making entity < firms as vehicle for good

MORMON ORIENTATED SOFTWARE PRODUCT As deliberate corporate strategy

EXPLICIT FAMILY ORIENTATION Pay levels to maintain Mormon family units Firms aware of competitors as people with families

CO-OPERATION AND TRUST Mormon partners dominant

SELF-SUFFICIENCY < half the mean total partners (UT and beyond) NO Utah partners

RESPECT FOR ESTABLISHED IDEAS / AUTHORITY High value on unity over creative dissent within firm

DEBT AVOIDANCE Internal financing strategy from start-up… …to make a MORAL decision Reservations w.r.t. non-Mormon VCist on board

FAMILY (THEN CHURCH) ABOVE ALL Short work weeks (less than half mean average) Above US average holiday lengths Sunday working totally restricted

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 405

of recruiting (non-Mormon) employees from out of state.These are detailed below.

Under Title VII of the US Civil Rights Act (1964) it isillegal to discriminate in labour recruitment based onassumptions about the abilities, traits or performance ofindividuals of a certain religious, ethnic or cultural group.Nevertheless, results for the Utah case suggest that Wrms dodiscriminate between Mormon versus non-Mormonemployees. On one level, there exist direct Wltering mecha-nisms in the form of explicit requests on the type of candi-date Wrms are seeking to Wll a position, admitted by onequarter of the Wrms in the case study sample with varyingdegrees of candidness:

‘It’s not stated, but when I know they’re Mormon,will I be more likely to call them for interview? – yes.Will I feel more comfortable because I won’t have towrestle with them over issues of character? – yes. If Iwas ever charged with a discrimination lawsuit, wouldthey ever prove it? – probably not’. Director ofTechnology and Co-Founder, active Mormon male

There also exist indirect Wltering mechanisms, as Wrms seekto hire people who provide a ‘good Wt’ with a Wrm’s exist-ing culture. This practice is applicable to all of the Wrms inthe sample, and is consistent with the notion that once wedevelop an integrated set of cultural assumptions, we willbe most comfortable with those who share the same set ofassumptions, and uncomfortable in situations wherediVerent assumptions operate (Schein, 1992, pp. 22–23).Various ‘cultural markers’ (see Table 6) are used byrecruiters to evaluate the desirability of potential candi-dates:

‘If we have someone in from Utah County, I immedi-ately make assumptions about them; something in theway they act or the way they talk. But it’s not overt, Idon’t ever go in and sit down in a hiring process and

say ‘Oh, I wonder if these guys are Mormon or not’. Ijust make those judgments during the course of aninterview’. Director of Marketing, active Mormonmale

‘Job interviews here are a nightmare; I’ve been askedquestions like how long I’ve been married, where did Imeet my husband, do I know Bishop blah from myhome town, which Ward I’m in – things that go realclose to the edges but without ever coming right outand asking if you’re Mormon or not’. Vice Presi-dent of Marketing, inactive Mormon female

Practices of Wrms actively recruiting employees who matchtheir existing cultural priorities is reinforced by potentialemployees actively doing likewise in their search for poten-tial employers. The main preferences vocalised by Mormoncandidates at job interview involve not working Sundays;not working on violent, sexual, or gambling software con-tent; earning a wage that is large enough for their wife toremain at home and so maintain a traditional Mormonnuclear family; and working on products with obvioussocial beneWt. While these are not exclusively Mormonpreferences, research participants suggested that onlypotential Mormon applicants vocalise these issues withexplicit recourse to religious justiWcations. These twin prac-tices of culturally-motivated recruitment and job search arethus crucial for understanding Wrms’ cultural embeddingbecause together they reinforce the ‘key individuals’ and‘strength-in-numbers’ mechanisms through which Wrms’organisational structures, workplace norms, decision mak-ing processes, and observed behaviour are culturally consti-tuted.

Additionally, Utahn Wrms face signiWcant diYculties inrecruiting non-Mormon employees from out of state dueto a series of lifestyle and amenities considerations whichcontrast with those increasingly recognised as attractive to

Table 6Self-identiWed Mormon cultural markers

Cultural marker (self-identiWed) Comments

‘Mormon Speak’ A particular vocabulary, much of which is derived from Mormon religious heritage – e.g. Mormons areforever ‘grateful’, ‘blessed’, ‘humble’, and ‘take counsel’ with people

CTR Rings & Jewellery CTRs (‘Choose the Right’) are a classiWcation of Mormon children aged 4 to 7 yrs, but the popularterms has also given rise to a range of jewellery emblazoned with the initials for teenagers and adults

Garment Lines Garments are the special underclothing worn by Mormons who have gained special endowmentordinances in the Temple. Seams are visible under thin clothing (e.g. business suits) halfway downthe thigh, upper arm, and around the neck

Modesty in Dress Mormons are counselled to be modest in their appearanceNot Drinking Alcohol/Smoking Mormons abstain from most forms of caVeine, alcohol and tobacco as counselled by the ‘Word

of Wisdom’, the LDS Church’s divinely-inspired health codeAvailability on Sundays/

Monday EveningsSunday is the Sabbath within the LDS Church, and Monday evenings the church’s ‘family homeevening’ in which members are urged to undertake worship as a family and when all other churchactivities are suspended

Utah County Residence Utah County’s population is oYcially 90% MormonBYU Alumnus Status Brigham Young University’s student body is over 99% LDSMission Service 2 years for males; 18 months for females. The Mormon mission system enlists 60% of Mormons age

19–26 yrs. Some explicitly state Mission on their resumes, others remove the LDS Church label

406 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

knowledge workers (see Florida, 2002). First, Utah is aracially homogenous state with over 92% of the populationidentifying themselves as white non-Hispanic. Utah’s Mor-mon population is even more homogenous: over 98%white non-Hispanic (Heaton, 1996). The dominant imageof the LDS Church as a predominantly white church of thesuburban west (Lattin and Cimino, 1998) discouragesmany potential employees from moving to Utah. Second, alegacy of the LDS Church’s anti-Equal Rights Amend-ment campaign is a widespread lack of credibility for Mor-monism as an advocate for women (Quinn, 1997). Coupledwith the LDS Church’s active stance against homosexual-ity and gay liberation (May, 2001), this reinforces an ultra-conservative image of Mormon Utah that discouragesmany:

‘You talk to potential employees about coming toUtah, and the only things they know about it is Mor-mons, Donnie and Marie, and ski-ing. So we don’teven get up to the plate with about 90% of the poten-tial employees because they’re afraid that everyone’sgonna be Mormon and they won’t talk to us, that it’sa boring place where nobody drinks and nobody hasfun. I’m a transplant – I told my family I was movingto Utah and quite frankly they thought I was nuts!’CEO, LEL, non-Mormon

‘There’s this perception of Utah as some holier-than-thou Hicksville, that the Mormons are out here intheir stovepipe hats and horse and buggies, a culturallifestyle like in Urban cowboy you know, that we’ll gobull riding and after that we’ll go shear some sheep!OK, so this is not the birth place of free love, but peo-ple have just no sense of how multicultural Salt LakeCity is. So that really limits our ability to grow, and Idon’t know that we’ll ever completely eliminatethat’. Director of User Experience, NSO, activeMormon

Almost three quarters of the Wrms in the case study sampleadmitted severe diYculties of attracting appropriately qual-iWed employees from outside Utah. These barriers thereforerestrict workforce diversity by discouraging non-Mormonpotential employees. At the same time, research partici-pants conWrmed that the majority of their non-Utahemployees who have moved from out of state are membersof the LDS Church keen to move closer to the Mormoncultural heartland. This reinforces the ‘key individuals’ and‘strength-in-numbers’ mechanisms of cultural embeddingoutlined above.

5.4. Education, socialisation and training

Within the geographical literature, universities havebeen widely theorised as central to high tech regional dyna-mism, functioning as: sources of advanced research; supply-ing skilled labour, continuing education and retraining;aggressively licensing their intellectual property; granting

faculty time to consult to Wrms; and developing researchparks and local incubators (e.g. Rogers and Larsen, 1984;Saxenian, 1994; Scott and Paul, 1990). But while these con-crete roles of universities have been well theorised, there hasbeen relatively little discussion of the practices of universi-ties as mechanisms that reinforce Wrms’ cultural embeddingvia graduates as ‘embodied culture’. In Utah, BrighamYoung University (located in Provo 45 miles south of SaltLake City) is the US’s largest privately owned religious uni-versity, wholly Wnanced and managed by the LDS church(Bezzant and Chadwick, 1996). Three everyday practices atBYU are pertinent to the analysis here. First, faculty areencouraged to integrate secular academic learning withLDS religious teachings, and its student body are selectedonly from individuals who voluntarily live the principles ofthe LDS Church. Thus, over 99% of BYU’s current 32,000students are members of the LDS Church (Davies, 1996).Second, as a condition of their continuing enrolment, stu-dents must observe the University’s strict honour code,which includes continuing ecclesiastical endorsement andregular church attendance, along with speciWc policies ondress, grooming, and residential living. This honour codemaintains a strong Mormon culture at BYU. Third, even intheir major subject, students are urged to frame their ques-tions in ‘prayerful’ and ‘faithful’ ways:

‘We encourage students to use the moral indepen-dence they’ve learned to help shape the way businessis done. We’re hoping that the students grow thatinnate spiritual character, that wherever they then goin the world they can hopefully share that point ofview in decisions that are made’. BYU computerscience Professor, active Mormon male

Research participants explained how Mormon-centredexamples are widely used to illustrate academic arguments,even in technical subjects, and how many student meetingsare opened with prayers (traits also prevalent amongst theMormon founded and managed Wrms in the case study Wrmsample19).

The strength of this mechanism of cultural embeddingcentres, therefore, on graduates socialized into BYU’s dis-tinctive culture taking its attendant norms, attitudes andvalues to their subsequent Wrms on employment, via thelabour recruitment and job search mechanisms of culturalembedding outlined above. SigniWcantly, around one quar-ter of BYU computer science graduates stay in Utah oncethey have graduated (BYU Internal Salary Survey, 1996–1999). Moreover, the survey showed that of Utah’s lead105 software Wrms, 36% of Wrms were founded by BYUalumni (includes 55% of all the Mormon founded Wrms),and 33% of Wrms were headed by CEO’s who are BYUalumni. Additionally, one quarter of the Wrms in the casestudy sample outlined an explicit preference for BYU

19 Prevalence of meetings opened with prayers (in 5 Wrms in the casestudy sample, all 5 have majority Mormon workforces and Mormon man-agement teams).

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 407

graduates, on the basis of the mission experience.20 Thevast majority of BYU’s student body are returned mission-aries. Having defended the church and its doctrines fortwo years, returned missionaries tend to be more orthodoxand active in the church than other members (Vernon,1980). Consequently, BYU students are also typically twoyears older than the average undergraduate elsewhere andare recognised as more self-assured, polished, mature,and self-conWdent (Stark, 2001), which many local WrmsWnd attractive:

‘When you get a young man at the age 19, send themout to a foreign country and tell them to ‘sell JesusChrist’, that’s a very challenging position to be in. Butyou learn that it’s OK to be rejected, how to move on,how to communicate with people, and come backmore emotionally mature than your buddies who’vebeen at Frat parties’. CEO and Co-Founder, activeMormon male

Two other elements of the LDS educational system furtherreinforce the Mormon cultural embedding of Wrms inUtah’s high tech regional economy. First, as the LDSChurch continues to grow in excess of 11 million membersworldwide, the result is that there are currently over200,000 college-aged church members in the US alone,while the BYU undergraduate population remains limitedto 32,000. Consequently, the quality of BYU students ismuch higher than would otherwise be expected for compa-rable universities elsewhere in the US, further reinforcingtheir attractiveness to many Utahn high tech employers,with important consequences for Wrms’ cultural embeddingvia the labour recruitment and job search mechanismsdescribed above. Second, in addition to BYU, the LDSChurch also operates 1407 institutes at colleges and univer-sities in the US and Canada (including the University ofUtah) to provide LDS-orientated educational and socialprogrammes for college students in secular education (LDSChurch/Deseret News, 2000), and therefore exercise a highdegree of social control over non-BYU Mormon students’(and hence graduates’) sense of identity and behaviour (seeBahr, 1994). Crucially, these components of the LDSChurch educational system also increase the chances ofyoung Mormons maintaining their commitment to LDSculture in later (work) life.

5.5. Legislative structures: local and extra-local

Finally, to understand fully the practices and mecha-nisms through which Wrms come to be culturally embeddedwithin regional economies, it is important also to consider

20 In 1999 the LDS Church supported 58,593 LDS Missionaries in theWeld across the US and to 119 other countries worldwide (LDS Church/Deseret News, 2000), approximately 75% of whom are young men betweenthe ages of 19 and 26. After 8 weeks training in Utah, Missionaries are sentout in pairs, on two year assignments (18 months for females) to teach theLDS Gospel, win converts, and participate in community service.

the role of political-economic institutions at multiple scaleswhich structure Wrm behaviour and labour market func-tioning (see also Whitley, 2000). Two pieces of state legisla-tion play a major role in reinforcing the Mormon culturalconstitution of many of Utah’s computer software Wrms’internal structures and observed patterns of behaviour asoutlined. First, Utah maintains some of the toughest stateliquor laws and anti-smoking policies in the US,21 reinforc-ing the ultraconservative image of Mormon Utah whichdiscourages many non-Mormon potential employees fromout of state moving to Utah, employees that would other-wise weaken the Mormon cultural constitution of localsoftware Wrms’ workplace practices and behaviour cur-rently premised on Mormon majority workforces. Second,Utah is a ‘right-to-work’ state, which prohibits contractualterms conditioning employment on membership in, orWnancial support of, a labor union.22 Research participantsexplained the implications of this legislation for reinforcingthe multiple ways in which the norms, values and evaluativecriteria within Mormonism inform the practices and behav-iour of local Wrms:

‘Legislation in Utah is very much in favour of theemployer. As this right-to-work state, employers canallow their religion to drive their management style,they can hold business meetings where prayers aresaid and it’s no big deal. You say a prayer at a busi-ness meeting in California [non right-to-work state],you’re gonna get your butt sued oV!’. President andCEO and Founder, WSU, non-Mormon female

Both pieces of legislation evidence the systemic power ofthe LDS Church in Utah government (Burbank et al.,2001). Because the Mormon component of Utah’s popula-tion has grown past 70%, almost invariably most of thecandidates for Utah public oYce have been members of theLDS Church. There is also a very strong public perceptionin Utah that non-Mormons, women, and ethnic minoritieshave little chance of being elected and so few stand foroYce. These two key factors have historically combined toproduce Mormon majorities in excess of 80% in the Utahlegislature in recent decades (Burbank et al., 2001, p. 172;Quinn, 1997). Thus, even though the LDS Church as a for-mal institution rarely gets involved in Utah politics, deci-sions are nevertheless made as if it had been involved. Thus,Utah’s anti-liquor and anti-smoking laws reXect the LDSprohibition of alcohol and tobacco use as part of itsdivinely-inspired health code; and Utah’s right-to-workstatus (since 1955), the LDS Church’s historical opposition

21 Utah has the toughest anti-smoking policy of any US state, and al-though Utah’s liquor laws have been relaxed as part of preparations forthe 2002 winter olympics, many restaurants still require that customers geta patron who is a ‘member’ of the establishment to sponsor them in orderthat they be allowed to buy alcohol.22 The origin of the phrase “right to work” is often attributed to a 1941

Dallas Morning News editorial which urged the adoption of an amend-ment to the federal constitution protecting the right of employees to workwithout coercion with respect to joining a labor union.

408 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

to labour unions, and its doctrines on work as a God-givenprivilege that should be available to all (Ludlow, 1992).

US federal legislation is also important. Most impor-tantly, the US Workplace Religious Freedom Act (1972)amended Title VII of the US Civil Rights Act (1964) torequire employers to make reasonable accommodation forthe religious beliefs of employees and prospective employ-ees, unless doing so would ‘impose an undue hardship’,deWning religion as ‘all aspects of religious observance andpractice, as well as belief’. The Religious Freedom Restora-tion Act (1997) further increased employers’ responsibilitiesto accommodate workers’ religious beliefs within the work-place. These two pieces of legislation therefore reinforceWrms’ obligations to accommodate Mormon workers’ reli-gious-cultural values at work, reinforcing the ‘strength-in-numbers’ mechanism of cultural embedding premised onpractices of conformity to group norms, mutual observa-tion, and group ratiWcation of culturally informed deci-sions.

5.6. Integrating the causal mechanisms of cultural embedding

Rather than the all-encompassing notions of ‘regionalculture’ often employed in the regional learning and inno-vation literature, Paivi Oinas has instead argued for recog-nition of the distinction between: (i) regional culture; (ii)regional industrial culture; and (iii) organisational cultures(see Oinas, 1995, p. 202):

‘Why are these distinctions important? Becauseƒ ithelps us to understand Wrms as actors in regionaldevelopment: as actors having to operate in – and atleast partly having to accept as a given – a preexistingregional culture, but also as actors that within thatwider culture create their own internal organizationalcultures and participate in the formation of a regionalindustrial culture that, in its turn, supports theiroperation.’ (Oinas, 1995, pp. 202–203).

Firms’ cultural embeddedness can therefore be understoodin terms of the ways in which regional cultural systems ofcollective beliefs, ideologies, understandings and conven-tions (regional culture) shape local Wrms’ systems of organi-zational control, rule systems and decision-makingprocesses (organisational culture). Indeed, these culturallyinXected patterns of corporate behaviour are often com-mon to other Wrms in the region (regional industrial cul-ture) (see James, 2005). It is the various manifestations ofthese cultural inXections, their meaning and consequencesfor Wrms’ observed economic performances, and theirunderlying causal mechanisms and responsible agentswhich have formed the focus of this paper.

Overall, the causal mechanisms through which regionalcultural imperatives unavoidably come to inform Wrms’organizational structures, workplace conventions, deci-sion-making processes, and observed patterns of behav-iour as evidenced in the Utah case are representedgraphically in Fig. 1. The primary mechanisms are two-

fold. The Wrst can be termed the ‘key individuals’ mecha-nism, and centres on Wrms’ founders and managementteams who exist simultaneously as members of the Wrm andof the regional culture and whose personal actions, identi-ties and commitments become closely entwined with corpo-rate identities and commitments. This is in turn reinforcedby the ‘strength-in-numbers’ mechanism in which cultur-ally-informed decisions are ratiWed at the group level, rein-forced by processes of conformity to the group, mutualobservance and peer pressure, and which operate atboth the intra- and inter-Wrm levels. These primary mecha-nisms are underpinned by a series of secondary reinforcingmechanisms which include: (i) culturally-motivated jobsearch and labour recruitment practices which reinforceexisting corporate cultures, as Wrms seek employees thatmatch their existing corporate culture, and employees seekWrms that match their own personal values; (ii) educationaland skilling mechanisms, in which graduates as embodiedcul-ture take the university’s cultural values, attitudes andnorms into which they have been socialised to the Wrmsthat subsequently employ them; (iii) programmes adminis-tered by civic institutions that socialise their individualmembers into a particular set of values and which there-fore maintain a high degree of social control over mem-bers’ sense of identity and behaviour patterns; and (iv)local, regional and national legislation that strengthensthe power of the employer vis-à-vis the employee, or whichincreases employers’ responsibilities to accommodatetheir employees’ particular cultural lifestyles in the work-place.

Overall, therefore, cultural embeddedness is not pre-given, inherited or static, but continually remade via thesevarious causal mechanisms and practices which might use-fully be grouped together in terms of their eVects on threegeneral sets of ‘relations of embeddedness’, namely: (i)those between individuals and individuals; (ii) thosebetween individuals and the Wrm; and (iii) and thosebetween the Wrm and its wider (formal and informal) insti-tutional environment. In this way, the cultural values, atti-tudes, expectations and behaviour of employees and Wrmsin the region are informed by those of its lead civic, educa-tional, political and labour institutions, in turn shaped bylegislative mechanisms at the regional and national scaleswhich regulate patterns of corporate governance. Thesespill over to workers, Wrms and industries in the regionthrough the course of time (see also Martin et al., 1994), ineVect setting the social rules and deWning the norms ofbehaviour across Wrms throughout the region (see Glasme-ier, 2000). This is not to argue that regional culture mechan-ically or rigidly determines worker and Wrm behaviour, butrather that it structures the material and cultural resourcesthat enable and constrain the actions of individuals and theWrms in which they work. As such, it is imperative that weconceptualise the Wrm as embedded in socio-cultural rela-tions both as a collectivity and via the embeddedness of itsindividual employees (see also Oinas, 1999) articulatedthrough the three sets of relations detailed above.

A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413 409

6. Conclusion

While the concept of ‘cultural embeddedness’ has beendrawn upon extensively to theorise and explain uneven pat-terns of regional economic development, our understandingof the causal mechanisms and practices through which spa-tially variable sets of socio-cultural conventions, norms,attitudes, values and beliefs shape and condition the eco-nomic performance of Wrms in regional industrial systemsremains under-speciWed. On the one hand, regional learningaccounts tend to ‘dehumanise’ processes of cultural embed-ding by divorcing them from everyday material practice asexperienced by workers. On the other hand, this literaturealso suVers from a tendency to underemphasise the impor-tance of wider extra-local structures based on a misplacedconception of regions as ‘closed systems’ or mere ‘contain-ers’ of intangible assets and sociocultural structures. In con-trast, this paper has sought to make visible the everydaypractices, mechanisms and emergent eVects both locallyand extra-locally through which the cultural embedding ofWrms within regional economies is performed and (un)unin-tentionally (re)produced. Drawing on the case study of thehigh tech regional economy in Salt Lake City, Utah, thepaper Wrst summarised how local computer software Wrms’abilities to access external sources of knowledge and com-petencies, and to use new knowledge once it enters the Wrmare diVerentially shaped by the socially constructed norms,values and evaluative criteria within this region’s dominant

culture (particularly Mormon ethics of unity, reciprocity,self-suYciency, independence, self-reliance and non-con-frontation). The paper has also explored the meaning andconsequences of that cultural embedding for Wrms’ eco-nomic performance, as measured across a series of metricsof competitiveness. Second, in contrast to previous tenden-cies within the regional learning literature to ‘dehumanise’cultural embeddedness as a reiWed set of inherited relations,the analysis focused on the deliberative human agents,actors and bureaus whose ongoing purposive actions arenot only constitutive of, but also themselves constrained by,processes of cultural embedding. As part of this, the analy-sis unpacked some important extra-regional labour marketpractices and national legislative structures.

While the analysis presented here has illustrated thesemechanisms with regard to the Utah case, arguably theserepresent locally-instituted manifestations of more generalmechanisms which are potentially applicable to otherregions with strong cultures, be those based on class, eth-nicity, unionization, or industrial specialization. But whatof empirical conWrmation of that transferability? Impor-tantly, some recent work on the masculinist work culturesin Cambridge’s high tech regional economy (Gray andJames, 2007; c.f. Massey, 1995) and on the long hours workculture in Dublin’s ICT cluster (James, 2006b) has identi-Wed similar mechanisms of cultural embedding in opera-tion, and hence that the analysis presented does potentiallyoVer a useful framework for understanding the everyday

Fig. 1. Connecting the major mechanisms of Wrms’ cultural embedding in the region.

NATIONAL-SCALE POLITICAL LEGISLATION e.g. Civil Rights Act (1964) & Workplace Religious Freedom Act (1972)

STATE-SCALE POLITICAL LEGISLATION e.g. anti-smoking and liquor licensing laws; impacts on amenities and lifestyle choices

CORPORATE DECISION MAKERS & OPINION LEADERS Simultaneous occupation of positions of corporate power and regional cultural identity

Borrowing from models are familiar with

STRENGTH IN NUMBERSINTRA-FIRM LEVEL INTER-FIRM LEVEL

Conformity to norms of the group Influence of surrounding firms Mutual observance Visibility factor – lead firms Group ratification of culturally-informed decisions

CIVIC INSTITUTIONS

Socialisation

Systemic govt power

LABOUR RECRUITMENT

Firms actively seeking employees that match their own values

Employees seeking firms that match their own values

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Universities/colleges

Graduates as embodied culture

FOUNDING / MANAGING / STAFFING FIRMS

410 A. James / Geoforum 38 (2007) 393–413

mechanisms and practices which underpin the mutual con-stitution of culture/economy in other places. Clearly how-ever, there remains considerable scope for future studies toexplore this transferability.

Second, in order to avoid a static view of embedded-ness, future work should explore further how the meaningand consequences of these diVerent mechanisms and prac-tices of cultural embedding for Wrms’ observed behaviourand economic performance evolve over time, as Wrmsgrow in size, set up subsidiaries in other regions, or elsemerge with other Wrms. Preliminary results from the Utahcase suggest that as Wrms grow from small cohesivegroups of people committed to similar culturally-informed goals and objectives to larger, more bureau-cratic and segmented type corporate environments, thevalues of the founders and the original group oftenbecame lost (‘key individuals’ mechanism weakened), inturn reinforced by new employees joining a company witha greater diversity of skill sets and cultural backgrounds,resulting in a lesser ratiWcation of regionally-culturally-informed decisions within the Wrm (‘strength-in-numbers’mechanism weakened):

‘So last year in particular we went through a lot ofpolitical in-Wghting with this new batch of employees,with the traditional LDS structure really Wghting upagainst the people who came in from the outside. Andthe outside won, they usually always do’. Directorof Marketing, FQY, active Mormon

And Wnally, given the negative impacts of some mecha-nisms and practices of cultural embedding on Wrms’ eco-nomic performance as illustrated in the Utah case, futurework might also explore the amenability of these variousmechanisms to deliberate programmes of targeted changein pursuit of new patterns of Wrm behaviour and henceregional economic development (for example, in line withthe myriad cluster policy proscriptions in the UK, US andbeyond that have simply exhorted Wrms to become morecooperative or embracing of risk). In so doing, cultural eco-nomic geographers can further their development of a pow-erful, in-depth empirical corpus of work commensuratewith the exciting conceptual developments that have largelydominated cultural economic geography over the lastdecade, and hence circumvent the critiques of ‘thin empir-ics’ and ‘scanty evidence’ recently leveled at the sub-disci-pline (Markusen, 1999; Martin, 2001).

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for comments on earlier versions of thispaper by Mia Gray, Jane Pollard, Sarah Damery, threeanonymous referees, and audiences at invited seminars tothe Departments of Geography at the Universities of New-castle Upon Tyne, Oxford and Lund. Thanks also to all ofmy research participants in Utah who kindly took time outfrom their busy work schedules to be interviewed, and espe-cially those who bought me lunch. The research was funded

by the Economic and Social Research Council (Award:R00429934224).

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