Senter for teknologi, innovasjon og kultur (TIK) - Universitetet i Oslo Environments Tirsdag 15. november 2005 Forelesning 3

Senter for teknologi, innovasjon og kultur (TIK) - Universitetet i Oslo

Environments

Tirsdag 15. november 2005Forelesning 3


Core question

• Which factors determine how organizations relate to their environments?


Outline

1. Levels of environments

2. Characteristics of environments

3. Interdependence of Organizations and Environments

4. Buffering and bridging tactics

5. Change at multiple levels



• Organizational sets:– Those organizations that a focal organization interacts

with.

• Organizational domain– Range of products/services, types of

clients/consumers

• Both view the environment from the standpoint of a focal organization



• Organizational populations:– Aggregats of organizations that are similar in kind

(newspapers, hospitals, restaurants etc.)

– What determines the boundaries of populations?• Blueprint for organizational action• Dominant competences• Organizational forms – normative enforcement



• Interorganizational communities– Geographical group of organizations– Collectively beneficial structures within the community

– But what about hierarchical linkages?



• Organizational fields:– ”collection of interdependent organizations operating

with common rules, norms, and meaning systems.”• Interdependence and coevolution• Disappearance and emergence• Intermediary between organizations and larger

societal structures



• Material-resource environments– Task environment (all aspects relevant for goal setting

and attainment)

– Stocks of resources (dependence on others for resources)

– Sources of information (uncertainty)



• Institutional environments

– Regulative institutions

– Normative institutions

– Cultural-cognitive institutions

– Eksempel: Norske Skog og Union



• Cultural-cognitive institutions

– Rationalized myths

• ”Organizations receive support and legitimacy to the extent that they conform to contemporary norms of the ”appropriate” way to organize.”



• Institutional foundations of material-resource environments

– Technologies are shaped by social intentions and concerns

– Markets are socially constructed– Rules regulate activity– Institutions shape the nature of preferences and

courses of action



• Technical control– Output control (What you produce is important)

• Institutional control– Procedural and structural control (How you do it is

important)



BanksHospitals

Manufacturing

RestaurantsSchools

Stronger

Stronger

Weaker

Weaker

Institutional controls

Technical controls



• Organizations interpret and choose their environments – Enactment– Attention structure (cannot attend everything)– Information systems (what you measure)



• Organizations can influence their environment– Large org– Advertising– Lobbying – PR



• Organizational boundaries may change– Expansion and contraction


4. Buffering and bridging

• Technical buffering tactics – Techniques that seal off the core technology from

the environment– Create stability and predictability



• Technical buffering tactics – Coding (controlling inputs)– Stockpiling (keeping a stock of resources)– Leveling (keeping input and output steady)– Forecasting (anticipation of demands)– Adjusting scale (keeping output at the right level)



• Technical bridging tactics• Techniques that secure support from other organizations

that are important – Bargaining– Contracting– Co-optation– Hierarchical contracts– Joint ventures– Strategic alliances– Mergers– Associations– Government connections



• Institutional buffering tactics• Tactics that allow organizations to not

really adjust to changes in institutions– Symbolic coding– Decoupling (display elements that are

normatively required but have no real impact)

– Avoidance (ways to not comply)



• Institutional bridging tactics• Tactics that create conformity with

environmental demands– Categorical conformity– Structural conformity– Procedural conformity– Personell conformity


5. Change at multiple levels

• Two main processes: adaptation and selection– Sub-organizational level– Organizational level– Population level– Field level

Documents

Senter for teknologi, innovasjon og kultur (TIK) - Universitetet i Oslo Environments Tirsdag 15. november 2005 Forelesning 3