Micro-Institutional Processes

Institutional theory has developed into a leading perhaps the dominant perspective in organizational analysis these days. One prominent point of criticism of institutional theory has been its overly strong emphasis on the macro level. In recent years, however, institutional scholars have begun to vigorously address this issue by expanding the scope of the theory to embrace a multi-level approach that explicitly incorporates the role of intraorganizational phenomena. As a result, the study of micro-institutional processes has seen much advocacy and enthusiasm. The increasing attention over the past few years not withstanding, it is clear that research into micro-institutional processes is still nascent and little consensus exists on what exactly these processes are or should be. Therefore, the purpose of this panel symposium is to engage a group of panelists in a formal, moderated, interactive discussion of (1) the definition of key micro-institutional processes; (2) core research questions; (3) important hurdles in making progress; (4) interfaces to adjacent research streams; and (5) methods that can be employed (among other topics).