Preview

Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
9412 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony
Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony
Author(s): John W. Meyer and Brian Rowan
Reviewed work(s):
Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 83, No. 2 (Sep., 1977), pp. 340-363
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778293 .
Accessed: 25/01/2012 14:10
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
American Journal of Sociology.

http://www.jstor.org

Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremonyl
John W. Meyer and Brian Rowan
Stanford University

Many formal organizational structures arise as reflections of rationalized institutional rules. The elaboration of such rules in modern states and societies accounts in part for the expansion and increased complexity of formal organizational structures. Institutional rules function as myths which organizationsincorporate,gaining legitimacy, resources, stability, and enhanced survival prospects. Organizations whose structures become isomorphic with the myths of the institutional environment-in contrast with those primarily structured by the demands of technical production and exchange-decrease internal coordination and control in order to maintain legitimacy. Structures are decoupled from each other and from ongoing activities. In place of coordination, inspection, and evaluation, a logic of confidence and good faith is employed.
Formal organizationsare generally



References: Aiken, Michael, and Jerald Hage. 1968. "Organizational Interdependence and Intra-organizational Structure." American Sociological Review 33 (December): 912-30. Bell, Daniel. 1973. The Coming of Post-industrial Society. New York: Basic. Bendix, Reinhard. 1964. Nation-Building and Citizenship. New York: Wiley. Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckmann. 1967. The Social Construction of Reality. New York: Doubleday. Blau, Peter M. 1956. Bureaucracy in Modern Society. New York: Random House. Blum, Alan F., and Peter McHugh. 1971. "The Social Ascription of Motives." American Sociological Review 36 (December): 98-109. Callahan, Raymond E. 1962. Education and the Cult of Efficiency. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Carlson, Richard 0. 1962. Executive Succession and Organizational Change. Chicago: Midwest Administration Center, University of Chicago. Clark, Burton R. 1956. Adult Education in Transition. Berkeley: University of California Press. Dalton, Melville. 1959. Men Who Manage. New York: Wiley. Dowling, John, and Jeffrey Pfeffer. 1975. "Organizational Legitimacy." Pacific Sociological Review 18 (January): 122-36. Downs, Anthony. 1967. Inside Bureaucracy. Boston: Little, Brown. Durkheim, ]2mile. 1933. The Division of Labor in Society. New York: Macmillan. Ellul, Jacques. 1964. The TechnologicalSociety. New York: Knopf. Emery, Fred L., and Eric L. Trist. 1965. "The Causal Texture of Organizational Environments." Human Relations 18 (February): 21-32. Freeman, John Henry. 1973. "Environment, Technology and Administrative Intensity of Manufacturing Organizations." American Sociological Review 38 (December): 750-63. Goffman, Erving. 1967. Interaction Ritual. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor. Hawley, Amos H. 1968. "Human Ecology." Pp. 328-37 in International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by David L Hirsch, Paul M. 1975. "Organizational Effectiveness and the Institutional Environment." Administrative Science Quarterly20 (September): 327-44. Homans, George C. 1950. The Human Group. New York: Harcourt, Brace. March, James G., and Johan P. Olsen. 1976. Ambiguity and Choice in Organizations. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget. March, James G., and Herbert A. Simon. 1958. Organizations. New York: Wiley. Merton, Robert K. 1940. "Bureaucratic Structure and Personality." Social Forces 18 (May): 560-68. Meyer, John W., and Brian Rowan. 1975. "Notes on the Structure of Educational Organizations." Paper presented at annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco. Mills, C. Wright. 1940. "Situated Actions and Vocabularies of Motive." American Sociological Review 5 (February): 904-13. Ouchi, William, and Mary Ann Maguire. 1975. "Organizational Control: Two Functions." Administrative Science Quarterly20 (December): 559-69. Parsons, Talcott. 1956. "Suggestions for a Sociological Approach to the Theory of Organizations I." Administrative Science Quarterly 1 (June): 63-85. -. 1971. The System of Modern Societies. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Perrow, Charles. 1970. Organizational Analysis: A Sociological View. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth. Salancik, Gerald R., and Jeffrey Pfeffer. 1974. "The Bases and Use of Power in Organizational Decision Making." Administrative Science Quarterly 19 (December): 453-73. Scott, Marvin B., and Stanford M. Lyman. 1968. "Accounts." American Sociological Review 33 (February): 46-62. Scott, W. Richard. 1975. "Organizational Structure." Pp. 1-20 in Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 1, edited by Alex Inkeles. Palo Alto, Calif.: Annual Reviews. Selznick, Philip. 1949. TVA and the Grass Roots. Berkeley: University of California Press. Spencer, Herbert. 1897. Principles of Sociology. New York: Appleton. Starbuck, William H. 1976. "Organizations and their Environments." Pp. 1069-1123 in Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, edited by Marvin D Swanson, Guy E. 1971. "An Organizational Analysis of Collectivities." American Sociological Review 36 (August): 607-24. Terreberry, Shirley. 1968. "The Evolution of Organizational Environments." Administrative Science Quarterly 12 (March): 590-613. Thompson, James D. 1967. Organizations in Action. New York: McGraw-Hill. Tyack, David B. 1974. The One Best System. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Udy, Stanley H., Jr. 1970. Workin Traditional and Modern Society. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Weber, Max. 1930. The Protestant 'sEthic and theSpirit of Capitalism. New York: Scribner 's. Weick, Karl E. 1976. "Educational Organizations as Loosely Coupled Systems." Administrative Science Quarterly21 (March): 1-19. Wilensky, Harold L. 1965. "The Professionalization of Everyone?" American Journal of Sociology 70 (September): 137-58. Woodward, Joan. 1965. Industrial Organization, Theory and Practice. London: Oxford University Press. Zald, Mayer N., and Patricia Denton. 1963. "From Evangelism to General Service: The Transformation of the YMCA." AdministrativeScience Quarterly8 (September): 214-34.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful