Serving two masters: Transformative resolutions to institutional contradictions
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
1-1-2014
Abstract
In this article, we use the case of religious research universities to explore the presence of multiple institutional logics with the potential for contradiction and conflict. In particular, building on existing research on conflicting institutional logics, we assess the most common forms of resolution (replacement, dominant logic, decoupling, compartmentalization, and coexistence) and identify the potential for a new form of resolution- a transformative outcome that resolves the conflicts through adoption of a superordinate logic. Drawing on the history of Baylor University, we illustrate different forms of resolution, proposing its most recent efforts may represent a transformative outcome. We close by presenting a model for resolving institutional contradictions which suggest some resolutions may trigger cycles of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization when they are inherently unstable because they mitigate rather than resolve the conflict between institutional logics. Copyright © 2014 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Research in the Sociology of Organizations
Volume
41
Citation/Publisher Attribution
De Jordy, Rich, Brad Almond, Richard Nielsen, and W. E.Douglas Creed. "Serving two masters: Transformative resolutions to institutional contradictions." Research in the Sociology of Organizations 41, (2014): 301-337. doi: 10.1108/S0733-558X20140000041017.