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Despite the importance of the government forces in environmental governance, it remains unclear whether government digitalisation, an important governmental transition triggered by the integration of digital technologies into regulatory process, can alleviate corporate environmental violations. Drawing on institutional theory, we propose that government digitalisation has a negative relationship with corporate environmental violation, while this negative relationship depends on the regulative, normative and cognitive factors that shape the institutional environments. We test these ideas by examining the response of publicly listed firms to the reform of digital government in China. Our findings contribute to the understanding of institutional theory on environmental governance by highlighting the positive role of government digitalisation and provide important practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport's social context has become increasingly marked by concerns for sedentary lifestyles and subsequent health issues. The current Canadian Sport Policy 2012 acknowledges this problematic rate of sedentary living across Canada and as such, mandates sport promotion and healthy living outcomes. This study seeks to understand how sport organisations are incorporating healthy living into their agendas as per their policy mandate. More specifically, this study explores (1) sources of health-related institutional pressures for Canadian Multisport Service Organizations (MSO); (2) how Canadian MSOs are responding to health-related institutional pressures; (3) and the different organisational forms that may shape MSOs' responses. We capitalise on both institutional and archetype theories to create a robust approach to examine response dynamics within the MSO environment. Core data sources included policies, reports, e-survey data, and MSO organisational documents. Our findings show that regulative (from legal, political, and financial sectors), normative (social sector), and internal organisational pressures were all observed to mandate and/or expect sport organisations to contribute to health outcomes. MSO responses were heterogeneous, with defiance being the most frequently observed response. Findings further suggest that a scattered allocation of MSOs across Canadian Sport Policy (2012) objectives and system-level structural and financial mechanisms may have impacted organisational capacity to comply with institutional pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature points to contradictory empirical data on the relationship between institutional environmental pressure and firm performance in green innovation which leads to firm’s uncertain environmental management practices. To address the paradoxes and ambiguities surrounding this relationship, the current study proposes and empirically analyses an integrated mediated and moderated model. Drawing upon the theory of planned behavior and ability-motivation-opportunity theory, the study examines the mediating role of a green high-performance work systems and the moderating role of managerial environmental concern between institutional pressure and green innovation. Further, in this association, the study also empirically examines a moderated mediation relationship. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 260 manufacturing firms from Pakistan. A disjointed two-stage approach in PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses in the hierarchal component model The results confirm that the green HPWS partially mediates the association between institutional pressure and green innovation, and this association is also strengthened by managerial environmental concern as a contextual mechanism. However, unexpectedly, the study results did not confirm the conditional mediation hypothesis. The novel findings of this integrated mediated and moderated model have practical implications for managers and policymakers in the manufacturing industry to reform strategies for pursuing green innovation in their products and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social determinants of health (SDOH), the external environmental factors that determine health and well-being, often play a key role in health disparities and health inequities, and are outside the control of individuals. In urban and rural settings, hospitals have a critical role to play in addressing these SDOH; however, they cannot do so as a lone entity. Hospitals may function as anchor institution and form multi-sector partnerships with other community organizations (educational institutions, organizations addressing food insecurity, public health agencies, other healthcare provider organizations, etc.) to address these complex SDOH. However, as anchor institutions, urban hospitals may also face strong institutional pressures from their stakeholders and society at large. Based on institutional theory and resource dependency theory framework, we examine 1,191 urban hospitals in the United States reporting partnerships with community organizations to address SDOH. Our findings indicate that while addressing SDOH may be a driver, partnerships between hospitals and community organizations may also be in response to institutional pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continued use of information technology systems by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries has the potential to bring significant benefits but, at the same time, expose them to online cybersecurity threats. Addressing these threats is, therefore, of paramount importance for developing countries, not only because SMEs are seen as the vehicle for employment and job creation, but because research on SMEs and cybersecurity in this context is limited. This study is a contribution toward addressing this gap. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to explore SME cybersecurity practices and the challenges they face in developing countries. The goal is to sensitize practitioners and government institutions about the challenges and practices faced by SMEs, so that the various parties can work collaboratively in providing context-specific solutions to address these challenges and improve current cybersecurity practices. The study follows a qualitative enquiry approach to solicit information from three South African SMEs that had implemented cybersecurity practices. The findings show that an SME’s perception of cybersecurity is constrained by internal factors of budget, management support, and attitudes. Further findings show that SMEs’ cybersecurity practices are affected by the landscape of cybersecurity, as well as institutional pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how to communicate and interact with researchers about data management services. Using the premise that bad information is processed more thoroughly than good, the authors integrate that premise into an exploration of the alignment (or nonalignment) of library-emanating data management communications with the divergent expectations of researchers in different academic domains. How might the notion that bad information resonates better with researchers be used to inform the ways that libraries promote data services and communicate about data management practices? And could these approaches differ across disciplines? Insights concerning possible misalignment of current communications could lead to corrective action. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Past research revealed that International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are simultaneously under two types of isomorphic pressures. On the one hand, they are obliged to conform to the institutions of their host countries, which lead them towards homogenising with the local Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), hence deviate from their parent unit's model. On the other hand, they are required to maintain their parent unit's identity across borders. By adapting to the local context, IBCs gain legitimacy in their local milieus and thus reduce tensions with local stakeholders. By maintaining similarity with their parents, they differentiate from the local competitors and therefore better compete in the market place. This paper addresses the duality (between adherence to the parent's and local expectations) by studying six important Australian and British IBCs in two major higher education (HE) hubs in South East Asia. We identify the determinants of the IBCs' strategic choices and their responses to institutional pressures. The analysis suggests that IBCs have maintained a high level of similarity with their parent units in terms of curriculum, but not so much in terms of staffing. We argue that staffing will continue to be the biggest strategic challenge faced by IBCs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on a case analysis based on the experience of an adolescent having to further Spanish learning through the Spanish 3 (third year) distance course of a twenty-first century high school program. Autoethnographic reflections mediate the storyline of the experiential report, as conversations and observations are internalized by the researcher in a process that allows deep critical thinking on what the adolescent lives and what the researcher experiences through this contact. The findings suggest that mobile content programming may create a situation in which malleable minds are molded in a threatening environment that contributes to modify their habits through operant and respondent conditioning, behavior modification, behavior analytics, enslaving their way of life, as their identity is constantly under challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In many European countries, municipalities are becoming increasingly important as providers of electronic public services to their citizens. One of the horizons for further expansion is the delivery of personalised electronic services. In this article we describe the diffusion of personalised services in the Netherlands over the period 2006–2009 and investigate how and why various municipalities adopted personalised electronic services. In achieving this, we analyse data that were gathered during interviews with key stakeholders in 10 selected Dutch municipalities. We synthesise the findings in an explanatory model of personalised electronic service delivery diffusion. The model emphasises persuasive pressures that are channelled to potential adopters of personalised services. Furthermore, the model shows how persuasive pressure (as perceived by adopters) is followed-up by organisational search activities, and how, in various circumstances, the idea of personalised services is ‘framed’ by innovation champions, knowledge brokers and new members of staff as to appeal to specific organisational priorities and ambitions. In doing so, this article contributes to an institutional view on adoption and diffusion of innovations, in which (1) horizontal and vertical channels of persuasion and (2) human agency, rather than technological opportunity and rational cost-benefit considerations, account for actual diffusion of innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing on institutional theory, this paper discusses the transformation of verticalkeiretsuin the Japanese automotive industry from 1991 to 2011. By investigating the cases of Toyota, Nissan, and Honda, the paper empirically contributes to the debate on whither the Japanese economy is heading. Long-standing relationships to suppliers and exclusiveness have changed significantly in Nissan, while remaining stable in Toyota and Honda. New competition-based elements and more open support systems have been added to earlier governance mechanisms such as power andanshin(security). We argue that the studiedkeiretsusince the 1990s follows diverse and complex trajectories of hybridization, and we suggest that the Japanese economy is developing similarly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we develop a heuristic framework to identify how organizations survive in the dynamic environment caused by the economic crisis, by identifying organizational practices which are important determinants of organizational agility and determining in what way institutional mechanisms facilitate or hinder organizations in achieving organizational agility. Our paper starts with setting out the characteristics of a dynamic environment and the challenges organizations face in such an environment. Next, we discuss the concept of dynamic capabilities and develop this concept toward a heuristic framework for organizational agility. In this framework we focus our attention to three specific topics: the way in which an organization can scale its' workforce, maintain and extend its' knowledge base and is able to balance both control and autonomy through its' organizational infrastructure. We then turn our attention to the institutional context, which impacts the decisions of the adoption and implementation of relevant organizational practices and the attitude of management and available options toward this institutional context. The development of our heuristic framework is accompanied by a set of propositions derived from the theory and concepts discussed. Finally, we give a provisional evaluation of the potential contribution of our framework in being able to cope with unforeseen consequences and sometimes huge impact of a financial–economic crisis such as the present one. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using a unique data set of more than 2800 organizations in 19 countries, this article investigated the variations in adoption of workplace work–family arrangements and whether this variation can be explained either by differences in welfare-state contexts or by organization-related factors. Although the welfare-state context contributed significantly to the explanation of workplace work–family arrangements, the adoption of workplace arrangements was more strongly related to organizational conditions and characteristics. However, the results also show that when the development of work–family arrangements is mainly left to the market, as in the liberal context, employers do not fully make up for the absence of public provisions. The findings support the institutional argument that public provisions help to create a normative climate that gives rise to new social expectations and ‘a sense of entitlement’ regarding work–family support. The study supports the rational choice perspective where both employers' institutional environments and organizational factors are viewed as resources and constraints influencing employers' decision to adopt work–family arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]