Search

The article tests three contextual factors, including institutional boundary conditions, core beliefs and professional managerial practices, to analyse the local adaption of a Western social innovation to China. With a case study of 23 semi-structured interviews of stakeholders in China and the Netherlands and content analysis of these data, the article aims to examine the facilitating and hindering effects of institutional isomorphism on transnational social-innovation diffusion. The results indicate that social innovations face diverse pressures of isomorphism that necessitate their capitulation to homogeneity within the environment. Some isomorphic processes within the organization, however, may counterbalance external pressures in the long run. This article contributes to a better understanding of the transnational diffusion of social innovation between two different institutional and cultural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on widely ranged theoretical discussion of isomorphic diffusion, this article traces the process of isomorphism in the context of public service center diffusion in China and discovers relationships between isomorphism and distance within different time and space. With data for a sample of 238 prefecture level cities collected from China, the authors aim to explore the correlation between isomorphism diffusion and spatial distance. The results of the analysis suggest that local governments will be at a disadvantage if these are stated in a further location when isomorphic diffusion takes place. Moreover, the correlation between isomorphic diffusion and spatial distance varies according to the different phases of the diffusion process. The effect of geographical distance is initially strong in the growth period, but weakens later. The results will build bridges on isomorphic and geographical distance within diverse time and space in China, and have implications both theoretically and practically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tries to map the state of civic engagement in social governance at local level in China. Using case studies in Hangzhou, we find that civic engagement in China has not increased responsiveness to citizens' appeals as predicted in democracy theories. In contrast, civic engagement degrades to a powerful tool for the government to rule the people, which we call the 'alienation of civic engagement.' Institutional Isomorphism theory is evoked to explain this phenomenon. Based on the strength of regime stability and responsiveness to citizens' appeals, civic engagement is categorized into four types: ceremonial civic engagement, substantial civic engagement, absorptive civic engagement, and propagandistic civic engagement. We show the discourses, participation behaviors, and participation outcomes of each type of civic engagement. We also demonstrate how the authoritarian government developed strategies for each type of civic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the “reform and opening up” of China in the past three decades, the country’s urban landscape has increasingly reflected the changes brought about by global integration. In recent years, the reach of globalization has extended beyond the biggest Chinese cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou to what is known as “second-tier” cities. This article focuses on a comparative study of post-reform Nanjing and Hangzhou, two leading second-tier cities both advantageously situated in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Region. I examine how the introduction of global forces has shaped urban development narratives of each city differently, contingent upon preexisting relationships of the cities with the state, respective provincial governments, and Shanghai, the neighboring model global city. I assert that although on the whole, second-tier cities are strongly motivated to learn from global cities due to isomorphic pressures, the consequences of a city’s unique self-imaginary can create very different strategies and directions for urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article suggests that the lack of meaningful collaboration between the state and NGOs in China is not solely a result of the state seeking to restrict the development of the sector, or the fear of a potential opposing actor to the state; instead, interviews with NGOs in Beijing and Shanghai suggest that a lack of meaningful engagement between the state and NGOs can be partially attributed to isomorphic pressures within state–NGO relations, and insufficient epistemic awareness of NGO activities on the part of the state. In fact, the evidence suggests that once epistemic awareness is achieved by the state, it will have a stronger desire to interact with NGOs – with the caveat that the state will seek to utilize the material power of NGOs, rather than their symbolic, interpretive or geographical capital. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Extending Hirschman’s ‘Exit—Voice—Loyalty’ framework, the authors distinguish between attitudinal and relational aspects of loyalty. They hypothesize that co-workers’ support for voice will moderate the effect of relational, but not attitudinal loyalty on voice. In line with the study’s hypotheses, multilevel analyses of survey data on 204 voice actions (concerning three issues) of 121 employees in a Dutch public sector organization showed that the effect of relational loyalty (operationalized as social relations) on voice depended on context and issue. When department members perceived serious problems, relational loyalty decreased the likelihood of voice for one of the issues. For another issue, relational loyalty increased the likelihood of voice when department norms encouraged voice. By contrast, attitudinal loyalty (operationalized as organizational commitment) had no effect on voice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article challenges conventional assumptions associating localization with cultural divergence. Based on ethnographic research of the life insurance business in China, it explores how localization may intertwine with homogenization, and why it may not subvert cultural hegemony. The data illustrate how transnational life insurers disseminated new practices and new ideas to the Chinese population; how they localized their practices according to local conditions; and how the newly emerged domestic insurers imitated and deviated from the organizational practices of the transnational firms. Borrowing insights from institutional theories, the article analyses why an initial divergence of product lines and marketing strategies between transnational and domestic life insurers soon disappeared, and why homogenizing dynamics took place. The article argues that localization is by no means a guarantee, nor an indicator, of divergence, and the so-called ‘two-way street’ of cultural flows between the global and the local are far from balanced. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article addresses whether, which and when peer firms matter for the focal firm's corporate social performance (CSP), to modify the underlying assumption among prior studies that firms invest in CSP in isolation. Building on institutional isomorphism theory, legitimacy theory and knowledge spillover theory, we argue that the focal firm learns from peers in dealing with stakeholder demands due to uncertainty, while legitimacy pressure and knowledge spillover could help cope with uncertainty. Meanwhile, different from the leader-follower model, the followers are more prone to be affected by the average CSP level, due to restricted resources and abilities. Lastly, the more the uncertainty level is, the more obvious mimicking behaviors can be observed. By employing the instrumental variables regression, these arguments have been supported. Our study contributes to the state-of-the-art corporate social performance literature by introducing a critical, albeit widely neglected explanatory variable. In addition, we advance scientific knowledge on the thus far under-researched question in literature of inter-organizational imitation, namely which firms are emulated. The conclusions based on China can also provide important implications for other emerging countries with great uncertainty and initial stage of social responsibility fulfillment. Image 1030000 • The focal firm's CSP is positively affected by their peers. • Peer effects can amplify prior CSP determinants by 13% and 19% at most. • The focal firm mainly mimics the average level of CSP. • Rural firms are more likely to mimic, compared with their urban rivals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]