<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper presents basic postulates of the institutional, organizational theory as a new research framework for understanding contemporary organizations structuring and functioning. More and more structures in modern societies are being institutionalized due to changes in technical, social, and political spheres. Organizations in institutionalized sectors do not prove their legitimacy by their rationality and effectiveness, but by implementation of the current institutional pattern. Institutional pattern has its regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive components, and it is imposed on organizations within a sector by means of coercive, normative, and mimetic mechanisms. The consequence of implementing of a uniform institutional pattern in the structuring and functioning of all organizations within a sector is organizational isomorphism. The described elements of the institutional, organizational theory are applied in the analysis of structuring and functioning of universities and faculties in the higher education sector in Europe and Serbia. It is shown how the Bologna Higher Education Model, as a typical institutional pattern, impacts structuring and functioning of all universities and faculties in the European higher education area, thereby implicating their organizational isomorphism.</p></abstract>

This paper presents basic postulates of the institutional, organizational theory as a new research framework for understanding contemporary organizations structuring and functioning. More and more structures in modern societies are being institutionalized due to changes in technical, social, and political spheres. Organizations in institutionalized sectors do not prove their legitimacy by their rationality and effectiveness, but by implementation of the current institutional pattern. Institutional pattern has its regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive components, and it is imposed on organizations within a sector by means of coercive, normative, and mimetic mechanisms. The consequence of implementing of a uniform institutional pattern in the structuring and functioning of all organizations within a sector is organizational isomorphism. The described elements of the institutional, organizational theory are applied in the analysis of structuring and functioning of universities and faculties in the higher education sector in Europe and Serbia. It is shown how the Bologna Higher Education Model, as a typical institutional pattern, impacts structuring and functioning of all universities and faculties in the European higher education area, thereby implicating their organizational isomorphism.

The Institutional Organizational Theory As A New Research Framework For Understanding Contemporary Organizations

University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics, Serbia

Economic Themes

This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.

INSTITUCIONALNA ORGANIZACIONA TEORIJA KAO NOVI ISTRAŽIVAČKI OKVIR ZA RAZUMEVANJE SAVREMENIH ORGANIZACIJA

This paper presents basic postulates of the institutional, organizational theory as a new research framework for understanding contemporary organizations...

The Institutional Organizational Theory As A New Research Framework For Understanding Contemporary Organizations

Published Online: Oct 14, 2015

Page range: 242 - 262

Received: May 10, 2014

Accepted: Oct 10, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ethemes-2014-0016

Keywords
institution, theory, organization, higher education, university

© 2014 Nebojša Janićijević, published by De Gruyter Open

This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.

The Institutional Organizational Theory As A New Research Framework For Understanding Contemporary Organizations

Published Online: Oct 14, 2015

Page range: 242 - 262

Received: May 10, 2014

Accepted: Oct 10, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ethemes-2014-0016

Keywordsinstitution, theory, organization, higher education, university

© 2014 Nebojša Janićijević, published by De Gruyter Open

This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.

Keywords
institution, theory, organization, higher education, university