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Broken Rules and Constrained Confusion: Toward a Theory of Meso-Institutions

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  • Droege, Scott
  • Johnson, Nancy Brown

Abstract

Meso-institutions are weak, intermediate forms of institutions that bridge the gap between institutional disintegration and the development of new, more firmly established institutions. Meso-institutions lack the stronger behaviour-guiding signs and symbols of more established institutions, but instead contain fragments of former institutions mixed with emerging, but fragile, components of developing institutions. Institutional disintegration leads to a disorienting period characterized by the dissolution of fundamental, widely held ideologies. This offers an opportunity for actions rather than institutions to guide actions. Because meso-institutions are weak, only after actions are repeated will they solidify into specific patterns that may be retrospectively granted legitimacy. Using archival data supplemented by interviews, we identified three meso-institutional occurrences with the phenomenologically based manifestations of fractured ideology, actions as rules and retrospective legitimization.

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  • Droege, Scott & Johnson, Nancy Brown, 2007. "Broken Rules and Constrained Confusion: Toward a Theory of Meso-Institutions," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 81-104, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:maorev:v:3:y:2007:i:01:p:81-104_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Luo, Xingwu & Cao, Dongmei & Tjahjono, Benny & Adegbile, Abiodun, 2022. "Business model innovation themes of emerging market enterprises: Evidence in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1619-1630.
    2. Jean–Luc Arregle & Bat Batjargal & Michael A. Hitt & Justin W. Webb & Toyah Miller & Anne S. Tsui, 2015. "Family Ties in Entrepreneurs’ Social Networks and New Venture Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 313-344, March.

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