The Theoretical Positions of Institutions and Technology in Organizational Institutionalism

By examining the materiality of institutionsInstitution based on organizational institutionalismOrganizational institutionalism, we overcome the dichotomyDichotomy between institutions and technologyInstitutions and technology. Orlikowski’s structural model sought to capture the interaction between institutions and acts of using technology. In management studies, this concept of the institution has been discussed in the area of organizational institutionalism. Orlikowski and Barley (MIS Q 25(2):145–165, 2001 [25]) tried to connect information management research to organizational institutionalism and incorporate material properties of technology into organizational institutionalism. However, they emphasize the analysis of institutional changes induced by the introduction of new technology. This statement assumes uninstitutionalized technology that leads to institutional changesInstitutional-environment-change and overlooks the fact that technology is institutionalized itself. This problem stems from the fact that organizational institutionalismOrganizational institutionalism has mainly focused on the symbolismSymbolism of institutionsInstitution and has not sufficiently shed light on the materiality of institutions. We explore the implication of the materiality of institution with reference to the concept of institutional logicsInstitutional-environmentlogics. Through these discussions, we clarify that institutions consist of symbolsSymbol and objects, and introduce an empirical study of the innovation in a Japanese company implemented within institutionsInstitution constituted both symbolically and materially.