Institutional and Organizational Unconscious Theories: An Alternative Way for Explaining Challenges in Inter-Agency Cooperation
Abstract
It is now well-accepted in organizational theory that pure rationality does not exist. Other factors beyond the realm of the rational, deeply embedded in organizational life, also contribute to the decision-making process. But what are they? To this question, sociological institutionalism provides some answers that have been underused in the study of organizations. Whereas rational-choice institutionalism theory strictly emphasizes the role of structures for explaining the behavior of organizations, sociological institutionalism adopts a much more holistic approach. Despite the fact that sociological institutionalism is well-established in the academic community and its literature is very rich, there are few attempts by scholars to understand military organizations and collaboration with military organizations using this theory. Yet, sociological institutionalism (and its derivatives) suggests many paths to resolve and understand the repetitive mistakes and the internal inertia in many organizations. This paper is not an attempt to develop an exhaustive theory for organizational failures, but is rather a review of literature in sociological institutionalism that might provide us with some useful elements for understanding this phenomenon.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA568626
Entities
People
- Pierre-marc Lanteigne