Nanotechnology and Institutional Change: The Co-Industrial and Institutional Emergence of Nanotechnology as a Demonstrative Case of a New Form of Institutional Entrepreneurship
Author(s)
Auplat, Claire Aimee
Type
Thesis
Abstract
This study provides a conceptual framework of the combined actions of various groups of
stakeholders to account for a new field of institutional emergence: technology-centred
institutional emergence. The aim is to gain better understanding of the process of the coinstitutional
and industrial emergence of a new technology. Rather than focusing on a
particular group of stakeholders, the institutional entrepreneurial ‘heroes’, the chosen
perspective is to provide evidence that institutional entrepreneurship is a complex process
which results from a multifaceted web of interactions. By focusing on the particular empirical
case of the co-industrial and institutional emergence of nanotechnology, it reveals some of
the characteristics of this process.
The empirical field of nanotechnology is the nexus of a whole range of technical, economic
and social activities and is at the core of much debate relating to ethics, regulation,
economics and politics. Therefore it constitutes an excellent domain of research to enable
the replicability of the findings. The scope of the study is global, with a particular focus on
Europe and the United States.
In this research, I draw mainly from the theoretical frameworks of new institutionalism and
entrepreneurship. New institutionalism claims that institutions operate in an environment
consisting of other institutions which influence them and that to survive in such an
environment, organisations need to establish legitimacy within the world of institutions. The
establishment of legitimacy is at the heart of this research and I show that in the field of
nanotechnology ventures, institutional legitimacy arises from close interactions between
entrepreneurship and institutional entrepreneurship. Building on this conceptual framework I
show that:
• The process of nanotechnology institutional emergence is co-evolutionary with that of
industrial emergence.
• Institutional emergence in nanotechnologies results from a specific web of
interactions where increasing awareness of the importance of sustainable development constitutes an overlapping area of the distinct visions of each group of
stakeholders and may be seen as the connecting element which keeps otherwise
potentially diverging agendas together.
My demonstration rests on a model which postulates that nanotechnology institutional
emergence results from the combined interactions of mainly five groups of stakeholders:
entrepreneurs, commentators, end users, scientists and policy makers.
stakeholders to account for a new field of institutional emergence: technology-centred
institutional emergence. The aim is to gain better understanding of the process of the coinstitutional
and industrial emergence of a new technology. Rather than focusing on a
particular group of stakeholders, the institutional entrepreneurial ‘heroes’, the chosen
perspective is to provide evidence that institutional entrepreneurship is a complex process
which results from a multifaceted web of interactions. By focusing on the particular empirical
case of the co-industrial and institutional emergence of nanotechnology, it reveals some of
the characteristics of this process.
The empirical field of nanotechnology is the nexus of a whole range of technical, economic
and social activities and is at the core of much debate relating to ethics, regulation,
economics and politics. Therefore it constitutes an excellent domain of research to enable
the replicability of the findings. The scope of the study is global, with a particular focus on
Europe and the United States.
In this research, I draw mainly from the theoretical frameworks of new institutionalism and
entrepreneurship. New institutionalism claims that institutions operate in an environment
consisting of other institutions which influence them and that to survive in such an
environment, organisations need to establish legitimacy within the world of institutions. The
establishment of legitimacy is at the heart of this research and I show that in the field of
nanotechnology ventures, institutional legitimacy arises from close interactions between
entrepreneurship and institutional entrepreneurship. Building on this conceptual framework I
show that:
• The process of nanotechnology institutional emergence is co-evolutionary with that of
industrial emergence.
• Institutional emergence in nanotechnologies results from a specific web of
interactions where increasing awareness of the importance of sustainable development constitutes an overlapping area of the distinct visions of each group of
stakeholders and may be seen as the connecting element which keeps otherwise
potentially diverging agendas together.
My demonstration rests on a model which postulates that nanotechnology institutional
emergence results from the combined interactions of mainly five groups of stakeholders:
entrepreneurs, commentators, end users, scientists and policy makers.
Date Issued
2009
Date Awarded
2009-08
Copyright Statement
Attribution NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND)
Advisor
Phillips, Nelson
Malhotra, Namrata
Sponsor
Imperial College Business School
Creator
Auplat, Claire Aimee
Publisher Department
Imperial College Business School
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)