How emerging organizations take form: The role of imprinting and values in organizational bricolage
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Perkmann, M
Spicer, A
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We examine how emerging organizations acquire shape by drawing on multiple organizational forms, a process we call organizational bricolage. Studying Indymedia London, a grassroots media collective, we propose a grounded theory of organizational bricolage that identifies how various types of organizational forms are selected, and how they are instantiated into the organization. While extant research has emphasized imprinting as primary mechanism shaping newly founded organizations, we point to the additional role of organizational values. Emerging organizations augment their imprinted forms by using ancillary forms aligned with their organizational values, and reinforce their core features by differentiating themselves from antagonistic forms that conflict with their values. We contribute to the literature on organizational formation by developing a process model that details how imprinted forms are subsequently modified. Moreover, we extend theories of bricolage by specifying the limits to the relative arbitrariness of bricolage as an activity, and contribute to the study of organizational values by suggesting they act as a focusing device shaping organizational structure.
Date Issued
2014-11
Date Acceptance
2014-03-01
Citation
Organization Science, 2014, 25 (6), pp.1785-1806
ISSN
1526-5455
Publisher
INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences)
Start Page
1785
End Page
1806
Journal / Book Title
Organization Science
Volume
25
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. You are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt this work, but you must attribute this work as “Organization Science. Copyright 2014 INFORMS. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2014.0916, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/.”
Page Range: 1785 - 1806
Page Range: 1785 - 1806
License URL
Sponsor
Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
Identifier
http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.2014.0916
Grant Number
ES/G038082/1
Subjects
Social Sciences
Management
Business & Economics
bricolage
organizational forms
imprinting
organizational values
entrepreneurship
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
MANAGEMENT
EMERGENCE
IDENTITY
CONSTRUCTION
PERFORMANCE
STRATEGIES
RESOURCES
DYNAMICS
CONTEXT
Organizational forms
Imprinting
Bricolage
Organizational values
Entrepreneurship
Business & Management
1503 Business and Management
1505 Marketing
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2014-07-11