Structural and cultural approaches towards studying the diffusion of management practices

Scheiber, Florian

Vorschau

PDF
Dissertation_Florian_Scheiber.pdf - Veröffentlichte Version
Download (1MB)

URL:	https://madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/33008
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-330084
Dokumenttyp:	Dissertation
Erscheinungsjahr:	2013
Ort der Veröffentlichung:	Mannheim
Hochschule:	Universität Mannheim
Gutachter:	Woywode, Michael
Datum der mündl. Prüfung:	6 März 2013
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:	Englisch
Einrichtung:	Fakultät für Betriebswirtschaftslehre > Mittelstandsforschung u. Entrepreneurship (Woywode 2007-)
Fachgebiet:	300 Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie, Anthropologie 330 Wirtschaft 650 Management
Normierte Schlagwörter (SWD):	Management , Diffusion , Neoinstitutionalismus
Freie Schlagwörter (Englisch):	diffusion , management practices , neo-institutional theory
Abstract:	This dissertation combines so called structural and cultural approaches within diffusion research from organizational theory in order to contribute to gaining a deeper understanding for the spread of management practices. Therefore, three empirical cases are assessed using both qualitative and quantitative research methods: (1) The diffusion of codes of conduct among 287 firms in the German textile and apparel industry, (2) the diffusion of modern management practices among 272 German SMEs and (3) symbolic adoption of management practices by the 500 largest companies in Germany. Overall, the results demonstrate that explaining the upstream processes of much organizational and societal change we are witnessing today requires a thorough assessment of interactions between cultural processes through which individual and organizational actors define relevant building blocks of a socially shared reality and measurable social conduits which enable the spread and perpetuation of such definitions.