Distinguishing Adoption and Entrenchment of Management Practices: A Framework for Analysis

Abstract

This paper distinguishes two stages of management practices in organizations initial adoption and institutional entrenchment. Adopted practices that are not yet entrenched are referred to as fads, and entrenchment is defined as the embedding of practices such that they are likely to endure and resist pressure for change. Next, the paper proposes five bases that give rise to both adoption and entrenchment: modelling, culture, education, regulation, and technical rationality. Modelling is seen to be operative mostly in the initial adoption phase, while culture and education are characteristic of the entrenchment stage. Based on these, a framework is offered to help researchers assess the extent to which a practice is a fad or has been entrenched. The framework is used in an abbreviated example to illustrate the differences between quality circles (a practice popular in the early 1980s) and total quality management (a complex set of practices indicative of institutionalization). The evidence, once organized within the framework, shows that TQM is indeed considerably more entrenched than quality circles were at similar stages in their usage in organizations. The paper ends with some suggestions for future research of which the key is that a clear distinction between mere adoption and entrenchment is vital to the development of institutional theory.

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