Institutional Isomorphism

Institutional isomorphism describes the process in which organizations gain increasing similarity in structure. This process is assumed to be driven primarily by a desire of decision makers to create organizations that conform and/or excel in their practice of social rules, ideals, and practices.

The term isomorphism originates from biology and describes the degree to which individuals of different genetic origins look similar to each other. In the 1960s, it was suggested that similar processes exist among populations of organizations. The idea was in essence that nonoptimal organizations are selected out, or that managers are able to skillfully redirect their organizations to fit the environmental conditions. In other words, a competitive mechanism for creating isomorphism was suggested. This grew into a school of thought called population ecology. Much like the idea of the survival of the fittest in biology, competitive iso-[Page 679]morphism among organizations is thought of as weeding out the weak and poorly adapted. However, competitive isomorphism was soon considered a limited explanation for why organizations grow increasingly similar. Organizations in some environments in particular seemed to be strongly influenced by societal rules, culture, and history and less by market competition. Several researchers worked therefore to criticize competitive isomorphism and modify it. The concept of isomorphism was extended in the early 1980s to describe noncompetitive sources for isomorphism; i.e. institutional mechanisms.

Institutional theory has been pivotal in the development of organization studies, frequently used in prestigious journals all through the 1980s to the 2000s. Within institutional theory (within which institutional isomorphism is an essential part) is certainly one that has helped spur this development. Some texts even treat institutional isomorphism almost synonymously with the neoinstitutional perspective on organizations. The concept of institutional isomorphism has also been shown to play an important part in highly competitive environments. The fast spread of management concepts such as total quality management (TQM), the multidivisional form, and long-range planning has been fruitfully analyzed through an institutional framework.