Adoption rationales of new management practices

Elizabeth Daniel, Andrew Myers and Keith Dixon

Journal of Business Research, 2012, vol. 65, issue 3, 371-380

Abstract: This study considers that multiple and diverse rationales, including rational, emotional and socially conditioned responses can influence the adoption of management practices. The study includes four case studies in order to subject the adoption rationales that Sturdy (2004) posits to empirical inquiry and to explore the impacts of these differing rationales on characteristics of the subsequent adoption. The findings show that five of the six rationales Sturdy proposes are empirically identifiable. The findings also suggest that, subject to the exploratory nature of the study, earlier adoption of management practices is associated with political and psychodynamic rationales, consistent with notions of being seen to adopt new ways of working. The findings also suggest that the political and dramaturgical rationales are associated with more rapid adoption due to influential individuals or groups acting as champions. Whilst Sturdy proposes his rationales as a simple list, the findings of this study suggest a more complex relationship between the rationales. The study contributes to the growing body of literature that addresses the important topic of management practices, particularly those that provide an expository consideration.

Keywords: Management practices; Adoption rationales; Management fashions; Management innovations; Management fads (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296311002268
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:3:p:371-380

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.06.033

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().