How Emerging Organizations Take Form: The Role of Imprinting and Values in Organizational Bricolage

Markus Perkmann () and André Spicer ()
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André Spicer: Cass Business School, London EC1Y 8TZ, United Kingdom

Organization Science, 2014, vol. 25, issue 6, 1785-1806

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. Whereas extant research has emphasized imprinting as a 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 we contribute to the study of organizational values by suggesting that they act as a focusing device shaping organizational structure.

Keywords: bricolage; organizational forms; imprinting; organizational values; entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:6:p:1785-1806

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