Category Structure and Organizational Theory

Peter Cebon and E. Geoffrey Love
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Peter Cebon: U of Melbourne
E. Geoffrey Love: U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Working Papers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business

Abstract: This paper asks how the structuring of categories and their social location can impact organisational theory in general and institutional theory in particular. Following Bourdieu, we divide categories into two classes, namely those within the field, and those within the habitus (i.e. within the minds of individuals). For categories in the field, the category structure is rarely important, and it is often useful to assume all category members are equivalent. For categories in the habitus however, closely considering the structure of the category, and particularly its grading, provides conceptual and methodological tools for understanding several aspects of institutional behavior, and for linking institutional theory to micro-level organizational theories. We demonstrate our arguments by reviewing three previously-published studies and by analyzing the adoption of Manufacturing Best Practice programs in Australia and New Zealand.

Date: 2005-01
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecl:illbus:05-0105

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