Organization Studies

http://oss.sagepub.com/

Institutional Pressures and Isomorphic Change: An Empirical Test

Trevor Slack and Bob Hinings
Organization Studies 1994 15: 803
DOI: 10.1177/017084069401500602
The online version of this article can be found at:
http://oss.sagepub.com/content/15/6/803

Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

European Group for Organizational Studies

Additional services and information for Organization Studies can be found at:
Email Alerts: http://oss.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts
Subscriptions: http://oss.sagepub.com/subscriptions
Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav
Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
Citations: http://oss.sagepub.com/content/15/6/803.refs.html

>> Version of Record - Jan 1, 1994

What is This?

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

Institutional Pressures and

Change: An Empirical Test
Trevor Slack, Bob

Isomorphic

Hinings*

Abstract
Trevor Slack
Department of

Physical
Education and

Sports Studies,
University of
Alberta,
Edmonton,
Canada
Bob

Hinings
Department of
Organizational
Analysis,
University of
Alberta,
Edmonton,
Canada

803-

This paper examines the process of isomorphic change. It does so by examining the dynamics of the change process and looking at change holistically.
Using a population of 36 national-level sport organizations, subject to environmental pressures from a state agency to adopt a more professional and bureaucratic design, the paper shows that over time there is an increase in the level
of homogeneity of these organizations. Although the general shift is to a more
professional and bureaucratic type of organization, certain elements of structure do not change as much as others, thus demonstrating resistance to institutional pressures. The processes by which the changes that occurred took place
are

explored.

Introduction
In explaining changes which take place in the formal structure of an
organization, considerable emphasis has been placed on the environment in which the organization exists. Within much of this literature
is the notion that organizations change to become isomorphic with their
environment. Isomorphism refers to the constraining process that
forces one unit in a population to resemble other units that face the
same set of environmental conditions (DiMaggio and Powell 1983:
149). For contingency theorists such as Lawrence and Lorsch (1967),
isomorphism occurs because increased environmental differentiation
has to be matched by similar patterns of differentiation within the
organization. Thompson (1967) and Woodward (1965) have made similar arguments about the need to match technology or the task environment of an organization with its internal structure. More recently, population ecologists and institutional theorists have extended ideas about
the process of isomorphism. For population ecologists (Hannan and
Freeman 1977), isomorphism occurs because competitive pressures
select out non-optimal forms of organization. Thus, those which remain
are isomorphic with each other and with the demands of their
environment.
Institutional theorists such as Meyer and Rowan (1977), DiMaggio and
Powell (1983) and Zucker (1987) suggest that organizations are influenced by normative pressures which are placed on them. These presDownloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

804
often emanate from sources such as the state and other regulatory
bodies. Conformity to these pressures results in organizations changing
their structural arrangements to become isomorphic with institutionally
prescribed expectations. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) identify three
mechanisms through which this type of change takes place. Coercive
isomorphism is the result of formal and informal pressures exerted by
organizations on other organizations which may be dependent on them.
It may also result from cultural expectations within the societal context
in which an organization exists. Mimetic isomorphism occurs when
organizations faced with uncertainty model themselves on other organizations which they perceive as successful. Normative isomorphism
results primarily from professionalization.
DiMaggio and Powell (1983) maintain that there are two types of
isomorphic change that come about for different reasons. Competitive
isomorphism is the type of change proposed by population ecologists
in which optimal forms of organization are selected out of a population. They suggest that this view assumes a system rationality that
emphasizes market competition, niche changes and fitness measures
(1983: 149-150). It is a view most relevant for organizations which
operate in a relatively free and open competitive market. For organizations which do not operate under such conditions, but compete
for political power and institutional legitimacy as well as for social
and economic fitness, the idea of institutional isomorphism is more
relevant.
sures

lsomorphism

and

Change

Despite the implicit notion of change within the concept of isomorphism, existing studies have been primarily concerned with establishing
congruence between the environment and the structural arrangements
of organizations. As such, they have been cross-sectional in nature and
have not specifically examined the dynamics of the process by which
isomorphic change takes place. Nelson (1989), for example, carried out
a cross-sectional study to examine the extent to which protestant
churches that exhibit a particular organizational form were isomorphic
with their environmental conditions. Ethridge (1983) claimed support
for isomorphism by showing that state travel offices operating in differentiated and unstable travel markets were larger and more structurally
differentiated and Oliver (1988), in a study to compare competing perspectives on the determinants of isomorphism, used cross-sectional data
on inter-organizational relations and the structural arrangements of voluntary social-service organizations.
Studies such as these, while extending our understanding of isomorphism, do not consider the dynamic nature of organizational environments
and thus the process by which isomorphism occurs. There are, in fact,
very few institutional studies which centre on the dynamics of isoDownloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

805

morphism through longitudinal research. One study that did take a longitudinal approach was that of Tolbert and Zucker (1983). They examined the general nature of institutionalization by showing how a
particular set of organizational arrangements became distributed across
a population of local government organizations over a relatively short
space of time. However, this important study did not focus on the process by which institutionalization occurred; its aim was to demonstrate
the principle. Similarly, Meyer et al. (1988) carried out a longitudinal
study which provided indications of isomorphic change. With data on
the organizational system of U.S. public education between 1940 and
1980, they showed increases in the level of homogeneity in aspects of
state educational

systems such as the number of students per school and

the number of superintendents per district. Thus, we are suggesting
that the concept of isomorphism requires that longtudinal studies be
undertaken in order to examine the dynamic nature of isomorphic
change. Indeed, the whole conceptual framework of institutional theory
implicitly places a strong emphasis on change but this has not been
matched by the necessary empirical work. Such work would act as a
stronger test of the theory.
Consequently, following DiMaggio and Powell (1983), we emphasize
the role of mimetic, normative and coercive processes which, over time,
produce isomorphism in organizational forms within an institutional
sector. We argue that it is necessary to examine the extent to which
any given organization models itself on other leading or legitimate
organizations in the sector (mimetic isomorphism); whether labour markets/pools of expertise are created which produce a professionalized
labour force (normative isomorphism); and how far there are powerful
organizations which can force other organizations to adopt particular
organizational forms (coercive isomorphism). More particularly, we see
these three processes as a set; all may be operating within an institutional sector.

Isomorphism

and Holism

organizational change has stressed that changes in

organizational design arrangements should be considered holistically
rather than as a collection of disparate elements (Miller and Friesen
1984; Tushman et al. 1986; Kimberly and Rottman 1987; Hinings and
Greenwood 1988a). That is to say, while individual elements of structure may change over time, it is the patterning of change in structural
elements that is important. It is this patterning that should be the focus
of inquiry in studies of change rather than discrete analyses of narrowly
drawn sets of organizational properties. As Miller and Friesen (1984:
1) suggest, organizations should be considered as composed of tightly
interdependent and mutually supportive elements such that the importRecent work

on

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

806
ance of each element can best be understood by making reference to
the whole configuration.
An important principle of this theorizing is that there are a limited
number of configurations or archetypes of structure. Consequently,
Miller and Friesen (1984) argue that the dominant organizational condition is momentum, the process whereby an organization exhibits incremental change which extends and elaborates its current archetype. There
is also much inertia, as a result of which, major change can only occur
when there are strong and unavoidable pressures to change. Starbuck et
al. (1978) demonstrate such organizational momentum and inertia in
their work.
Hinings and Greenwood (1988a) extend this theorizing about the holistic nature of organizations with their concept of a design archetype.
Following Ranson et al. (1980), they argue that organizational structures
are underpinned by values and beliefs which provide coherence to
existing structural arrangements. They also argue that these holistic,
archetypal configurations are institutionally located. Major strategic
change is to be understood as movement from one archetype to another
(Hinings and Greenwood 1988a). Mimetic, normative and coercive processes come into play strongly when a new organizational form is legit-

imated by powerful actors, leading organizations, professional associations and interest groups (Hinings and Greenwood 1988b). Thus, as
well as investigating organizations holistically, it is necessary to understand the extent to which particular configurations or archetypes are
institutionally legitimated, thus producing pressures for change.
These arguments and approaches fit very well with institutional theory
as this approach has focused on the adoption of organizational forms,
not particular or individual elements of structure. Taken together, then,
the existing literature on isomorphism and the literature on the holistic
nature of change suggest a need to (1) undertake longitudinal studies to
examine the dynamic nature of isomorphic change by paying particular
attention to mimetic, coercive and normative processes, and (2) to
examine this process holistically so as to better understand the integrated nature of this type of change, especially through the concept of
institutionally legitimated archetypes. We explore these issues using
data from a study of Canadian national sport organizations.

The Research

Setting

common themes running through the literature on sport

organizations in Canada is that they have, over the years, become
increasingly bureaucratic (Kidd 1980; Slack 1985; Macintosh et al.
1987). Bureaucracy, of course, is the organizational manifestation of

One of the

the rationalization of social life. The process of rationalization has, in

the latter part of the twentieth century, become increasingly effected by
the state and by the professions (DiMaggio and Powell 1983). Sport,
Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

807
like other areas of social life, has not been immune to these forces. In
Canada, the federal state first became involved in sport in 1961, and
the introduction of professional staff to help operate sport organizations
began in 1970. Both state intervention and professional involvement
have increased over the years and, as organizational theory would predict, this has resulted in a movement towards more bureaucratized

organizations.
Until recently, this change has been incremental. Incremental change
refers to gradual change which is compatible with the existing structure
of an organization and which is reinforced over a number of years
(Tushman et al. 1986). However, in 1983, the federal governments
Ministry of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport through its agent, Sport
Canada, introduced a programme called Best Ever or what is now
known as Quadrennial Planning. Originally designed to assist winter
Olympic sport organizations to perform well in the Olympic Games in
Calgary in 1988, the programme was soon expanded to include all
summer Olympic sport organizations. It was designed to bring about a

frame-breaking change in the organizations that deliver

sport, rather than just a further increment on the path of professionalization and bureaucratization. Frame-breaking change refers to
change which involves simultaneous and sharp shifts in strategy, power,
qualitative

or

amateur

structure and control

(Tushman et al. 1986).

For national sport organizations in Canada this meant a move away
from their traditional design type, that is, an organization controlled by
volunteers and operated relatively informally with professional help, to
a new organizational design type, an organization which was highly
structured along bureaucratic lines controlled by professionals with
volunteer help. As Sport Canadas Quadrennial planning program
handbook ( 1984: 16) points out, the purpose of the programme was to
review and develop activities and establish priorities for high performance sport development for the next quadrennial and establish procedures related to quadrennial plan integration, implementation and monitoring. The handbook (1984: 19) also goes on to note that it is
essential that specific individuals within the NSOs [national sport organizations], preferably professional staff, be assigned responsibility for
ensuring that quadrennial plan activities are developed and set into
operation. As Macintosh and Whitson (1990: 33) note, this meant that
national sport organizations had to engage in a process of bureaucratic
rationalization involving a restructuring of lines of authority between
professionals and volunteers, ..., the end result of which is clearly an
organization that will be directed by professionals. In Mintzbergss
(1979) terms, the move was to be a more complete professional bureaucracy. This particular form was seen as being the most conducive to the
production of medal-winning athletes.
This change in design type was to be achieved through the introduction
of a planning programme in which all national sport organizations had
to participate to receive federal government funds. Not only was partiDownloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

808

cipation in the programme required but because

highly dependent on Sport Canada, for funds

these organizations
well as for other
forms of supprt, the federal govcrnment agency was able to apply coercive pressures (DiMaggio and Powell 1983) to require them to staff
certain functional roles and to give high priority to the operation of
specific programmes. In addition to these changes, there were also
expectations created for increased systematization of operating procedures within the organizations and the introduction of a decision-making
system that placed operating authority in the hands of professionals,
with volunteer involvement being reduced and restricted to the formulation of policy.
The ideas that were promoted by Sport Canada quickly became institutionalized in the environment of national sport organizations. Institutionalization refers to the process through which components of the
formal structural design of an organization become widely accepted as
both appropriate and necessary. Adoption of these elements serves to
legitimate an organization within its institutional environment (Tolbert
and Zucker 1983). Institutional environments are created through networks in which the control of resources and authority is in the hands
of a small number of powerful organizations. The institutionalization
of elements of structure is very much dependent on their legitimation
by powerful organizations. Once a change in structural form is legitimated by these higher-level organizations, through legal mandate or some
other formal means, the dependent organizations generally respond by
rapidly incorporating those elements into their formal structure (Tolbert
and Zucker 1983). By demonstrating conformity to the institutional
environment, a dependent organization demonstrates that it is acting on
a collectively valued purpose in a proper manner, and by doing so, it is
able to increase its chances of being positively evaluated, thereby ensuring a continued flow of necessary resources (Hinings and Greenwood
1988b). In the case of the Canadian sport environment, one organization
was dominant, Sport Canada, the agency of the federal government. Of
course, the planning system itself, with its documentation circulated to
each sport organization, and with Sport Canada being the body which
monitored and evaluated each individual plan, became the key process
in institutionalizing the environment by transmitting the approved
were

as

organizational design.
Organizations operating in institutional environments tend to exhibit
isomorphism (Zucker 1988). If, as we have suggested, the environment
of national sport organizations has become institutionalized, then what
we should see is that these organizations are moving towards a more
homogeneous set of design types and, also, that this should be in the
direction of a more professionalized and bureaucratized form. Consequently, this set of organizations, and the fact that they were all subject to the same institutional pressures from the state, meant that they
provide an excellent site to empirically test the idea of isomorphic
change. We explore the existence of this type of transition in the light
Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

809

of recent arguments that the process of change must be examined holistically and we also discuss those factors that contribute to this type of

change.
Sample
The sample for the study consisted of 36 Canadian national sport organizations which were identified by Sport Canada to be part of the Quadrennial Planning Program. These organizations ranged in size from
those such as Nordic Combined whose membership is less than one
hundred to Soccer, a sport which has literally tens of thousands of
participants. They are governed by volunteer boards, elected by the
membership, with these boards being the primary policy-making bodies.
The technical and administrative operations of these organizations are
usually the responsiblity of professional paid staff supported by committees comprised mainly of volunteers. The primary task of national
sport organizations is the creation and operation of national-level programmes which contribute to the development of Canadian athletes and
their ability to compete successfully at international sporting events.
The majority of these organizations have developed a primary focus on
elite-level, high-performance sport as a result of which they have little
direct concern with the provision of mass-sport opportunities. The 36
organizations actually represent the population of organizations which
undertook quadrennial planning.

Methodology
To holistically examine the type of transitions that were occurring in
these organizations, and to determine if, in fact, institutional pressures
were producing isomorphic change, it was necessary to establish some
means of identifying the patterning of structural elements into identifiable design types. Miller and Friesen (1984) suggest that two
approaches may be used to identify this patterning. The first of these
is the development of typologies based on purely conceptual distinctions. The work of scholars such as Weber (1947) with his differentiation between legal rational and patrimonial bureaucracy, and Burns and
Stalkers (1961) organic/mechanistic classification are representative of
this approach. The second approach, and the one used in this study, is
the development of taxonomies. Taxonomies are empirically derived
classification systems based on various elements of organization. The
use of taxonomies to identify organizational design types, and to study
change, has been suggested by several researchers (Haas et al. 1966;
Aldrich and Mueller 1982; Hambrick 1984; Miller and Friesen 1984).
By using taxonomies to identify organizational design types at various
points in time it is possible to holistically examine the nature and direction of changes that were occurring in national sport organizations. It
is also possible to establish if there is any reduction in the diversity of
I

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

810

organization design types, in other words, is isomorphic change taking

place and, if so, is the direction of change towards the institutionally
prescribed design type.
The data from which the taxonomies were developed were obtained in
the following manner. At the start of the quadrennial planning period,
in 1983-1984, each national sport organization was required to prepare
an organization position statement known as a high-performance report.
The report was prepared by a small committee of volunteers, sometimes
with the help of professional staff, and two management consultants
specifically hired by Sport Canada for this purpose. The involvement
of these consultants helped to ensure the validity of the data contained
in the reports, and along with guidelines prepared by Sport Canada,
resulted in a relatively consistent recording format. This consistency
also helped to ensure validity in that the similarity in the format of the
report made comparison easier. The reports included detailed descriptions of such areas the programmes operated by the organization, board
and committee structures, number and roles of professional staff
employed, the extent to which operating procedures were standardized
and the organizations decision-making structure. Often contained in
the reports, or as appendices, was information such as policies and
procedures manuals, job descriptions and volunteer and professional
staff lists. Data on the structural arrangements of the organizations prior
to their proposed changes were gathered largely through an analysis of
these reports and accompanying material.
To confirm the reliability of the data from the reports, interviews were
conducted with a key informant from the national sport organization,
usually the president or the senior professional staff member and with
the organizations Sport Canada consultant. This is an individual,
employed by the federal government agency, whose job it is to liaise
with national sport organizations on such issues as government policy,
funding programmes and reporting regulations. Each consultant works
with approximately six organizations and, since this is their primary job
responsibility, they are very familiar with the structure and operations
of these organizations.
In order to determine the initial changes being made in the organizations
and the direction in which changes were proceeding, a series of interviews were carried out in late 1986/early 1987 with senior members of
the organization and the organizations Sport Canada consultant. The
interviews elicited data on the changes, both planned and unplanned,
that had occurred in the organizations structural arrangements since the
1984 report. Thus, there are two data points, one for 1984 and one for
1986/1987. It is this data

set which is examined.

standard
set
of
Using
questions, data were collected from the reports
and the interviews about three analytical categories of structure: specialization, standardization and centralization which were operationalized
across a number of organizational systems. These elements have not
only been theoretically and empirically established in the organizational
a

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

811
literature (Miller and Droge 1986), they have also been applied to the
study of sport organizations (Slack and Hinings 1987). Specialization
was measured by examining the bases of differentiation across and
within both operational and support activities. For example, within the
task area of coaching, an operational activity, there can be differentiation of coaches according to the age group they coach, the gender of
athletes coached, or by discipline (e.g. in Alpine Skiing, Slalom, Giant
Slalom or Downhill). In the task area of administration, specialization
can be on the more usual bases of functional tasks such as accounting,
marketing and programme coordination. In these organizations with
their volunteer systems, it was also necessary to examine volunteer
specialization. This occurred in two ways. One was volunteer functional
and operational specialization, for example, volunteers have specialized
roles as vice-presidents for areas like finance, technical development,
marketing and officiating. The other kind of volunteer specialization
was through the variety of organizational committees. National sport
organizations, like many voluntary organizations, operate through a
committee structure.
Standardization was similarly measured across organizational task
areas. Thus, the extent to which an organization had such things as job
descriptions for volunteers and professionals, the existence of work
plans, policies and procedures, and terms of reference for committees
were all used as indicators of the standardization of an organizations
human-resource system. In a somewhat similar manner, the existence
of clearly defined policies, procedures and guidelines for the operation
of training camps, talent identification systems, planned competition
schedules and other related activities were used as an indicator of the
extent to which the system for athlete development was standardized.
Other organizational systems were assessed in a similar manner.
Finally, centralization was examined by locating the level in the hierarchy where authoritative decisions were made within each of several
organizational task areas. These decisions concerned key organizational
issues such as the selection of athletes for national teams, the appointment of elite coaches and the selection of training methods.
In total, 13 scales were developed covering these three structural elements. With the exception of the variable number of committees, each
of these scales was made up of multiple items. For example, professional specialization was made up of responses to 13 possible roles
found in national sport organizations. Standardization of athlete preparation has ten items covering such areas as the existence of performance criteria, planned training camps, systematized competition schedules and the maintenance of personal-performance files. Details of the
items in the scales are presented in the Appendix. Each multi-item scale
was examined for reliability using Cronbachs coefficient alpha. For all
of the multi-item scales, with the exception of specialization of volunteers, the standardized alpha score was above 0.60, a result which indicates acceptable evidence of internal consistency of the scales and proDownloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

812
vides support for the inclusion of multiple dimensions in the generation
of taxonomies (McKelvey 1975; Carper and Snizek 1980; Hambrick
1984). The scale of specialization of volunteers did not reach the 0.60
alpha level, reflecting a lack of homogeneity in the items. That is, the
administrative positions held by volunteers in these organizations were
not necessarily correlated. For example, whether an organization had a
treasurer or not had no implication for the existence of other roles in
the organization. However, as a result of the importance of volunteers
in national sport organizations, the items for this scale were treated as
a collection of volunteer roles and were retained in the analysis as a
summed scale.
In order to create a taxonomy to identify design types at each particular
time period, the cluster analytic technique was used. Cluster analysis is
preferred over other sorting techniques such as Q-factor analysis in
that the latter identifies groups that are not mutually exclusive. Cluster
analysis, on the other hand, has as its objective to produce exclusive
homogeneous groups. As such, this technique provides greater discrimination among the organizations under study.
There are a variety of clustering techniques, and researchers must make
decisions about which of these techniques best serves their needs. In
this study, the statistical technique used to create the structural taxonomies was Wards method of hierarchical agglomerative clustering
with squared euclidean distance measures. Hierarchical agglomerative
methods have been most frequently used in cluster analysis and Wards
method is the most frequently used in the social sciences (Aldenderfer
and Blashfield 1984). It partitions the objects under study into clusters
so that the sum of the squared within cluster deviations about the group
mean of each attribute is minimized (Romesburg 1979: 150). Wards
method is reluctant to place two or more of the units under study that
are not similar to one another into the same group (Jackson 1983;
Norusis 1985).
The 13 structural scales formed the basis for the cluster analysis from
which the taxonomic groupings were derived. Since the variables within
the scales were not all measured over a similar range, it was necessary
to standardize all measures used in the analysis through the use of Z
scores which avoid weighting the distances between observations in
favour of large variables such as the number of meetings held by the
organization. The Ward method of hierarchical agglomerative clustering
was run using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSSx)
program.
Once the cluster dendograms and agglomeration schedules were produced for both time periods, the researchers determined the number of
clusters which best explained each data set. The method used was that
suggested by both Hambrick (1984) and Aldenderfer and Blashfield
(1984). It involved selecting the clusters by looking ... for a pronounced increase in the tightness (or decrease in the squared error) of
clusters as the algorithm moves from one cluster solution to the next
Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

813

(Hambrick 1984: 37). Essentially,

the way this is achieved is by graphthe number of clusters against the fusion coefficient (the numerical
value at which the various cases come together to form a cluster). When
the resulting plot shows a marked flattening this suggests that no new
information is portrayed by the following mergers (Aldenderfer and
Blashfield 1984: 54-55).

ing

Results and Discussion

The method suggested by Hambrick (1984) and Aldenderfer and Blashfield (1984) produced a six-cluster solution for the first time period, T,
(1984) and a three-cluster solution for the second time period, T, (1986/
1987). The mean scores of the 13 scales represent a profile of the structural characteristics of each of the clusters. These scores, for T, and T2
along with the standard deviations, sample means and sample standard
deviations are presented in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively.
As the two data sets clearly show, over the period of time studied there
has been a reduction in the structural diversity exhibited by this group
of organizations. At the start of the planning process, six clusters or
design types were identified. These ranged from relatively highly structured organizations such as those found in Cluster One, to organizations
which exhibited little or no structuring such as those found in Cluster
Six. The organizations in Cluster One exibited high scores on professional, technical and managerial aspects of specialization. They also had
high scores on all aspects of standardization; they exhibited a relatively
decentralized decision-making system, and had low volunteer involvement in this system. This group of organizations was closest to Sport
Canadas
institutionally prescribed professional bureaucratic
structure.

In contrast, those organizations in Cluster Six had few, if any, paid

staff, they were governed by small volunteer boards who appear to
operate with virtually no proceduralization in any area of their activities.
The high score on decision making indicates a centralized system with
the volunteer board controlling this aspect of the organizations operations. These organizations are what Pugh et al. (1969) refer to as implicitly structured and what in the sport literature have been labelled the
kitchen table archetype (Kikulis et al. 1992). The organizations in
the other four clusters were dispersed between these two designs; the
professional bureaucracy and the implicitly structured organization.
Cluster Five, for example, shows somewhat similar scores to Cluster
Six, which we have labelled as implicitly structured. The difference
between the two clusters is that Cluster Five shows higher levels of
structuring in variables such as the standardization of decision making
and the standardization of evaluation processes. It also shows a lower
score on the variable centralization, thus indicating a more decentralized
decision-making structure, something we would expect as the organizaDownloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

814

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

815

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

816

tions in this cluster move towards the professional bureaucratic design.

The organizations in this cluster exhibit what Hinings and Greenwood
(1988a) refer to as embryonic archetype coherence in that their structures are nearly consistent with an archetype but have discordant
design elements.
Clusters Two, Three and Four show no discernible pattern of structuring
and hence could be on their way to another design or stuck between
design types. They are what Greenwood and Hinings (1988) call schizoid. Cluster Three, for example, shows relatively low scores on variables such as the specialization of support staff and the standardization
of administrative procedures, a medium-level score on technical specialization and a high score on the number of hierarchical levels
involved in decision making. Thus, the organizations in this cluster
reflect the tensions of ideas and values about whether to operate with an
implicitly structured type of design or a more professional bureaucratic

design.

The results from T, demonstrate the nature of the change that has
occurred over two years into the planning process. The most obvious
difference is that this set of organizations has become much more
homogeneous. As would be predicted about such a set of organizations
subject to the same institutional environmental pressures, they have
become more isomorphic with the demands of that environment and,
consequently, with each other. The diversity which was found in the
six design types at T, has been reduced. The type of shifts that has
occurred also demonstrates that the direction of the overall change has
been towards the institutionally specified professional bureaucratic
design type. Even the least developed of the three design types at T2
is closer to the approved design on most elements of structure than
those 17 organizations in Clusters Three, Four, Five and Six at T,. This
is a considerable amount of change, and all in the same
direction.
When we look at the changes in individual elements of structure we
find greater levels of homogeneity at T2 in 12 of the 13 variables
(specialization of volunteers is the exception). This increased homogeneity is statistically demonstrated in Table 3 which shows the coefficient
of variation for each of the scales at each time period.
Allison (1978), in a thorough review, suggested that this coefficient is
the most direct and scale-invariant measure of dispersion. A reduction
in the coefficient of variation means a greater level of homogeneity.
Also, using a t-test to compare changes in individual elements of structure we find that, as shown in Table 2, there are statistcally significant
changes (p<0.05) in all elements except those concerned with volunteer
involvement (volunteer specialization and number of committees) and
decision making (centralization and volunteer involvement in decision
making). These particular systems, in which there has been less change,
embody those values central to the voluntary traditions of national sport
organizations. It is here that we see the most resistance to the pressures
Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

817
Table 3
Coefficients of
Variation at T,

and T~

that have been placed on these organizations and here that they are
farthest from the institutionally prescribed professional bureaucratic
structure. What we see, then, over the two time periods is a general
move in these 36 organizations towards the professional bureaucratic
form, the institutionally approved design type; and this movement is
really very striking. However, there is the caveat that there is much less
change on those elements of the form which are most tightly connected
to the prevailing value of volunteers.
How can we take this further in order to understand the dynamic nature
of isomorphic change? This involves outlining the way in which different mechanisms have been used to transmit the institutional ideas to,
and between, the 36 sport organizations. According to DiMaggio and
Powell ( 1983), the mechanisms by which these individual isomorphic
changes can occur are coercive isomorphism, mimetic isomorphism and
normative isomorphism. Coercive isomorphism occurs when a powerful
organization forces less powerful ones to adopt its goals and the type
of structures seen as most appropriate to achieve these goals. For
national sport organizations the state has imposed its political goal of
success in international sport on these organizations and pressured them
to adopt the structural design seen as most appropriate for achieving
these goals. These coercive pressures often come about as a response
to changes in government mandates. As Macintosh et al. (1987) point
out, the federal states mandate with regard to national sport organizations has changed over the years since 1970 from a broad-based concern
with the promotion and development of both recreational and elite sport,
to a specific focus on the production of elite athletes. This focus was
sharpened considerably with the introduction of the Quadrennial Planning Program. This changing mandate has resulted in increasing pressures on national sport organizations to adopt the organizational design
most
seen
as
appropriate for this task, the professional

bureaucracy.
The most overt of these pressures has come in the form of funding
incentives to fill certain professional roles, to operate specific proDownloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

818
grammes and to conform to planning requirements which necessitate
the increased systematization of the organizations operations. The state
has also sought to legitimate the appropriate structural changes by extolling their merits in government publications and through the actions of
their consultants, who each have responsibility for a number of national
sport organizations. As well as prescribed practices, certain organizational activities have actually been proscribed, that is to say, seen as
unacceptable for national sport organizations to engage in. These
include activities such as holding frequent meetings of volunteers, providing financial support to senior-level recreational activities and involving volunteers in operational decision making. As Hinings and Greenwood (1988b) suggest, prescribed and proscribed practices work to limit
the design types found within an institutional sphere, thus change can
only occur within certain boundaries. In the case of national sport
organizations these boundaries limit change to the direction of the professional bureaucratic structure. By adopting the type of design that is
both prescribed and proscribed within the institutional environment, a
national sport organization is able to demonstrate to Sport Canada that
it is performing its tasks in a proper and adequate manner. As Meyer
and Rowan (1977: 349) point out, the incorporation of institutionalized
elements and practices provides an account of its activities that protects
an organization from having its conduct questioned. The organization
becomes legitimate. This legitimacy can then be used as a source of
status with the state agency and in this way the national sport organization ensures that it continues to receive the resources it requires to

operate.

isomorphic changes can be attributed to coercive

authority.
uncertainty created by the conditions surrounding the
Quadrennial Planning Process has brought about some degree of
mimetic behaviour in national sport organizations. That is to say, organizations have tended to model themselves after similar organizations in
their field that they perceived to be more legitimate or successful
(DiMaggio and Powell 1983; Hinings and Greenwood 1988b). This
modelling may be diffused unintentionally through the process of
employee transfer which is a fairly frequent occurrence in sport. Professional staff seek to improve their career prospects by moving from one
sport organization to another, to work with Sport Canada, or from Sport
Canada to a senior managers position with a sport organization. Macintosh and Whitson (1990: 54), for example, report that over 75 percent
of administrative and technical personnel had held two or more jobs
in the sport bureaucracy, and 40 percent had held three or more such
jobs. This type of mobility helps to create an internal labour market
and this ensures that similar values are promoted within organizations
(cf. Galaskiewicz and Wasserman 1989).
Modelling may also occur as a result of organizations using the same
consulting firm or other similar forms of assistance. The Quadrennial
Planning Program was actually designed by Sport Canada, the state
However,

not all

The

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

819
ensure that consulting help was provided for national sport
organizations. Two consultants along with Sport Canada staff developed
guidelines and procedures about how quadrennial plans should be prepared and what they should contain. These guidelines were clearly
based on what were perceived to be some of the more successful
national sport organizations. That is, they were modelled on organizations that were already in, or close to, the professional bureaucratic
design type in that they had increased their number of professional staff,
were proceduralizing their operations and shifting decision-making
responsibility to professionals. These planning guidelines were universally applied to all national sport organizations.
As well as consulting help, national sport organization staff and volunteers often attend seminars, conferences and workshops. Speakers at
these events often come from the more successful organizations, thus
reinforcing the appropriateness of the organizational design they have
adopted. In addition, all of these organizations are located in one building in Ottawa, the National Sport and Recreation Center. This centralized location helps create network ties between members of national
sport organizations. As Galaskiewicz and Wasserman (1989) point out,
such networks are critical to mimetic processes. They act as a means
by which ideas about design options and strategies can be quickly diffused. They are also a means by which managers in NSOs learn about
which of these options and strategies is, and is not, acceptable to their
principal stakeholder, Sport Canada. Consequently, when they see other
organizations receiving larger financial contributions and greater kudos,
they tend to mimic the actions of these organizations.
The third way in which the type of changes we have shown were
brought about is through normative isomorphism. Much of the pressure
for this type of change stems from the increased number of professionals being employed in national sport organizations. Two aspects of
this increasing professionalization contribute to isomorphic change. The
first of these concerns the educational background and training that
professionals receive. DiMaggio and Powell (1983: 152) note that the
training of professionals creates a pool of interchangeable individuals
who occupy similar positions across a range of organizations and possess a similarity of orientation. The Quadrennial Planning Process actually built on previous funding initiatives by the state to encourage
national sport organizations to staff certain technical and administrative
positions. Funds were made available to encourage professional as
opposed to volunteer leadership in the form of a director-general who
would have operational control of the organization. In addition to the
fact that they fill similar functional roles, there are other commonalities
among the professional staff of national sport organizations. As Macintosh and Beamish (1987) have shown, many of these individuals come
from the same social-class backgrounds and undergo similar academic
training. Furthermore, this background and training is, in a number of
cases, very much like that of those individuals who work for Sport

agency, to

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

820
Canada. As a result, they often hold similar ideological positions about
the purpose of sport and the most appropriate type of organizational
design to realize this purpose (Slack and Thibault 1988). This ideology
becomes even more entrenched as a result of the previously mentioned
internal labour market that exists in national sport organizations, the
federal government and arms-length agencies concerned with sport.
Specifically, the mobility exhibited by professionals serves to further
unify values and beliefs about the appropriate design of national sport

organizations.
In addition to the training of professionals, an aspect of professionalization which helps bring about normative isomorphism is referred to as
the filtering of personnel. DiMaggio and Powell (1983: 152) point out
that many professional career tracks are so closely guarded both at the
entry level and throughout the career progression that individuals who
make it to the top are virtually indistinguishable. In national sport
organizations, the career tracks to senior managers positions are
guarded by Sport Canada (Slack and Thibault 1988). When individuals
are hired for senior positions in these organizations, one member of the
Sport Canada staff and often one member of the federally funded
Coaching Association of Canada sit as members of the selection committee. This ensures that only people with similar values and beliefs
about the purpose and design of national sport organizations are hired.
This is a further factor which contributes to the process of isomorphism
in these organizations.

Conclusions

DiMaggio and Powell (1983: 158) suggest that there is much to be

gained in terms of our understanding of the process of isomorphic
change by attending to similarity as well as to variation among organizations and, in particular, to change in the degree of homogeneity or
variation over time. Our study addresses the issue of change in the
degree of homogeneity of a population of organizations subject to the
same environmental pressures. Change occurs longitudinally and contributes to the literature on isomorphism in several ways. It provides
an empirical test of isomorphic change using real-time-longitudinal data
from a set of organizations that were subject to the same institutional
pressures. As such, it moves us beyond the cross-sectional studies that
have predominated in work on isomorphic change. It also examines the
change process holistically by focusing on the patterning of structural
elements.
shows that within this population
movement towards the institutionally prescribed design type, it also demonstrates that some organizational characteristics do not change to the same extent as others. The
aim of the Quadrennial Planning Program was to bring about a qualitat-

However, while the method

we use

of organizations there has been

general

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

821

ive or
which

frame-breaking change; a change to a new organizational design

was professional and bureaucratic in nature. As Ranson et al.
(1980) have said, such organizational structures and systems are not
neutral but are underpinned by interpretive schemes which reflect the
values and beliefs of members. As a result, change involves not only
changing structural elements of organization but also underlying values
and beliefs. Such values and beliefs are usually enshrined in certain
structural elements more than others. Hinings and Greenwood (1988a)
refer to these as high-impact systems. As our data show, while there
has been a general shift towards a more homogeneous design type and
the direction of this shift was to a more professional bureaucratic form,
the key impact systems involving volunteers and volunteer control of
decision making has not changed substantially.
This is important for our understanding of isomorphic change because,
as Oliver (1988) points out, although the literature on isomorphism
does not identify the specific organization characteristics across which
organizations will be predicted to exhibit isomorphism, there is a general expectation of similarity across all attributes. As she goes on to
demonstrate, this is not, in fact, the case, and as her work shows, isomorphic forces may operate with varying effect on different organizational attributes (1988: 558). Our results support Olivers argument in
that

change in a number of organizational characteristics was relatively

easily achieved, while those which we identify as high-impact systems,
in that they reflect values central to these organizations, show little
change.
The research also shows that all three mechanisms of isomorphism,
namely, coercive, mimetic and normative are at work to varying
degrees. Indeed, they work to reinforce each other. In public-sector
organizations, changes in legislation can come about in all three ways.
Because of the networks that have existed for some time between the
professionals in government, sport organizations, sport advocacy groups
and educational organizations, legislation usually has input from those
bodies, so the normative pressures are strong. However, in the case of
specific management forms and their adoption by individual organizations, coercive pressures may be somewhat stronger for those sports
which are relatively weak and powerless (e.g. biathlon). The most used
device for this was prescribing funding for professional roles deemed to
be key to the organization (e.g. Director-Generals and Chief Executive
Officers), and refusing to fund proscribed activities such as holding
frequent meetings of volunteers, providing financial support to seniorlevel recreational activities, and involving volunteers in operational
decision making.
This, of course, raises the question of whether or not the changes we
have shown were the result of institutionalization or the sport organizations dependence on the state for resources. Differentiating between
institutional and resource dependence perspectives is, as Zucker (1987)
notes, difficult. A limitation in our study is the ability to totally exclude
Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

822
resource dependence as a factor precipitating change. However, the fact
that mechanisms other than the coercive pressures built into the national
sport organizations exchange relationship with the state are shown to
influence change is, we believe, strong evidence for institutional effects.
For example, we see considerable mimetic behaviour in these organizations. One aspect of this process is that of employee mobility. This is
something that Child and Smith (1987) refer to when Cadburys were
attempting to understand how Mars did business; they brought in the
men from Mars! These transfers spread the key institutional ideas.
Again, Child and Smith (1987) point out the role of engineering suppliers in disseminating information between Cadburys and Mars. In
sport organizations, we see a similar process in the use of the same
consulting firm or the use of the Sport Canada consultants who produced the planning guidelines. Mimetic processes are also at work
because of the projection of some organizations as more successful than
others (e.g. alpine skiing), the planning guidelines being based on these
more successful organizations. This is further reinforced when smaller,
less developed organizations hire their new professional staff from
such leading organizations.
Normative isomorphism is seen primarily, as DiMaggio and Powell
(1983) suggest, through the professionalization of national sport organizations. This professionalization of staff produces a high level of communality about the purpose of sport and the most appropriate type of
organizational design to realize this purpose (Slack and Thibault 1988).
The mimetic process that the mobility of professionals serves is based
in an initial normative process that unifies values and beliefs. Important
to this normative thrust has been the growth of faculties of physical
education over the past 15 years and the emergence of sport management as a sub-discipline. Professionalism is also associated with the
guarding of career tracks through processes of selection and socialization. Having Sport Canada involved in the hiring process ensured that
only people with similar values and beliefs were hired.
Finally, although not our central purpose, our results raise questions
about resistance to the pressures of the institutional environment and
about the pace at which isomorphic change occurs. As Oliver (1991:
151) notes, institutional theorists, by virtue of their focus, have tended
to limit their attention to the effects of the institutional environment on
structural conformity and isomorphism and have tended to overlook the
role of active resistance in organization environment relations. While
the organizations in our study show considerable evidence of structural
conformity to the demands of the institutional environment they also
demonstrate resistance. As Table 2 shows, this resistance manifests
itself in the lack of significant change in those areas concerned with
volunteer involvement (volunteer specialization and the number of
committees) and decision making (centralization and volunteer
involvement in decision making). As noted earlier, these areas
embody core values about the extent of volunteer involvement in

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

823
national

sport

organizations

and

volunteer

control

of

these

organizations.
Values, such as those suggested by Kanter (1983) and Hinings and
Greenwood (1988a), manifest themselves in the structures and systems
of organizations. Values about increasing professional staff and the systematization of activities, promoted within the institutional environment
of national sport organizations, have been relatively easy for members
of these organizations to adopt and translate into appropriate structures
so as to legitimate themselves in the eyes of the state. However, redefining the roles of volunteers and changing the authority structure of
these organizations directly confronts values that are central to the
membership. It is here that national sport organizations have actively
defied the state by dismissing the institutional pressures for reduced
volunteer involvement (cf. Oliver 1991). In part, this defiance stems
from the fact that the chances for these organizations to gain economically by conforming to institutional rules and values about the standardization of operations could improve the economic fitness of these organizations as access to state funds was enhanced through meeting these
demands. However, reducing the role of volunteers had no such payoff.
As Oliver (1991: 161) notes, when anticipated legitimacy or economic
gain is low, organizations will
defy the institutional requirements
to which they are advised to conform ...; this is what our results
demonstrate.
However, resistance also stemmed from the potential loss of autonomy
that could result from conformity to certain institutional pressures. As
Oliver (1991: 161) notes, &dquo;[organizational motives to retain control
over processes and outputs will impose limits on the willingness of
organizations to conform to these pressures. Decentralizing decision
making into the hands of professional staff and reducing volunteer
involvement in decision making would reduce the autonomy of these
traditionally volunteer organizations. As a result, these are also areas
where we see no significant changes.
The pace at which isomorphic change occurs has been raised by Oliver
(1988: 558) who suggests that the question of what is a reasonable
period to wait for the appearance of isomorphism will only be conclusively solvable by repeated investigations of isomorphic processes across
a range of time spans in a variety of populations. The pace at which
isomorphic change occurred in the organizations we studied can be
described as rapid; however, our research was limited to two time
periods. As such, while it demonstrates that, in the face of strong institutional pressures, change in design can occur rapidly, it also raises questions about the permanency of this change. Miller and Friesen (1984)
suggest that organizations which successfully negotiate major change
do so over relatively short periods of time. Hinings and Greenwood
(1988a), in their ten-year study of British local authorities, make the
same point. Our population demonstrates this rapid change. However,
there was little change in the high-impact systems of these organiza...

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

824
tions. These

the aspects of

organizational structure that are most

preferences that give meaning to the organization. Since it is these that must change in order to signal a complete
reorientation to a new design type (Hinings and Greenwood 1988a),
such as the professional bureaucratic structure, it may be that the rapid
change we have shown will only be temporary.
are

tightly coupled

to the value

Appendix
National

Sport Organizations: Content

of the Structural Scales

Specialization
1. Specialization of professional staff
managing director, director of national team, director of domestic affairs, director of marketing, director of athletes, national coach, technical director, business administrator, womens head coach, mens head coach, executive director,
programme coordinator, high-performance sport-centre coordinator o=0.7048
2. Specialization of suppor-t staff
assistant national coach, trainer, masseur, technician, medical doctor, physiologist, biomechanists, psychologist, executive secretary, graphic artist o=0.7796
3. Specialization of volunteers
president, past president, vice-president national programme, vice-president
finance, vice-president marketing, vice-president domestic development, vicepresident technical, team manager, secretary, vice-president officials, vicepresident administration, vice-president geographical, athletes representative,

vice-president coaching,

volunteer coach,

vice-president judges development

a=0.4176
4. Specialization of number of committees
total number of committees (single-item variable)
a=N/A
5. Technical specialization
team distinction for coaches, distinction of discipline for coaches, number of
national coaches, full-/part-time coaching staff, national team committee,
number of types of international athletes
a=0.6338
Standardization
6. Standardization of administrative systems
existence and complexity of: job descriptions for paid staff, job descriptions
for volunteers, work plans, policies and procedures manual, terms of reference
for committees
a=0.7447
7. Standardization of athletes programmes
existence and complexity of: performance criteria, physiological monitoring,
psychological monitoring, personal performance files, talent identification
system, athlete agreement, planned competition schedule, development of athlete training programmes, athlete contact with national coach, plan for training
a=0.7036
camps
8. Standardization of support systems to athleies
existence and complexity of: levels of National Coaching Certification Program, use of Coaching Association of Canada, coaches meetings run by the
NSO, elite coaching development, officials development systems, medical
a=0.7554
support programme, research programme
9. Standardization of decision making
selection of national athletes, selection of carding for athletes, selection of
Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

825
coaches, selection of national-training programme, coaching development,
officials development
10. Standardization of evaluation
national-team-coach evaluation,
evaluation, officials evaluation

a=0.7687

procedures

professional-staff evaluation,

programme
a=0.6647

Centralization
11. Centr-alization

of decision making
decisions on: selection of national athletes, selection of carding athletes, selection of coaches, selection of national-training programme, coaching development, officials development
a=0.6842
12. Number of hierarchical levels involved in decision making
levels involved for decisions on: selection of national athletes, selection of
carding athletes, selection of coaches, selection of national-training prou=0.7156
gramme, coaching development, officials development
13. Extent of volunteer involvement in decision making
number of decisions volunteers are involved in, number of decisions made by
volunteers
a=0.7822

References

Aldenderfer, Mark S., and Roger K.

Blashfield
1984 Cluster analysis. Beverly Hills,
CA: Sage.

1983

Aldrich, Howard, and Susan Mueller

1982

The evolution of organizational

forms: technology, coordination,
and control in Research in
organizational behat,iot-. Barry
M. Staw and Larry L. Cummings
(eds.), 33-87. Greenwich, CT:
JAI.

Paul J., and Walter W. Powell

The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective
reality in organizational fields.
American Sociological Review
48: 147-160.

DiMaggio,

F. Maurice
State travel offices and

Ethridge,
1983

pleasure
study of the
principle of isomorphism in
organizational ecology. Sociology and Social Research 68:
travel markets:

96-114.

Allison, Paul D.
1978 Measures of

AmerReview 43:

inequality.

ican Sociological
865-880.

Burns, Tom, and George M. Stalker

1961 The management of innovation.

Galaskiewicz,
Wasserman
1989 Mimetic

Joseph,

and

processes

Stanley

within

an

field:
an
interorganizational
empirical test. Administrative
Science Quarterly 34: 454-479.

London: Tavistock.

Carper,

William

B,

and

William

E.

Snizek
1980 The nature and types of organizational taxonomies: an overview. Academy of Management
Review 5: 65-75.

Child, John, and Chris Smith

1987 The context and process

of

organizational transformation
Cadbury Limited in its sector.
Journal of Management Studies

&mdash;

24: 565-593.

Greenwood, Royston, and Bob Hinings

1988 Organizational
design types,
tracks and the

dynamics of strategic change. Organization Studies 9/3: 293-316.

Haas, F. Eugene, Richard H. Hall, and

Norman J. Johnson
1966 Toward an empirically derived
taxonomy of organizations in
Studies on behavior in organizations. Raymond V. Bowers (ed.),
157-180. Athens, GA: University
of Georgia Press.

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

826
Hambrick, Donald C.

Macintosh, Don, Tom Bedecki, and Ned

1984

Franks
1987

Taxonomic

approaches to studying strategy: some conceptual and

methodological issues. Journal
of Management 10: 27-41.

eral government
involvement
since 1961. Kingston and Montreal : McGill-Queens University
Press.

Hannan, Michael T., and John Freeman

1977

The
population ecology of
organizations. American Journal
of Sociology 89: 929-944.

Sport and politics in Canada:fed-

Macintosh, Don, and Rob Beamish

1987

Class

credentials? Recruitadministrative positions

in Canadas high performance
sport delivery system in The
organization and administration
of sport. Trevor Slack and Bob
Hinings (eds.), 153-172. London,
Ont: Sports Dynamics Publishers.
or

ment to

Hinings, Bob, and Royston Greenwood

1988a The dynamics of strategic change.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
and Royston Greenwood
1988b The normative prescription of
organizations in Institutional
patterns and organizations: culture and environment. Lynne G.
Zucker (ed.), 53-70. Cambridge,
MA: Ballinger.

Hinings, Bob,

Macintosh, Don, and David Whitson

1990

The game planners: transforming

Canadas sport system. Kingston
and Montreal: McGill-Queens
University Press.

Jackson, Barbara B.,

1983

Multivariate
data
analysis.
Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

McKelvey,
1975

Kanter, Rosabeth M.
1983

Administrative Science
20: 509-525.

The change masters. New York:

Simon and Schuster.

Meyer,
Kidd, Bruce
1980

The Canadian state and sport: the

dilemma of intervention. Paper
presented at the Annual Conference of the National Association
for Physical Education in Higher
Education, Brainerd, MN.

Kikulis, Lisa, Trevor Slack, and Bob

Hinings
1982 Institutionally specific design
archetypes: a framework for
understanding change in national
sport organizations. International Review for the Sociology of
Sport 27: 343-370.

Bill

Guidelines for the empirical

classification of organizations.

1977

Quarterly

John W., and Brian Rowan

Institutionalized organizations:
formal structure as myth and
ceremony. American Journal of
Sociology 83: 340-363.

John W., W. Richard Scott,

David Strang, and Andrew L. Creighton
1988 Bureaucratization without centralization : changes in the organizational system of U.S. public
education, 1940-80 in Institutional patterns and organizations : culture and environment.
L. G. Zucker (ed.), 139-167.
Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

Meyer,

Miller, Danny, and Cornelia Droge

Kimberley, John R., and David Rottman

1987 Organization and effectiveness:
A
biographical
approach.
Journal of Management Studies

1986

Psychological and traditional

determinants of structure. Administrative Science Quarterly 31:
539-560.

24: 595-621.

Lawrence, Paul R., and Jay W. Lorsch

1967

and environment.
Boston: Graduate School of Business
Administration, Harvard

Organization
University.

Miller, Danny, and Peter H. Friesen

1984 Organizations: a quantum view.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: PrenticeHall.

Mintzberg, Henry
1979

The structuring

of organizations.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: PrenticeHall.

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014

327
Nelson, Reed
1989

E.

Sport

Organization-environment isomorphism, rejection, and substitution in Brazilian protestantism.

Organization Studies 10: 207-

1984

Canada

Quadrennial planning program

handbook Ottawa: Ministry of
State for Fitness and Amateur

Sport.

224.

Starbuck, William H., Arent Greve, and

Norusis, Marija J.
1985

SPSSx: advanced statistics

New York: McGraw-Hill.

guide.

Bo Hedberg
1978 Responding to crisis. Journal of
Business Administration 9: 111137.

Oliver, Christine
1988

The collective strategy framework : an application to competing predictions of isomorphism.

Administrative Science Quarterly
33: 543-561.

Thompson, James D.
1967 Organizations

action.

New

Tolbert, Pamela, and Lynne G. Zucker

1983 Institutional sources of change in

Oliver, Christine
1991

in

York: McGraw-Hill.

structure: the diffusion of civil service reform,

1880-1935. Administrative Science Quarterly 28: 22-39.

organizational

Strategic responses to institutional processes. Academy of

Management Review 16: 145179.

Michael L., William

Newman, and Elaine Romanelli

Tushman,

Pugh, Derek S., David J. Hickson, and

Bob Hinings
1969 An empirical taxonomy of structures of work organizations.
Administrative Science Quarterly

1986

13: 65-105.

Convergence and upheaval:

managing the unsteady pace of
organizational evolution. California Management Review
XXIX: 29-44.

Ransom, Stewart, Bob Hinings, and Roy-

Weber, Max

Greenwood
1980 The structuring of organizational
structures. Administrative Science Quarterly 25: 1-17.

1947

ston

H. Charles
Use of cluster analysis in leisure
research. Journal of Leisure
Research 11: 144-153.

Romesburg,
1979

H.

The theory of economic and

social organization. Glencoe, III:
The Free Press.

Woodward, Joan
1965 Industrial organization:

theory
practice. London: Oxford
University Press.

and

Zucker, Lynne G.,

1987

Slack, Trevor
1985

The bureaucratization of

untary sport organization.

national Review for the
of Sport 20: 145-166.

volInter-

Sociology

Slack, Trevor, and Bob Hinings

1987

Institutional theories of organization. Annual Review of Sociology, 13: 443-464.

Planning and organizational

change: a conceptual framework
for the analysis of amateur sport
organizations. Canadian Journal
of Sport Sciences 12: 185-193.

Zucker, Lynne G., editor

1988 Institutional patterns and organizations: culture and environMA:
ment.
Cambridge,

Ballinger.

Slack, Trevor, and Lucie Thibault

1988

Values and beliefs: their role in

the structuring of national sport
Arena Review 12:
organizations.
140-155.

Downloaded from oss.sagepub.com at UNIV OF UTAH on November 30, 2014