Institutional influences on management ideas diffusion

The adoption of managerial concepts and practices by management junior enterprises

Abstract

Purpose: to investigate how the process of diffusion of managerial concepts and practices occurs in Management Junior Enterprises (JEs) in the states of Paraíba (PB), Pernambuco (PE) and Rio Grande do Norte (RN). Methodology: Using Organizational Institutionalism, qualitative research was conducted, guided by semi-structured interviews and documents, applying thematic content analysis. Main results: Our regional analysis revealed that: (i) there is diffusion of concepts and practices among the organizations studied; (ii) the actors responsible for this process are the JEs and Federations working in the field of the junior movement; (iii) benchmarking through communication and interaction at events is the main mechanism for diffusion; and, (iv) mimetic isomorphism and coercive pressures were identified as the main institutional influences operating in this organizational field. Academic contributions: The diffusion of managerial concepts and practices studied is strongly influenced by the networked nature of the actors in the field and by the interactional and referential conditions of the JEs, and between them and the Federations of the junior movement, allowing their practitioners to evaluate the effective legitimacy and usefulness of the ideas adopted for their realities. Practical contributions: Undergraduate/postgraduate courses, professors involved in collaborating/supervising students involved in EJs, as well as the very contents that are introduced in Business Schools and professional courses are crucial factors in the commoditization of 'management ideas' from what it is taught and discussed in these contexts, impacting the (re)circulation of ideas among EJM participants in the development of effective innovations and in the adequacy of the strategy and ideologies of each EJ to its reality, and not just to what is mandatory by the state and national Federations.