Mechanisms of Organizational Imprinting: From Entrepreneur to Organization: from entrepreneur to organization

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Název: Mechanisms of Organizational Imprinting: From Entrepreneur to Organization: from entrepreneur to organization
Autoři: Markus C. Becker
Zdroj: Administrative Science Quarterly. 70:119-156
Informace o vydavateli: SAGE Publications, 2024.
Rok vydání: 2024
Témata: organization design, organizational imprinting, 0502 economics and business, 05 social sciences, imprinting by individuals, entrepreneurship, imprinting, imprinting theory
Popis: Entrepreneurs can have a long-lasting impact on organizations they found, despite significant changes in the environment. Imprinting theory offers an explanation for this. Yet, knowledge of how imprinting occurs is still limited. Scholars have therefore called for more attention to processes and micro-level theories of imprinting, including the role of individuals. I therefore ask, how do entrepreneurs imprint organizations? Drawing on material from company archives, I conducted a longitudinal, historical case study of Zeiss, a German manufacturer of optical instruments, covering the period 1846–1990. I show how individual blueprints of the founder and his business partner were translated into persistent features of the organization through early decisions, teaching, role modeling, and formalized rules, which left structural, behavioral, and product imprints. The article extends theory on imprinting by shedding light on blueprints as sources of imprints, the multiple mechanisms by which individuals persistently shape core features of an organization, and the multiple organizational dimensions on which imprints are left.
Druh dokumentu: Article
Jazyk: English
ISSN: 1930-3815
0001-8392
DOI: 10.1177/00018392241295929
Přístupová URL adresa: https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/e4486ef9-4d65-41f8-a897-636e80d1e9b7
https://doi.org/10.1177/00018392241295929
Rights: URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license
Přístupové číslo: edsair.doi.dedup.....4f60fa05ab4f6d729686acbd058a9ee4
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Popis
Abstrakt:Entrepreneurs can have a long-lasting impact on organizations they found, despite significant changes in the environment. Imprinting theory offers an explanation for this. Yet, knowledge of how imprinting occurs is still limited. Scholars have therefore called for more attention to processes and micro-level theories of imprinting, including the role of individuals. I therefore ask, how do entrepreneurs imprint organizations? Drawing on material from company archives, I conducted a longitudinal, historical case study of Zeiss, a German manufacturer of optical instruments, covering the period 1846–1990. I show how individual blueprints of the founder and his business partner were translated into persistent features of the organization through early decisions, teaching, role modeling, and formalized rules, which left structural, behavioral, and product imprints. The article extends theory on imprinting by shedding light on blueprints as sources of imprints, the multiple mechanisms by which individuals persistently shape core features of an organization, and the multiple organizational dimensions on which imprints are left.
ISSN:19303815
00018392
DOI:10.1177/00018392241295929