Creating a clear, analytical framework, this comprehensive exploration of the relationship
between institutional theory and the study of organizations continues to reflect the richness
and diversity of institutional thought—viewed both historically and as a contemporary,
ongoing field of study. Drawing on the insights of cultural and organizational sociologists,
institutional economists, social and cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and
management theorists, the book reviews and integrates the most important recent …

1 Institutions and Organizations is the third text book I have written. The first I co-authored
with Peter M. Blau many years ago—an early organization text, Formal Organization: A
Comparative Approach, first published in 1962. I was Blau's student from 1956-1961 at the
University of Chicago and I owe him an enormous debt for inviting me to participate with him
in co-authoring one of the “founding texts” of the fledging field of organization studies. I have
recounted elsewhere (Scott, 2003) my views on the intellectual context of the time and the …