Mass media and massive failures: Determining organizational efforts to defend field legitimacy following crisis

Mass media and massive failures: Determining organizational efforts to defend field legitimacy following crisisVinit M. DesaiUniversity of Colorado, DenverXiuaozhuo Ma & Marcel StevensTilburg UniversityTable of contentsSummaryReviewConclusionDiscussion Points

Main problemHow organizations may undertake efforts to minimize disruptions and defend activities in their field.MethodsTheory Gap = what actions organizations may pursue to preserve the status quo following disruptions in their field. defensive institutionalThe author develops theory to preserve legitimacy by using PR after a disruption.Unit of analysis: company year, sample size: 36 Class I carriers in total. Rail accidents. 347 234 unique releases.

Statements: categorized 1. compare with other fields. 2.factors outside of the organization 3. future improvements (dependent variable) independent variable: other firmss accidents and issue scrutnyHigh intercoder reliabiltiy :Cohens kappa of 0,91, methods, findingsMain conclusion

Cohens Kappa: is een veel gebruikte statistische maat om de mate van intra- of inter-beoordelaarsbetrouwbaarheid vast te stellen4Main problemHypothesesH1: Following accidents in their field, organizations in fields receiving high scrutiny of related issues become more likely to engage in defensive institutional work than organizations in fields receiving lower scrutinyH2: Following accidents in their field, organizations receiving high scrutiny of related issues become more likely to engage in defensive institutional work than organizations receiving lower scrutiny of related issuesH3: As accidents in their field increase, organizations that share high core similarity with accident-stricken organizations become less likely to engage in defensive institutional work than organizations with lower core similarityH4: Following accidents in their field that could involve forces outside direct organizational control, organizations that have experienced similar accidents become moee likely to engage in defensive institutional work.

Institutional theory aknowledges the importance of disruptive events in promoting change across organizational fields. Variously reffered to as jolts, disruptions,shocks, discontinuities (greenwoord & suddaby, 2006; Hoffman,1999)

Legitimacy refers to judgement that an organizations actions are appropriate within some socially constructed set of norms (suchman, 1995)

Need for greater research into organizational agency in the preventive use of the very institutional forces that create isomorphism= close similiarity

Level of analysis: Open system, Ecological. Or Organisation Field

Defensive institutional work may be risky, when not direcctly involved in disruptions may benefit by avoiding unwanted attention. (!)

Spillover more intense when characterized by prior scrutiny.Stricken organisation: getroffen organisatie

5FindingsFindings: high correlation between scrutiny of safety of focal firm and total media articles regarding safetyH1 supported, H2 not. H3 +H4 yes 6Contribution paperSignificance of contributionAim of paper vs. Paper structureReviewNet contributionMain lessons for theoryMain lessons for practiceConclusionTheory discussion: marcel..Practical example: Intro: The collapse of the Rana Plaza building is, to date, the deadliest disaster in the history of the garment industry worldwide (over 1100 killed) discussion: To what extent should large low-cost clothing brands (h&m, Primark, zara) make use of defensive institutional efforts ?Discussion