Contemporary Streams of Institutional Theory in Management and Accounting
An increasing number of research communities acknowledge the need for an interdisciplinary approach in management and accounting research. Understanding the contemporary streams of institutional theory and their potential to extend previous knowledge becomes crucial in the quest for contribution to the literature.
The aim of this course is to deepen knowledge and reflect upon the contemporary streams of institutional theory and their application to management and accounting studies. Specifically, the course's ambition is to equip PhD students with a deeper understanding of institutional logics, institutional entrepreneurship and institutional work, and how these streams can be connected to their own research projects. These streams of institutional theory have become increasingly valuable in management and accounting research. At the same time, they are challenging to use under theoretical pluralism agendas. In this regard, the opportunities and challenges of these streams will be examined during the course. In a long-term perspective, the course seeks to contribute to the development of PhD students’ analytical and critical skills, and therefore facilitate the number of individual and joint international publications. During 5-days gathering, the course content will include but not be limited to discussion of:
Day 1. General presentation and discussion of contemporary development of management and accounting research with institutional theory use as theoretical lenses:
- classical streams (isomorphism and decoupling of institutional theory and Scandinavian institutionalism their application to management and accounting
- the value of institutional theory for conceptualizing management and accounting research;
- interactive group session regarding opportunities and challenges of working with classical streams of institutional theory and Scandinavian institutionalism during data collection and analysis;
- presentation and discussion of student papers;
Day 2. Institutional logics and its application to management and accounting research:
- presentation of theory and its analytical tools;
- discussion of examples of theory use in management and accounting literature;
- interactive group session on opportunities and challenges of working with institutional logics during data collection and analysis;
- presentation and discussion of student papers;
Day 3. Institutional entrepreneurship and its application to management research:
- presentation of theory and its analytical tools;
- discussion of examples of theory use in management and accounting literature;
- interactive group session on opportunities and challenges of working with institutional entrepreneurship during data collection and analysis;
- presentation and discussion of student papers;
Day 4. Institutional work and its application to management research:
- presentation of theory and its analytical tools;
- discussion of examples of theory use in management and accounting literature;
- interactive group session on opportunities and challenges of working with institutional work during data collection and analysis;
- presentation and discussion of student papers;
Day 5. Combining theories and theoretical pluralism:
- possible paradigmatic issues and justifications for theories’ combinations;
- discussion of examples from management and accounting studies;
- interactive group session combining theories and implications for data collection and analysis;
- presentation and discussion of student papers;
- wrapping up, further actions and opportunities for publication.
Admitted to a Ph.D. program or have the qualifications to be admitted to a Ph.D. program.
Must fulfill the English language requirements or must be from approved partner institutions.
Knowledge
On completion of the course, the candidate should be able to:
- have advanced knowledge of classical and contemporary streams of institutional theory;
- understand the challenges connected with the applications and combination of the contemporary streams of institutional theory;
- evaluate and analyze the characteristics between different streams of institutional theory;
Skills
On completion of the course, the candidate should be able to:
- assess the analytical value of applying theories to the empirical design of own research project;
- connect own research projects with the analytical frameworks in both oral and written forms;
- critically examine the research projects of peers in both oral and written forms.
Competence
On completion of the course, the candidate should be able to:
- identify relevant theoretical problem statements and contributions to the literature with the use of contemporary streams of institutional theory;
- critically manage interdisciplinary research papers;
- discuss and give feedback to research projects drawing upon the institutional theory.
- identify the contemporary development of institutional theories and respective applications in management and accounting research;
Students evaluate the course by final evaluation. These evaluations are included in the university’s quality assurance system.