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Conceptual Metaphors in MicroFoundations of Institutional Theory

ISBN: 978-1-78769-128-5, eISBN: 978-1-78769-127-8

Publication date: 25 November 2019

Abstract

The relationship between individuals and institutions is a core feature of the microfoundations of institutional theory. This chapter analyzes the role of conceptual metaphors, a standard ingredient of theory building, in shaping how we theorize this relationship. Using illustrations from the emergent literature on emotions in institutional theory, the author shows the significance of conceptual metaphors for theory building and argues for selecting conceptual metaphors that help craft a dynamic, recursive relationship between individuals and institutions, respecting core premises of institutional theory and offering new creative insights into this relationship.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

I thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for constructive and developmental feedback, and I am grateful to Joep Cornelissen, Doug Creed, Dennis Jancsary, Patrick Haack, Bryant Hudson, Tammar Zilber, and many other conference participants at Third Microfoundations Workshop in Lausanne in 2018, the New Institutionalism Workshop 2018 and European Theory Development Workshop 2018 for their engaged and helpful comments on earlier drafts of this chapter.

Citation

Boxenbaum, E. (2019), "Conceptual Metaphors in MicroFoundations of Institutional Theory", Haack, P., Sieweke, J. and Wessel, L. (Ed.) Microfoundations of Institutions (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 65B), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 299-315. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X2019000065B023

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited