CSSO Seminar - Cancelled

*****Please note this event has been cancelled***

CENTRE FOR STRATEGY STUDIES IN ORGANIZATIONS & STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATION AREA

Research Seminar Series
Friday, October 23, 2009
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Bronfman Building, Rm. 340

LANGUAGE AND INSTITUTIONAL WORK: USAGE OF WHITE-COLLAR CRIME, 1939-2001
Ruth Aguilera
Department of Business Administration
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

All are cordially invited to attend.

Abstract:

We build on recent research on institutional work and address two related research questions- how does language associated with a particular institutional practice evolve? Does this language co-evolve with the associated referent practice? We find that institutional actors influence the creation and maintenance of institutional practices through the "borrowing," "bending," and "building" of language associated with the practice. We also find that when key institutional actors delegitimize the same practice, the "branching" of the language helps with the maintenance of the practice. We uncover these findings by using both - quantitative methodology and trend analysis - to explore the relationship between language of, and the practice of investigating, white-collar crime. We conclude with a detailed discussion of the role of institutional actors in institutional work and the theoretical implications of our research.