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TheIronCageRevisited:InstitutionalIsomorphismandCollectiveRationalityinOrganizationalFieldsAuthor(s):PaulJ.DiMaggioandWalterW.PowellReviewedwork(s):Source:AmericanSociologicalReview,Vol.48,No.2(Apr.,1983),pp.147-160Publishedby:AmericanSociologicalAssociationStableURL::19/04/201200:25YouruseoftheJSTORarchiveindicatesyouracceptanceoftheTerms&ConditionsofUse,availableat.@jstor.org.AmericanSociologicalAssociationiscollaboratingwithJSTORtodigitize,preserveandextendaccesstoAmericanSociologicalReview.*PAULJ.DIMAGGIOWALTERW.POWELLYaleUniversityWhatmakesorganizationssosimilar?Wecontendthattheengineofrationalizationandbureaucratizationhasmovedfromthecompetitivemarketplacetothestateandtheprofessions.Onceasetoforganizationsemergesasafield,aparadoxarises:rationalactorsmaketheirorganizationsincreasinglysimilarastheytrytochangethem.Wedescribethreeisomorphicprocesses-coercive,mimetic,andnormative-leadingtothisoutcome.Wethenspecifyhypothesesabouttheimpactofresourcecentralizationanddependency,goalambiguityandtechnicaluncertainty,andprofessionalizationandstructurationonisomorphicchange.Finally,wesuggestimplicationsfortheoriesoforganizationsandsocialchange.InTheProtestantEthicandtheSpiritofCapitalism,MaxWeberwarnedthatthera-tionalistspiritusheredinbyasceticismhadachievedamomentumofitsownandthat,undercapitalism,therationalistorderhadbe-comeanironcageinwhichhumanitywas,saveforthepossibilityofpropheticrevival,impris-onedperhapsuntilthelasttonoffossilizedcoalisburnt(Weber,1952:181-82).Inhisessayonbureaucracy,Weberreturnedtothistheme,contendingthatbureaucracy,thera-tionalspirit'sorganizationalmanifestation,wassoefficientandpowerfulameansofcontrollingmenandwomenthat,onceestablished,themomentumofbureaucratizationwasirreversi-ble(Weber,1968).Theimageryoftheironcagehashauntedstudentsofsocietyasthetempoofbureau-cratizationhasquickened.Butwhilebureau-cracyhasspreadcontinuouslyintheeightyyearssinceWeberwrote,wesuggestthattheengineoforganizationalrationalizationhasshifted.ForWeber,bureaucratizationresultedfromthreerelatedcauses:competitionamongcapitalistfirmsinthemarketplace;competitionamongstates,increasingrulers'needtocontroltheirstaffandcitizenry;andbourgeoisde-mandsforequalprotectionunderthelaw.Ofthesethree,themostimportantwasthecom-petitivemarketplace.Today,Weber(1968:974)wrote:itisprimarilythecapitalistmarketeconomywhichdemandsthattheofficialbusinessofadministrationbedischargedprecisely,un-ambiguously,continuously,andwithasmuchspeedaspossible.Normally,theverylarge,moderncapitalistenterprisesarethemselvesunequalledmodelsofstrictbu-reaucraticorganization.Wearguethatthecausesofbureaucratiza-tionandrationalizationhavechanged.Thebu-reaucratizationofthecorporationandthestatehavebeenachieved.Organizationsarestillbe-comingmorehomogeneous,andbureaucracyremainsthecommonorganizationalform.Today,however,structuralchangeinorgani-zationsseemslessandlessdrivenbycompeti-tionorbytheneedforefficiency.Instead,wewillcontend,bureaucratizationandotherformsoforganizationalchangeoccurastheresultofprocessesthatmakeorganizationsmoresimilarwithoutnecessarilymakingthemmoreefficient.Bureaucratizationandotherformsofhomogenizationemerge,weargue,outofthestructuration(Giddens,1979)ofor-ganizationalfields.Thisprocess,inturn,iseffectedlargelybythestateandtheprofes-sions,whichhavebecomethegreatration-alizersofthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcen-tury.Forreasonsthatwewillexplain,highlystructuredorganizationalfieldsprovideacon-textinwhichindividualeffortstodealration-allywithuncertaintyandconstraintoftenlead,in-theaggregate,tohomogeneityinstructure,culture,andoutput.*Directallcorrespondenceto:PaulJ.DiMaggioandWalterW.Powell,SchoolofOrganizationandManagement,YaleUniversity,BoxIA,NewHaven,CT06520.ApreliminaryversionofthispaperwaspresentedbyPowellattheAmericanSociologicalAssociationmeetingsinToronto,August1981.Wehavebene-fitedconsiderablyfromcarefulreadingsofearlierdraftsbyDanChambliss,RandallCollins,LewisCoser,RebeccaFriedkin,ConnieGersick,AlbertHunter,RosabethMossKanter,CharlesE.Lindblom,JohnMeyer,DavidMorgan,SusanOlzak,CharlesPerrow,RichardA.Peterson,ArthurStinchcombe,BlairWheaton,andtwoanonymousASRreviewers.Theauthors'namesarelistedinalphabeticalorderforconvenience.Thiswasafullycollaborativeeffort.AmericanSociologicalReview1983,Vol.48(April:147-160)147148AMERICANSOCIOLOGICALREVIEWORGANIZATIONALTHEORYANDORGANIZATIONALDIVERSITYMuchofmodernorganizationaltheorypositsadiverseanddifferentiatedworldoforgani-zationsandseekstoexplainvariationamongorganizationsinstructureandbehavior(e.g.,Woodward,1965;Chil