Under their radar, under their noses: Confidence in deferential communities and the growth of opposition

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Abstract

Existing research on institutional change focuses on change as a result of conflicts
between challengers and proponents of the dominant institutional logic. Although it
helps us understand how challengers weaken the existing logic and succeed in change,
the literature provides less insight into how opposition grows, especially when the
survival chance of those who oppose the dominant logic is slim. In fact, we know little
about how the development of challenges stays under the radar although the unnoticed
development is fundamental to institutional change. In this paper, I explore this underexamined aspect of change by incorporating insights from studies on hidden transcripts
and social categorization in the literature. Focusing on proponents of the dominant
logic, I propose that their confidence in deferential communities makes it easier for
them to miss potential challengers. They tend to focus on whether a community as a
whole, rather than every single individual, comply with the logic. Observing public and
easy-to-recall signs of compliance, they lump potential challengers in with the
community that apparently upholds the logic. I test my thesis by drawing from a unique
dataset of Korean neo-Confucian academies from 1327 to 1800 and using event history
analysis of the grant of royal charters. Results show that potential challengers –academies teaching doctrines that are divergent from the dominant doctrine – are most
likely to be chartered when they operate in a geographical area where there are public
and easy-to-recall activities apparently supporting the existing governing logic of
society. Proponents of the dominant logic, such as authorities, tend to lump together
academies from the same area and overlook anomalies within an overall deferential
community. As the chartered academies thrive, potential challengers gain strength. On
the whole, this study constructs a novel framework to better understand the readiness
for institutional change
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe ASQ-UofSC Globalizing Organization Theory Conference and Paper Development Workshop
Number of pages12
Publication statusPublished - 11 Jan 2020
EventThe ASQ-UofSC Globalizing Organization Theory Conference and Paper Development Workshop - University of South Carolina, Columbia, United States
Duration: 8 Jan 202011 Jan 2020

Conference

ConferenceThe ASQ-UofSC Globalizing Organization Theory Conference and Paper Development Workshop
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityColumbia
Period8/01/2011/01/20

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