Work

The Role of Verbal and Visual Text in the Process of Institutionalization

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: In this article we develop novel theory on the differentiated impact of verbal and visual text on the emergence, rise, establishment, and consolidation of institutions. Integrating key insights from social semiotics into a discursive model of institutionalization, we identify distinct affordances of verbal and visual text based on the constitutive features of these semiotic modes. In an effort to extend scholarly inquiry into the relationship of text and institutions, we develop a set of propositions on how and under which conditions verbal and visual text, respectively, facilitate the institutionalization of novel ideas in each stage of the process. Our theory development has implications for research on institutions as communicative accomplishments, contributes to the nascent line of multimodal research, and provides novel insights into institutional emergence.

Source: Academy of Management Review

DOI: 10.5465/amr.2014.0301

Authors: Renate E. Meyer, Dennis Jancsary, Markus A. Höllerer, Eva Boxenbaum

Institutions: Vienna University of Economics and Business, Copenhagen Business School, UNSW Sydney, Centre de Gestion Scientifique, École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris

Language: English

Topic: Management and Organizational Studies

Subfield: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche

Award: Institutional Work, Management and Legal Categories