This small journal on public administration had a special issue following a conference on public accountability.
David Mullins writes on the non-profit housing sector. He identifies institutional logics (Friedman & Alford, 1991; Scott 2001; Thornton, 2002) as a relevant concept.
Institutional logics may be
· A shared belief system (Scott, 2001)
· ‘A set of material practices and symbolic constructions’ that provide a means of connecting beliefs and rules (Friedman & Alford, 1991)
· Competing logics with different consequences for attributes of organisations
Whereas Thornton proposed two competing logics as the logic of professions and the logic of markets, Mullins looks at the logic of local accountability and the logic of scale and efficiency in action. The relevant one for my interests is, I think the logic of local accountability, but I might find different logics in the context of a public organisation that uses external consultants.
Mullins uses the concept as a framework for understanding how housing associations manage the multiple accountabilities, which “place conflicting demands, and adaptation to these demands is mediated through beliefs and values.”
Mullins other logic is the logic of scale and efficiency. The two logics co-exist, which he suggests implies a process of transition from one to another. He quotes Thornton’s work as suggesting “that the existence of two logics within a field is a symptom of a change process”.
Follow up
- Thornton PH (2002)”the rise of the corporation in a craft industry: conflict & conformation in institutional logics academy of management journal vol. 45 no 1 pp81-101
- DiMaggio & Powell, 1983
- Scott WR 2001
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