386388). At the same time, interdependence increases when specialization and inter-organizational division of labor are on the rise (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978, p. 43). Whereas Aldrichs focus is on relations between organizations of equal power or control over resources, other authors such as Cook, referring to Blau and Emerson, are more concerned with power differentials, dominance, and vertical relations among organizations (Cook, 1977, p. 77). Among the key concepts used in network accounts are: nodes, edges, size and density of the network structure, as well as (structural) positions. Moreover, the control over a resource is derived from a couple of factors in this context. . As this puts their autonomy at risk, organizations have to engage with their environment without becoming hooked on it. It is of relevance in this context that the autonomy of organizational actors is conceptualized as being restricted. Examinations of competition and conflict already take place but should be strongly encouraged and expanded. 183185). The limits of international organization: systematic failure in the Relations among these nodes or actors are formally referred to as the edges of a network. The work of security experts, for instance, often falls into this category (Kille & Hendrickson, 2011; Varwick & Koops, 2009). The regime complexity approach has been applied to a very broad spectrum of policy fields (and their interlinkages). This splits researchers inspired by one or more of the well-established paradigms from those colleagues who, by dint of their worldviews or procedures, are located at the margins of the discipline. It is in response to this need that organizations engage with each other. An organizations dependence on others is determined by both the importance that given resources have for it and by the level of control others have over these resources (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978, p. 51). In greater detail, a) the knowledge and ideas of an organization, b) its norms and obligations, c) its output, as well as d) the functional interdependence among organizations are conceptualized as four kinds of triggers with the potential to bring about changes. (PDF) Theories on the role of international organizations in However, its symbolical compliance is decoupled from what is taking place on the ground: robust peacekeeping with less restricted use of force (Lipson, 2007, pp. Finally, interdependence exists whenever one actor does not entirely control all of the conditions necessary for the achievement of an action or for obtaining the outcome desired from the action (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978, p. 40). Research Portal page In addition, a third position is provided by scholars who come to a rather ambivalent evaluation of the effects of regime complexity. The theoretical approaches introduced so far conceive of IOs as always adjusting and adapting to their environment - at least on a structural level - whereas deviant action of IOs or IOs that are developing strategies to increase their autonomy can hardly be explained. Cooperation is alleviated by a stabilization or convergence of expectations (Young, 1982, p. 277; Morin & Orsini, 2013, p. 48) and a renewal of state actors self-binding (Faude, 2015, p. 316). Realism . In addition to the terms regime and (global) governance, other key concepts of the regime complexity approach are: functional overlap, (regulative) competition, adaptation, differentiation, and division of labor. In a similar way, UN peacekeeping operations are held to manage irreconcilable environmental demands. More specifically (organizational) actors are assumed to respond to their environment and to change it: the macro-structure of inter-organizational relations both emerges from organizational micro-decisions and has an influence on them (Gulati & Gargiulo, 1999, p. 1475). On the one hand, this space is constrained by the beliefs that guide a human beings action. Finally, the concept of a (structural) position is reserved for specifying a nodes place within a network. However, the conceptual shift from environment to organizational fields reduces this problem (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). 279287). Cold War. In this manner, contingency is built into the approach. International Relations (IR) scholars began to engage in the study of inter-organizational relations later than their colleagues in neighboring disciplines such as sociology and economics. Beyond the notion of power, further key concepts are resources and dependence as well as interdependence. Theoretical Background: Organizational Theories and the Research on Whereas the first refers to the number of nodes in a network, the latter is about the intensity of their relations. World society emerges from the institutionalization of rationalized world cultural models (the world polity) which are held to be organized in scientific, professional, and legal analyses of the proper functioning of states, societies, and individuals (Meyer, Boli, Thomas, & Ramirez, 1997, p. 149). However, the principle of coordination turned out to be an unmet goal (Hensell, 2015, p. 13)a rational myth invoked to gain acceptance. For the sake of better comparability, each exploration will be guided by the same questions and will address them in the same order: What is the (overarching) theoretical or intellectual tradition in which the approach is rooted? . Institutional analysis has a central position in political science. At the same time, however, functional overlaps also contribute to a division of labor and thus alleviate cooperation: organizations unilaterally give in to the pressure to adapt to their members interests when they are confronted with intensifying inter-organizational competition about regulative competencies. Theoretical Approaches to Organizations Within social science there are two broad strands of theorizing about organizations. Rationalist and constructivist approaches can be roughly distinguished by their individualist and holist ontologies. Introduction. PDF Part II: Theories of International Relations: Five Approaches - JSTOR The dynamics of competition result in adaptation and a differentiation of rules: organizations adapt to the interests of their members either by specializing or by adopting rules from others. Institutional analysis has a central position in political science. It is manifest not only in relations among governments but also, to name but a few, in relations between the World Health Organization (WHO), pharmaceutical companies, and private foundations, in the Holy Sees relations with representatives of other world religions, or in those kinds of relations that the Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), maintains with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and various multinational corporations. Moreover, collaboration in the inter-organizational development network is traced back to five factors. This network is considered one of the most mature networks among international governmental organizations so far. They are less fixed and stable but not unstable. convergence, considering their role in . Meaning is socially mediated; it is negotiated in social, intersubjective processes. The strength or weakness of an edge depends on factors such as the frequency of interaction or the quality of the emotional ties among the nodes. The link was not copied. Organizations are grasped as constructed by this (universal) culture because they adapt to them for the sake of increasing their legitimacy and strengthening their capacities for survival. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. An example of this position points to relations between NATO and the European Union (Hofmann, 2009). 125 . Rather than relying on direct force, such as military action, liberalism places an emphasis on international cooperation as a means of furthering each nation's respective interests. International organizations (IOs) are usually seen as secondary actors in world politics. Relevant factors are the organizations position in the fields of financial sector surveillance and poverty reduction as well as its openness, that is, the strength of its interactions with other participants in these fields (Vetterlein & Moschella, 2014, pp. Whereas environments are introduced as broad, given, or pre-established, the term organizational fields is used to denote those parts of environments that consist of organizations with similar tasks. This is the case when network accounts are based on theories that, like sociological neo-institutionalism or resource dependence, distinguish between organizations and environments. From this angle, the regime complexity approach can also be grasped as a theoretical underpinning of global governance accounts. 126127), but it can also be informed by Herbert Simons concept of bounded rationality (Alter & Meunier, 2009, p. 18). Keeping up with external expectations is held to ensure an organizations legitimacy, but this does not imply that all expectations are fulfilled by all organizations all the time. p.7028-7045 Abstract Contemporary approaches to the study of international organization in IR (International Relations) scholarship are subsumed and reviewed under three key words: institution, organization and governance. The five approaches will be presented according to their position in the rationalism-constructivism debate (Wver, 1996, pp. 4243). Lucian Ashworth Although David Mitrany's international thought is not usually associated with the concept of the international anarchy, I argue that his analysis actually compares two forms of anarchical order. Sociological neo-institutionalism is known as the Stanford School approach, at least in organization studies. The concept points to the presence of others in an organizations environment and their role in or influence on that organizations decision-making; it is about power advantages that result from asymmetry in exchange relations among organizations (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978, pp. They all supported the principle of coordination for reasons of legitimacy and to simultaneously continue pursuing their own agendas. To avoid competition and overlaps, the EU not only engages in specific action (grasped as demarcated zones or functional niches) but also is expected to offer support tailored on the basis of UN needs (Brosig, 2014, p. 87) in the future. They do so either by specializing or by integrating rules from other organizations into their own rule-sets. Organizations thus begin and maintain relations with others mostly to procure resources, as they seldom produce, control, or have available all the resources they need to accomplish their tasks. Consequently, strategic action is another key concept of the regime complexity approach. Empirically, sociological neo-institutionalism is applied to inter-organizational relations in the fields of security, economy, and finance, as well as health and sustainability governance. . Correspondingly, human beings are grasped as the only actors. Abduction, finally and following Peirce, is linked to creative problem-solving and the capacity to control these processes (Franke & Roos, 2010, pp. Studies that focus on non-security networks come to more optimistic assessments. What is its causal logic, or, what kinds of ascriptions of causality are made? The dialectical relationship between structures of corporate practice and human beings as the only actors is referred to as process. Nevertheless, those who act on behalf of organizations are considered free to deal with these changing expectations in the way they think is adequate. This influence is held to concern the resources available for an organization, an organizations power and control, as well as its reputation and status (Ebers & Maurer, 2014, pp. See Conybeare, John, " International Organization and the Theory of Property Rights," International Organization 34 (Summer 1980), pp. Two further key concepts of the classical pragmatist approach are universe of meaning and spaces of possibilities. The term space of possibilities refers to what single human beings can and cannot do. 247258). The assumption of substantive rationality has proved a valuable tool in pursuing such knowledge. Organizational actors rely on the advice of members of professional associations when it comes to decisions on whether or not to respond to external expectations and how to deal with them (Meyer & Jepperson, 2000, p. 107). Background The term international institutionhas been used over the course of the last few decades to refer to a broad range of phenomena. 397399). An organizations environment consists of other organizations. Put differently, organizations face the following trade-off: organizations want to accomplish their tasks and to maintain their autonomy. 699- 732 . International security - Wikipedia These references hint at a slight tendency to transcend the rationalist-constructivist divide among scholars of inter-organizational relations. The Stanford Schools concept of organizational fields also figures prominently in attempts to explicate (rather costly) formal similarities among organizations that govern transnational social and environmental sustainability (Dingwerth & Pattberg, 2009). Roles, Types, and Definitions of International Organizations Their examination starts from the following assumption: both structures of corporate practice and what is brought about by those who operate in and for them can be conceived as ideas to which human beings are loyal (Roos, 2015, pp. At the same time, however, the term inter-organizational network is disputed due its metaphorical origin (Bergenholtz & Waldstrm, 2011, p. 540). Functionalism | Definition, Examples, Criticism, & Facts Against this background, the universe of meaning can be grasped as the meaning of everything that concerns human beings. Structures of corporate practice can also be understood as rules or, in case they prove their worth, routines. One of these (former) civilian powers, the European Union (EU), is regarded as (interested in) pooling resources with the UN, at least as far as peacekeeping in Africa is concerned (Brosig, 2014, pp. . The theory was not popularized until Wendt 1992 (cited under Alexander Wendt) (a direct challenge to neorealism) and Katzenstein 1996 (cited under Identity) made it a staple of international relations (IR) syllabi around the world. For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us. One is economistic and rooted in assumptions of instrumental rationality and effi- Simultaneously, these two groups of rather theory-driven researchers are split from those colleagues who are endued with vast field knowledge but engage their research object in a more or less non-theoretical, empiricist way. 332340). For Dewey (1984), public emerges from collective attempts to regulate those consequences that some peoples action have upon others. Common endeavors to check the content, compatibility, and plausibility of what is driving the approaches already out there promise to be helpful on this track. Mimetic isomorphism describes situations of uncertainty and ambiguous goals in which successful and legitimate organizations serve as models for mimesis. They do so by means of their (socially constituted) potential for creative action (Joas, 1996). For this purpose, a triad of characteristics is assumed from which their competence to act is derived: corporeality, reflexivity, and creativity (denoted as the aptitude for abduction). This action aims at both reducing an organizations environmental dependencies and enhancing its power (Oliver & Ebers, 1998, p. 575). Webers claim that Occidental (Western) rationality brought about cultural phenomena of universal significance and validity can thus be seen as one of sociological neo-institutionalisms iron premises.
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