Title: To be (alike) or not to be (at all): aesthetic isomorphism in organisational spaces

Authors: Varda Wasserman

Addresses: The Open University, Raanana 43100, Israel

Abstract: Applying insights from neo-institutional theory to an analysis of two case studies – the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IMFA) and the Open University of Israel, both recently relocated to new award-winning buildings – this study suggests regarding organisational aesthetics as an important actor in isomorphic processes and exploring the processes of translating and editing, which evolved in the architectural decisions made in relocating to newly designed buildings. The contribution of the paper is in combining concepts used in studies of organisational aesthetics (especially Lefebvre|s theory) and concepts of the neo-institutionalism. This theoretical combination is offered to better understand the architectural fashions and trends, which have become popular in contemporary organisational architecture, and to explore the adaptation processes.

Keywords: organisational aesthetics; isomorphism; organisational identity; translation; editing; diffusion; decoupling; managerial fashions; Lefebvre; neo-institutional theory; award-winning buildings; organisational architecture; organisational relocation; organisational spaces; Israel.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2011.041529

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2011 Vol.4 No.1, pp.22 - 41

Published online: 25 Jul 2011 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article