6533b85afe1ef96bd12b985e

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Institutional Dynamics in International Organizations: Lessons from the Recruitment Procedures of the European External Action Service

subject

description

Author's version of an article in the journal: Organization Studies. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840614544558 This article examines how organizational designs develop by proposing a novel theoretical framework that views organizational change as resulting from a dialectic process between interpretive agents. The key claim is that existing formal procedures (such as recruitment processes, our empirical focal point) are subject to involved actors’ interpretive efforts. This results in a bargaining situation based on the interpretations of the principal actors, which may induce a feedback loop whereby the original procedures are amended. The empirical relevance of the theoretical argument is illustrated via a case study of the hiring procedures in the European External Action Service.