Walter “Woody” Powell, a professor at Stanford University and a visiting professor at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, is an American sociologist and a pioneer of organizational theory.
Dr. Powell, who received his PhD in Sociology from SUNY Stony Brook in 1978, emerged on the organizational-theory scene in the early 1980s with “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields,” a cutting-edge article that appeared in the American Sociological Review. In "The Iron Cage Revisited," Dr. Powell and his co-author—Paul DiMaggio, then affiliated with Yale University—challenge the Weberian contention that modern capitalist institutions demand efficiency above all else, trapping individuals in an “iron cage” in which their scope of action is limited. Contra Weber, Drs. Powell and DiMaggio find that institutional decision-making is driven by a desire to maintain legitimacy among shareholders, government regulators, and other parties that are essential to the proper functioning of the institution.
In 1991, Dr. Powell won the Max Weber prize for “Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization.” In this piece, he argues that networks facilitate reciprocal, trust-based information flows, which, besides fostering efficient knowledge transfer, make organizations more resilient and innovative.
Dr. Powell’s other contributions to the organizational-theory field include:
(Photo Credit: University College Dublin)
Dr. Powell, who received his PhD in Sociology from SUNY Stony Brook in 1978, emerged on the organizational-theory scene in the early 1980s with “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields,” a cutting-edge article that appeared in the American Sociological Review. In "The Iron Cage Revisited," Dr. Powell and his co-author—Paul DiMaggio, then affiliated with Yale University—challenge the Weberian contention that modern capitalist institutions demand efficiency above all else, trapping individuals in an “iron cage” in which their scope of action is limited. Contra Weber, Drs. Powell and DiMaggio find that institutional decision-making is driven by a desire to maintain legitimacy among shareholders, government regulators, and other parties that are essential to the proper functioning of the institution.
In 1991, Dr. Powell won the Max Weber prize for “Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization.” In this piece, he argues that networks facilitate reciprocal, trust-based information flows, which, besides fostering efficient knowledge transfer, make organizations more resilient and innovative.
Dr. Powell’s other contributions to the organizational-theory field include:
- “Technological Change and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology,” with Kenneth Koput and Laurel Smith-Doerr (1996);
- “Network Dynamics and Field Evolution: The Growth of Inter-Organizational Collaboration,” with Douglas White, Kenneth Koput, and Jason Owen-Smith (2005); and
- The Emergence of Organizations and Markets, with John F. Padgett (2012).
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