Governing inside the organization: interpreting regulation and compliance

Area of Science:

• Organizational Studies
• Sociology of Regulation
• Public Administration

Background:

• Understanding how organizations interpret and respond to regulatory bodies is crucial for effective governance.
• Existing research often overlooks the internal organizational factors influencing regulatory compliance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a typology of how organizational actors construct the role of the regulator.
• To examine how internal organizational characteristics (position, expertise, autonomy) shape these constructions.
• To link these micro-level interpretations to organizational compliance and performance.

Main Methods:

• Multisite ethnographic data collection focused on safety practices within organizations.
• Grounded theory approach to develop a typology of regulator constructions.
• Analysis of variations in organizational positions, expertise, and autonomy.

Main Results:

• Organizational actors perceive regulators as allies, threats, or obstacles.
• These perceptions vary based on organizational expertise, authority, and the continuity of relationships with regulators.
• Compliance varied not only across organizations but also within organizations.

Conclusions:

• Internal organizational dynamics, rather than solely institutional logics, drive varied compliance.
• The developed typology, linked to organizational hierarchy, connects micro-level discourse to organizational performance.
• Findings extend institutional and ecological theories of organizational behavior in regulatory environments.