From Fashion to Virus: An Alternative Theory of Organizations’ Handling of Management Ideas

2011/05/01 by Kjell Arne Røvik · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · Psychology · #Creativity in Education and Neuroscience #Fashion and Cultural Textiles #Management and Organizational Studies

paper · doi:10.1177/0170840611405426

openalex publication_date 2011/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

In contrast to management fashion theory, I develop an alternative theory of organizations’ handling of management ideas. Drawn from a virus metaphor, it offers a more complex and sophisticated concept of organizational idea-handling processes and outcomes than does fashion theory. Thus, reframing the phenomenon with a virus-inspired theory pushes analysis beyond the adoption-rejection dichotomy and bridges observations which, viewed from the fashion perspective, are either overlooked or may be interpreted as inconsistent.

Citations

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• Beyond Decoupling: Rethinking the Relationship Between the Institutional Environment and the Classroom

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