INSTITUTIONAL PRESSURES AND ISOMORPHIC CHANGE - AN EMPIRICAL-TEST

This paper examines the process of isomorphic change. It does so by ex amining the dynamics of the change process and looking at change holis tically. Using a population of 36 national-level sport organizations, subject to environmental pressures from a state agency to adopt a more professional and bureaucratic design, the paper shows that over time there is an increase in the level of homogeneity of these organization s. Although the general shift is to a more professional and bureaucrat ic type of organization, certain elements of structure do not change a s much as others, thus demonstrating resistance to institutional press ures. The processes by which the changes that occurred took place are explored.