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Michael Lounsbury on Society and Economy: Framework and Principles.

In this paper, I examine how variation arises in the staffing of recycling programs at colleges and universities. Through initial fieldwork, I identified two basic recycling program forms. Some schools adopted recycling programs that entailed the creation of new, full-time recycling manager positions that were filled by ecological activists. Other schools adopted more minimalist programs that were staffed by current employees who were more ecologically ambivalent and assumed recycling management responsibilities as a part-time, additional duty. Results of a subsequent survey of a population of colleges and universities show that this variation in staffing was importantly shaped by the Student Environmental Action Coalition, a national social movement organization that provided resources and support to student environmental groups at particular schools. Implications for the study of how field-level organizations shape the content of organizational practices are discussed.

A typology of four institutional research perspectives in organizational sociology is offered with the intention of broadening what our subfield considers "institutional": (a) social organization, (b) work and organization, (c) interactionism, and (d) cultural system. The case of the emergence of recycling in the U.S. solid waste field is drawn on to illustrate differences among these perspectives. The article advocates the view that organizational sociologists should draw from these diverse approaches as if they were theoretical resources in an institutional tool kit. This would make possible more eclectic multilevel approaches that should be attentive to the contingent nature of social action.

This volume takes stock of entrepreneurship research within organizational sociology, critically examining the theoretical presuppositions of the field and situating extant research within the sociological canon. The contributors to this volume exemplify how the disciplinary lens of sociology provides a systematic foundation to understand the context, process, and effects of entrepreneurial activity. Topics explored include entry into entrepreneurship, immigrant entrepreneurship and enclaves, academic entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurialism related to new organizational forms.The breadth and depth of the research offered by the esteemed scholars that have contributed to this volume highlight the progressive nature of sociological research on entrepreneurship. Taken as a whole, the volume points the way towards a more comprehensive framework for the development of the sociology of entrepreneurship. Research in the Sociology of Organizations is an international series. It is especially concerned with specifying the unique contributions of sociological theories and research techniques to the analysis of organizations. Each volume aims to foster debate and dialogue about the value of new theories and research to the field of organizational sociology as well as the growing international community of organizational scholars