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Cited by 1,059

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Discipline of Rankings: Tight Coupling and Organizational Change

Open access
Sauder, Michael, Espeland, Wendy Nelson·2009·American Sociological Review
DOI 10.1177/000312240907400104
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Abstract

This article demonstrates the value of Foucault's conception of discipline for understanding organizational responses to rankings. Using a case study of law schools, we explain why rankings have permeated law schools so extensively and why these organizations have been unable to buffer these institutional pressures. Foucault's depiction of two important processes, surveillance and normalization, show how rankings change perceptions of legal education through both coercive and seductive means. This approach advances organizational theory by highlighting conditions that affect the prevalence and effectiveness of buffering. Decoupling is not determined solely by the external enforcement of institutional pressures or the capacity of organizational actors to buffer or hide some activities. Members' tendency to internalize these pressures, to become self-disciplining, is also salient. Internalization is fostered by the anxiety that rankings produce, by their allure for the administrators who try to manipulate them, and by the resistance they provoke. Rankings are just one example of the public measures of performance that are becoming increasingly influential in many institutional environments, and understanding how organizations respond to these measures is a crucial task for scholars.

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Metadata

Authors
Sauder, M., & Espeland, W. N.
Venue
American Sociological Review
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2009-02
Volume
74
Issue
1
Pages
63-82
ISSN
  • 0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-8271
DOI
10.1177/000312240907400104
OpenAlex
W2033669038
Cited by
1,059
References
5
FWCI
60.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green

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