Global Management Concepts and Local Adaptations: Working Groups in the French and German Car Manufacturing Industry
研究了工作小组概念在法国和德国汽车制造厂的扩散与本地适应过程，发现制度差异导致组织结构的同构与异质并存。
In this paper, the diffusion process and organizational consequences of management concepts that spread globally through an industry are analyzed. Taking the example of the working group concept, the organization of the final assembly of a sample of French and German car manufacturers is studied. It can be shown that, in both countries, working groups similar to the ones used in Japanese car companies are widely diffused in the car industry. It also becomes clear from the analysis that plants have been experimenting with working groups and have adjusted them to their proper needs; a process which we call `local adaptation'. Our results indicate that the local adaptation of working groups is brought about to a large extent by the institutional differences between countries. Because of diffusion and adaptation processes, isomorphic as well as idiosyncratic tendencies in organizational structures can be observed at the same time.