Strong and Weak Events : How to Measure Them?

This paper is related to our previous work (submitted to the 6th New Institutional Workshop, Lyon, 2009) dealing with the analysis of the evolution of the Italian Temporary Work Agencies’ field (TWAs) through the new institutional logics approach. Through this approach, we aimed to analyze the TWAs that constitute a fairly young field which came into being in 1997. The process of rise and evolution of the TWAs’ field has been complex and lengthy. It has been characterized by different phases and several events that shaped and influenced actions and behaviors of individual and collective actors involved in the field. Last year during the workshop the discussion brought out the interest about the analysis of the events according to several variables. Therefore, this contribution represents a step forward focusing on the analysis of the events occurred in TWAs’ field. We focus on the methodological process used to identify and to measure the events relevant to the analysis of this organizational field. In light of these assumptions, the paper aims to identify the events occurred in the Italian TWAs’ field from 1986 to 2010. In addition, we aim to measure the strength of these events in order to find out which are the critical ones that caused the shift from one phase to another and from one institutional logic to another in the process of institutional change