The standardization of organizational forms as a cropping-up process

This article looks at the way homogeneity and heterogeneity arise in the forms adopted by organizations. It is argued that under modern conditions a traditional diffusion model is not always very useful in helping us to understand such processes. As an alternative a "cropping-up" model of standardization is presented. This model is particularly apt for explaining the following types of situation: when a certain form appears simultaneously in organizations which have no contact with one another or a common transmitter; when knowledge of possible organizational forms is not a scarce resource: when common forms are invented locally in many organizations rather than resulting from the imitation of others; and when the organizations which adopt similar forms do not seem to share any other fundamental common attribute. The model is based on empirical studies of organizational reforms.