Foundations of a Theory of Social Forms

Sociologists frequently invoke the concept of form when analyzing organizations, collective action, art, music, culture and other phenomena. Nonetheless, the form concept has not received careful theoretical analysis, either generally or in specific context. Using the tools of formal logic, set theory, and algebra, we propose a language for defining social forms that is suÆciently general to incorporate feature-based, position-based, and boundary-based approaches to defining forms. We focus on organizational forms although we intend for our conceptualization to be general. We define forms as a type of socially coded identity. We de_ne identity in terms of social codes that specify the properties that an entity can legitimately possess. These codes can be enforced by insiders or outsiders. We claim that one knows that a social code exists when one observes that departures from the codes after periods of conformity cause a devaluation of the entity by relevant insiders and/or outsiders. This construction allows us to de_ne a population as the set of entities with a common minimal external identity in a bounded system in period. The minimal property ensures that we localize to the most speci_c socially enforced identities. The reliance on identities instead of forms allows us to de_ne populations that never achieve form status and to extend population de_nitions back to the period of early legitimation. Research design implications follow. 5001-6182 Business 5546-5548.6 5548.7-5548.85 Office Organization and Management Industrial Psychology Library of Congress Classification (LCC) 6951 Industrial sociology M Business Administration and Business Economics M 10 L 2 Business Administration: general Firm Objectives, Organization and Behavior Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) L 29 Firm Objectives, Organization and Behavior : Others 85 A Business General 100B 240 B Organization Theory (general) Information Systems Management European Business Schools Library Group (EBSLG) 80 J Industrial sociology Gemeenschappelijke Onderwerpsontsluiting (GOO) 85.00 Bedrijfskunde, Organisatiekunde: algemeen 85.05 85.08 Management organisatie: algemeen Organisatiesociologie, organisatiepsychologie Classification GOO 85.08 Organisatiesociologie, organisatiepsychologie Bedrijfskunde / Bedrijfseconomie Organisatieleer, informatietechnologie, prestatiebeoordeling