[2] According to Ronald L. Jepperson and John W. Meyer, Sociological institutionalismtreats the “actorhood” of modern individuals and organizations as itself constructed out of cultural materials – and treats contemporary institutional systems as working principally by creating and legitimating agentic actors with appropriate perspectives, motives, and agendas.
By focusing on the evolving construction and reconstruction of the actors of modern society, institutionalists can better explain the dramatic social changes of the contemporary period – why these changes cut across social contexts and functional settings, and why they often become worldwide in character.
[2] Some sociological institutionalists argue that institutions have developed to become similar (showing an isomorphism) across organizations even though they evolved in different ways.
[11] Sociological institutionalists hold that a "logic of appropriateness" guides the behavior of actors within an institution.
It predicts that the norms and formal rules of institutions will shape the actions of those acting within them.