This article compares the neoinstitutional perspective to the business systems perspective and addresses the way in which they can be used for accounting for social action. Despite their important insights against methodological individualism and functionalism, they still have some weaknesses. This article integrates four conceptual elements—sense making and enactment, social context, ongoing social relations, and a temporality view on time—to develop a more adequate conceptualization of the role of institutional rules in shaping social action.
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