Institutional Behavior (Organizational Behavior Proper)

Institutional behavior refers to the behavior of organizations as autonomous legal and economic entities. It is therefore synonymous with organizational behavior proper: the study of how organizations act, interact, and construct identity within their environment.

Traditional organizational behavior studies focus on individuals and teams. While analytically useful, these approaches do not capture the organization itself as a unit of action. They remain partial, as they examine internal components rather than the institution as a coherent actor.

Institutional theory, as developed by John W. Meyer, Paul DiMaggio, Walter W. Powell and W. Richard Scott, explains how institutions shape organizational conduct; however, it does not define organizational behavior as the behavior of organizations themselves. This gap is addressed in Organizational Behavioral Studies: The Relational Approach (2011) and Relational Organizational Behavioral Studies: A Course and Toolkit (Edition 2) (2017) by Panayotis Zamaros, where institutional behavior is conceptualized as the behavior of organizations as autonomous entities.

From this perspective, organizations are not simply shaped by external rules and norms; they are actors that display behavior through their actions, communications, and interactions. Organizational behavior is therefore the expression of what an organization does and, simultaneously, of who the organization is.

Institutional behavior is inherently relational. Organizations exist in continuous interaction with stakeholders—customers, competitors, regulators, and society—through flows of resources and information. These interactions define organizational action and identity beyond purely internal processes.

Understanding institutional behavior shifts the focus from managing individuals to analyzing how organizations themselves act within broader economic and social systems.

About This Page

This page presents selected insights, excerpts, and conceptual developments drawn from Organizational Behavioral Studies: The Relational Approach (2011) and Relational Organizational Behavioral Studies: A Course and Toolkit (Edition 2) (2017) by Panayotis Zamaros.

It provides access to key passages, short quotations, and thematic extracts that illustrate the concept of institutional behavior as the behavior of organizations. Selected chapters and fragments are used to clarify core ideas, including organizational identity, relational dynamics, and the nature of organizational action.

The purpose of this page is to make central concepts from these works directly accessible, while preserving their original formulation and structure.