The Diffusion of Problem and Solutions and Heterogeneity in Organizational Fields

Although research on diffusion processes has made significant progress, its focus on institutional practices and technological innovations implies an emphasis on solutions to organizational problems rather than on whether organizations recognize problems to begin with. Problem recognition is a precondition for adopting a solution, and behaviorally it is a diffusion process that is interdependent with solution diffusion. Moreover, a given problem typically has multiple alternative solutions that are in competition, while also providing legitimacy to each other by legitimizing the problem they solve. Diffusion analyses of 221 innovations that address eight problems in online newspaper publishing show that the adoption and abandonment of solutions by peers alter the likelihood of recognizing the problem and adopting the specific solution, as well as alternative solutions. This theory and empirical support have important implication for the study of diffusion processes of institutions and technological innovations alike, as it questions the assumption that practices have independent diffusion trajectories. Analysis of a solution without attention to problem recognition is problematic, especially if multiple solutions to the same problem exist.