Institutions as Cultural-cognitive Systems the most recent version of
institutions-the view associated with "the new institutionalism in organizational
analysis" (Powell and DiMaggio, 1991)-emphasizes the role of cultural cognitive
processes• in social life. We employ the hyphenated concept to
emphasize that we are not referring just to Individual mental constructs, but
also to common symbolic systems and shared meanings. Shared cultural beliefs
are external to any given individual but also operate within each providing "the
software of the mind" (Hofstede, 1991). Phenomenologists, such as Berger and
Luckmann (1967), argue that social life is only possible because and to the
extent that individuals in interaction create common cognitive frameworks and
understandings that support collective action. The process by which actions are
repeated and given similar meaning by self and others is defined as institutionalization.
It is the process by which social reality is constructed.