According to Meyer and Rowan, in modern societies these institutions are likely
to take the form of "rationalized myths." They are myths because they are widely
held beliefs whose effects "inhere, not in the fact that individuals believe them,
but in the fact that they 'know' everyone else does, and thus that 'for all practical
purposes' the myths are true" (Meyer, 1977: 75). They are rationalized because.
they take the form of rules specifying procedures necessary to accomplish a
given end. Law provides a good example. How can property legitimately change
hands? How can an organization become a corporation? Legal systems-as complexes
of rationalized myths-provide solutions to such problems. Meyer and
Rowan argue that these institutional belief systems powerfully shape organizational
forms: