The purpose of this paper is to theorise the changes surrounding the introduction of a management
control innovation, total quality management (TQM) techniques, within Telecom
Fiji Limited. Using institutional theory and drawing on empirical evidence from multiple
sources including interviews, discussions and documents, the paper explicates the institutionalization
of these TQM practices. The focus of the paper is the micro-processes and
practice changes aroundTQMimplementation, rather than the influence of the macro-level
structures that are often linked with institutional theory. The change agents used Quality
Action Teams and the National Quality Council to introduce new TQM routines. The present
study extends the scope of institutional analysis by explaining how institutional contradictions
impact to create and make space for institutional entrepreneurs, who in turn, modify
existing routines or introduce new routines in fluid organizational environments which
also exhibit evidence of resistance.