This article is based on the assumption that the construction of scientific knowledge is a social process characterized by the recursive dynamic between the social and intellectual dimensions. In light of this statement, we investigated how the construction of the institutional perspective is delineated in the context of organizational studies in Brazil from 1993 to 2007, considering transformations in its substantive content as well as the social organization of scientists. The study is based on documentary research of published articles in scientific journals and at academic events. We analyzed social networks of authorship in order to map the cooperation relationships between researchers, and we also used scientometric analysis, based on cited and co-cited authors, for mapping the intellectual framework throughout the period under study. The findings reveal that social ties among scientists in the field of institutional theory are representative of intellectual affinity, which means that there are social mechanisms working in the process of diffusion of ideas and formation of shared understandings, both aspects regarded to social embeddedness of researchers in the clusters in which they belong.
institutional theory; organizational studies; scientific knowledge; social mechanisms; social network analysis; scientometrics
