Agency in compliance with institutions: The case of professional expert-organizations and politico-ethical agency

As contemporary organizational life is increasingly rule governed, actors, most notably professionals, perform their work by complying with institutional rules, stemming from regulatory bodies external and internal to organizations. This begs a question of the role agency in compliance institutions that largely ignored within organization theory. A weak form found practice theory practice-driven institutionalism, terms actors mindful enactments on basis mastering shared practices for applying rules. These are characterized as first-order institutions. Extending Wittgensteinian-inspired philosophical foundation theory, modes so-called “hard cases,” where do not apply agreement following conceptualized second-order practices, involving strong mode agency. In these cases, aim reach how rules be applied beyond established engaging larger frameworks forms more open explorative attitudes move forward common good. It argued can understood politico-ethical Kantian tradition, supplementing prevalent notions institutionalism primarily political.