Bio


Woody Powell is Jacks Family Professor of Education, and (by courtesy) Sociology, Organizational Behavior, Management Science and Engineering, and Communication at Stanford University. He has been faculty co-director of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society since its founding in 2006.. At PACS, he heads the Civic Life of Cities Lab, which studies civil society organizations in the SF Bay Area, Seattle, Shenzhen, Sydney, Taipei, and Vienna. He is the 2019 recipient of the School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. He has received honorary degrees from Uppsala University, Copenhagen Business School, and Aalto University, and is an international member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science and The British Academy. He has served on the board of directors of the Social Science Research Council since 2000. He was an external faculty member of the Santa Fe Institute from 2001-13 and continues involvement with SFI today. With Bob Gibbons (MIT), he has led the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) summer institute on Organizations and their Effectiveness since 2016.

His interests focus on the processes through which ideas and practices move across organizations, and the role of networks in facilitating or hindering the transfer of ideas.
He is the author or editor of Books: The Culture and Commerce of Publishing, with Lewis Coser and Charles Kadushin (Basic Books, 1982); Getting into Print: The Decision-Making Process in Scholarly Publishing (U. of Chicago Press, 1985); The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, with Paul DiMaggio (U. of Chicago Press, 1991); Private Action and the Public Good, with Elisabeth Clemens (Yale U. Press, 1997); The Emergence of Organizations and Markets, with John Padgett (Princeton U. Press, 2012), and The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, with Patricia Bromley (Stanford U. Press, 2020). His 1990 article, “Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization,” won the Max Weber award; “Network Dynamics and Field Evolution: The Growth of Inter-Organizational Collaboration in the Life Sciences,” (2005), received the Viviana Zelizer prize. “Technological Change and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology,” with K. Koput and L. Smith-Doerr (1996), was recognized by Administrative Science Quarterly as one of its most influential publications. His 1983 paper with Paul DiMaggio, “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields,” is the most cited article in the history of the American Sociological Review.

Academic Appointments


  • Professor (By courtesy), Sociology
  • Professor (By courtesy), Organizational Behavior
  • Professor (By courtesy), Communication

Administrative Appointments


  • Faculty Co-Director, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (2005 - Present)
  • Professor (by courtesy) of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University (1999 - Present)

Honors & Awards


  • Foreign member, Swedish Royal Academy of Science (2007)
  • Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa, Uppsala University (2007)
  • Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa, Aalto University
  • Doctor Mercaturae honoris causa in Economics and Business Administration, Copenhagen Business School (2005)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Member, Board of Directors, Social Science Research Council (2000 - Present)
  • Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (2008 - 2009)
  • Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (1986 - 1987)

Program Affiliations


  • Public Policy
  • Science, Technology and Society

Professional Education


  • PhD, SUNY-Stony Brook, Sociology (1978)
  • MA, SUNY-Stony Brook, Sociology (1975)
  • BA, Florida State University (1971)

Research Interests


  • Higher Education
  • Leadership and Organization
  • Sociology

Current Research and Scholarly Interests


Please go to my webpage for more info on research:
https://woodypowell.com

2024-25 Courses


Stanford Advisees


All Publications


  • From Iron Cage to Glass House: Repurposing of bureaucratic management and the turn to openness ORGANIZATION STUDIES Brandtner, C., Powell, W. W., Horvath, A. 2023
  • The Iron Cage Redux: Looking Back and Forward ORGANIZATION THEORY Powell, W. W., Dimaggio, P. J. 2023; 4 (4)
  • Living Just in Time: Reflections on Arne L. Kalleberg, Precarious Lives: Job Insecurity and Well-Being in Rich Democracies CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY-A JOURNAL OF REVIEWS Powell, W. W. 2021; 50 (2): 108–11
  • Serve or Conserve: Mission, Strategy, and Multi-Level Nonprofit Change During the Great Recession VOLUNTAS Horvath, A., Brandtner, C., Powell, W. W. 2018; 29 (5): 976–93
  • A sociologist looks at crowds: Innovation or invention? STRATEGIC ORGANIZATION Powell, W. W. 2017; 15 (2): 289-297
  • Opening the Black Box: The Microfoundations of Institutions The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism Powell, W. W., Rerup, C. Sage. 2017; 2nd: 328–55
  • Click and mortar: Organizations on the web RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: AN ANNUAL SERIES OF ANALYTICAL ESSAYS AND CRITICAL REVIEWS, VOL 36 Powell, W. W., Horvath, A., Brandtner, C. 2016; 36: 101-120
  • The Explanation of Social Action. By John Levi Martin. New York: Oxford University Press (Book Review) AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY Book Review Authored by: Powell, W. W. 2013; 119 (3): 891–94

    View details for DOI 10.1086/673079

    View details for Web of Science ID 000334675000033

  • Amphibious entrepreneurs and the emergence of organizational forms STRATEGIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOURNAL Powell, W. W., Sandholtz, K. W. 2012; 6 (2): 94-115

    View details for DOI 10.1002/sej.1129

    View details for Web of Science ID 000304905900002

  • From Smoke and Mirrors to Walking the Talk: Decoupling in the Contemporary World ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT ANNALS Bromley, P., Powell, W. W. 2012; 6: 483-530
  • The emergence of organizations and markets Padgett, J. F., Powell, W. W. Princeton University Press. 2012
  • The new institutionalism in organizational analysis Powell, W. W., DiMaggio, P. J. University of Chicago Press. 2012
  • The Problem of Emergence EMERGENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MARKETS Padgett, J. F., Powell, W. W., Padgett, J., Powell, W. 2012: 1–29
  • Organizational and Institutional Genesis The Emergence of High-Tech Clusters in the Life Sciences EMERGENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MARKETS Powell, W. W., Packalen, K., Whittington, K., Padgett, J., Powell, W. 2012: 434–65
  • Coda Reflections on the Study of Multiple Networks EMERGENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MARKETS Powell, W. W., Padgett, J. F., Padgett, J., Powell, W. 2012: 566–70
  • An Open Elite Arbiters, Catalysts, or Gatekeepers in the Dynamics of Industry Evolution? EMERGENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MARKETS Powell, W. W., Owen-Smith, J., Padgett, J., Powell, W. 2012: 466–95
  • Chance, Necessite, et Naivete Ingredients to Create a New Organizational Form EMERGENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MARKETS Powell, W. W., Sandholtz, K., Padgett, J., Powell, W. 2012: 379–433
  • Decoupling revisited: Common pressures, divergent strategies in the U.S. nonprofit sector MANAGEMENT Bromley, P., Hwang, H., Powell, W. W. 2012; 15 (5): 469–501
  • COLLECTIVE INVENTION AND INVENTOR NETWORKS HANDBOOK OF THE ECONOMICS OF INNOVATION, VOL 1 Powell, W. W., Giannella, E., Hall, B. H., Rosenberg, N. 2012; 1: 575–605
  • 17 Networks and Economic Life The handbook of economic sociology Smith-Doerr, L., Powell, W. W. 2010: 379
  • Intellectual capital or signal? The effects of scientists on alliance formation in knowledge-intensive industries RESEARCH POLICY Luo, X. R., Koput, K. W., Powell, W. W. 2009; 38 (8): 1313-1325
  • The Rationalization of Charity: The Influences of Professionalism in the Nonprofit Sector ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY Hwang, H., Powell, W. W. 2009; 54 (2): 268-298
  • Networks, Propinquity, and Innovation in Knowledge-intensive Industries ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY Whittington, K. B., Owen-Smith, J., Powell, W. W. 2009; 54 (1): 90-122
  • Plans, takes, and mis-takes Outlines. Critical Practice Studies Klemp, N., McDermott, R., Raley, J., Thibeault, M., Powell, K., Levitin, D. J. 2008; 10 (1): 4-21
  • Innovaton and emulation: Lessons from American universities in selling private rights to public knowledge Conference on Science and the Creation of Value - From Alchemy to Proteomics Powell, W. W., Owen-Smith, J., Colyvas, J. A. SPRINGER. 2007: 121–42
  • Biotechnology: Its origins, organization, and outputs RESEARCH POLICY Ebers, M., Powell, W. W. 2007; 36 (4): 433-437
  • FROM VULNERABLE TO VENERATED: THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE LIFE SCIENCES SOCIOLOGY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP Colyvas, J. A., Powell, W. W., Ruef, M., Lounsbury, M. 2007; 25: 219–59
  • The frontiers of intellectual property: Expanded protection versus new models of open science Annu. Rev. Law Soc. Sci. Rhoten, D., Powell, W. W. 2007; 3: 345-373
  • ROADS TO INSTITUTIONALIZATION: THE REMAKING OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCIENCE RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, VOL 27 Colyvas, J. A., Powell, W. W. 2006; 27: 305-353
  • Universities and the production of knowledge - Introduction HIGHER EDUCATION Bleiklie, I., Powell, W. W. 2005; 49 (1-2): 1-8
  • Network dynamics and field evolution: The growth of interorganizational collaboration in the life sciences AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY Powell, W. W., White, D. R., Koput, K. W., Owen-Smith, J. 2005; 110 (4): 1132-1205
  • Networks and Economic Life HANDBOOK OF ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY, SECOND EDITION Smith-Doerr, L., Powell, W. W., Smelser, N. J., Swedberg, R. 2005: 379–402
  • Careers and contradictions: Faculty responses to the transformation of knowledge and its uses in the life sciences SOCIOLOGIE DU TRAVAIL Owen-Smith, J., Powell, W. W. 2004; 46 (3): 347-377
  • The knowledge economy ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY Powell, W. W., Snellman, K. 2004; 30: 199-220
  • Knowledge networks as channels and conduits: The effects of spillovers in the Boston biotechnology community ORGANIZATION SCIENCE Owen-Smith, J., Powell, W. W. 2004; 15 (1): 5-21
  • The expanding role of university patenting in the life sciences: assessing the importance of experience and connectivity RESEARCH POLICY Owen-Smith, J., Powell, W. W. 2003; 32 (9): 1695-1711
  • Neither market nor hierarchy The sociology of organizations: classic, contemporary, and critical readings Powell, W. 2003; 315: 104-117
  • Europe and the United States: The power of networks BIOFUTUR Pammolli, F., Riccaboni, M., Owen-Smith, J., Powell, W. W. 2002: 26-29
  • The spatial clustering of science and capital: Accounting for biotech firm-venture capital relationships REGIONAL STUDIES Powell, W. W., Koput, K. W., Bowie, J. I., Smith-Doerr, L. 2002; 36 (3): 291-305
  • A comparison of US and European university-industry relations in the life sciences Conference on University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer Owen-Smith, J., Riccaboni, M., Pammolli, F., Powell, W. W. INFORMS. 2002: 24–43
  • The capitalist firm in the 21st century: emerging patterns The 21st Century Firm: Changing Economic Organization in International Perspective Powell, W. W. 2001
  • The sources of management logics ADVANCES IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT, VOL 17, 2000 Powell, W. W. 2000; 17: 175-179
  • The iron cage revisited institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields Economics meets sociology in strategic management DiMaggio, P. J., Powell, W. W. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. 2000: 143–166
  • The last word? Not a chance ADVANCES IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT, VOL 17, 2000 Powell, W. W. 2000; 17: 197-199
  • Under large pharmaceutical companies' umbrellas BIOFUTUR Powell, W. W. 1999; 1999 (194): 46-49
  • Learning from collaboration: Knowledge and networks in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries California management review Powell, W. W. 1998; 40 (3): 228-240
  • Universities as creators and retailers of intellectual property: Life-sciences research and commercial development To profit or not to profit: The commercial transformation of the nonprofit sector Powell, W. W., Owen-Smith, J. 1998: 169-193
  • Private action and the public good Clemens, E. S. Yale University Press. 1998
  • Inter-organizational collaboration in the biotechnology industry Powell, W. W. J C B MOHR. 1996: 197–215
  • Commentary - On the nature of institutional embeddedness: Labels vs explanation ADVANCES IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Powell, W. W. 1996; 13: 293–300
  • Inter-organizational collaboration in the biotechnology industry Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE)/Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft Powell, W. W. 1996: 197-215
  • Interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: Networks of learning in biotechnology Administrative science quarterly Powell, W. W., Koput, K. W., Smith-Doerr, L. 1996: 116-145
  • CAREERS IN PRINT - BOOKS, JOURNALS, AND SCHOLARLY REPUTATIONS AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY CLEMENS, E. S., POWELL, W. W., MCILWAINE, K., OKAMOTO, D. 1995; 101 (2): 433–94

    View details for DOI 10.1086/230730

    View details for Web of Science ID A1995RW36500006

  • NEITHER MARKET NOR HIERARCHY - NETWORK FORMS OF ORGANIZATION RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR POWELL, W. W. 1990; 12: 295–336
  • HYBRID ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS - NEW FORM OR TRANSITIONAL DEVELOPMENT CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW Powell, W. W. 1987; 30 (1): 67-87
  • Getting into print: The decision-making process in scholarly publishing Powell, W. W. University of Chicago Press. 1985
  • THE IRON CAGE REVISITED - INSTITUTIONAL ISOMORPHISM AND COLLECTIVE RATIONALITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL FIELDS AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW DIMAGGIO, P. J., POWELL, W. W. 1983; 48 (2): 147–60

    View details for DOI 10.2307/2095101

    View details for Web of Science ID A1983QK63300001

  • Books: The culture and commerce of publishing Coser, L. A., Kadushin, C., Powell, W. W. Basic Books New York. 1982