formulation (Sahlin-Anderson 2001: 55-57). When editing for context, individuals strip
business practices of elements that seem to be too unique or specific to a time or country. The
reason is that practices are more applicable and appealing to other settings when they are
formulated in general terms. When editing for logic, individuals give business practices a
rationalistic flavor. They assign effects to certain activities or present practices as efficient
solutions to recognized problems. A practice that is scientifically and rationally justified is
generally appealing. When editing for formulation, individuals give practices a narrative form
and dramatize it. They may change labels or tell stories about the origin or application of
practices to make them more appealing. These three editing rules enable individuals to
translate a context-specific practice into one that is generally appealing and widely applicable.
Our findings resonate with Sahlin-Andersen’s model and also extend it in significant
ways. The repertoire of micro-strategies describe in detail what work actors perform when
they edit, particularly when they edit for context. It also highlights how actors unpack
practices in the host society, which is a dimension of translation that is often ignored in
previous studies. For instance, we found that different elements were removed, respectively
added, to SRI in the two societies, which suggests that it is insufficient to remove highly
context-specific elements at the export stage. Editing is also required for import, a point that
the literature on institutional transfers has already made. Our findings extend Sahlin-
Anderson’s work and point to future research on the relationship between packaging for
export and unpacking for import. The repertoire of micro-strategies can be helpful as a
starting point in this regard.
Institutional transfers
Studies of institutional transfers are conducted within the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC)
framework (Hall & Soskice 2001) or Business Systems Theory (Whitley 1998, 1999). This
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