Hirsch, Paul M. "Processing Fads and Fashions" American Journal of Sociology, 77 (1972):639-659

Prior to the introduction if any new "innovation" into industry, it is useful to ask "By what criteria was it selected over other alternatives for sponsorship?" and "How much of the characteristics of the product sponsor (prestige, influence) have on the ultimate success or failure of the idea?"

This paper concerns the structure and operations of firms dealing in production and distribution of "cultural items" books, recordings, and motion pictures. These are very complex, multi-organizational systems Given the uncertainties and dynamics of popular culture, they have developed elaborate coping mechinisms to deal with this uncertainty. They focus on the commercial publishing house, the movie studio, and the record company.

These organizations filter and select items from artists through various managerial and technical subsystems before reaching the marketplace. Any art object must compete with others for selection, recieve mass promotion, and get orders from retail sites.

In organizational terms (esp Thompson's views), these firms are constrained by enviornmental forces like society and legal rules. One can also define the inter-mix of the various organizations involved in processing and selecting cultural products as an "organization-set'.

Input and Ouput Organization-Sets

The various organizations evaluate, select, and promote various cultural products to the general product. They have developed technical and managerial units, that function almost like crafts. Lower-level people (artists and talent scouts) seldom associate with one organization for long. These organizations have developed such a system to minimize the effects of uncertainty in consumer demand and tastes and utilize a "Cheap" technology. They often measure success in the first few weeks of a product's release.

In earlier times, the system was more bureaucratic and artists had more salary-like compensation and consistency vs the royalty based systems today.

However the distribution side of the business is much more bureaucratic. They are dependent on favorable and sufficient attention from mass media, which is somewhat regulated by norms of independence. They act as "autonomous gatekeepers" further filtering what reaches the consumer's attention. This "feedback" from the media is important, and cultural organizations will ride popular fad's for as long as they are profitable.

Organizational Response to Task-Environment Uncertainties

The management of these organizations are constrained by:

* mass-media gatekeepers

* uncertainties in selecting creative "raw materials"

They have created three systems to respond to these uncertainties:

* allocating numerous people to boundary-spanning roles

* overproduction and differential promotion of new items

* co-optation of mass-media gatekeepers

Proliferation of Contact Men

Contact men like talent scouts, promoters, press coordinators, and VP for public relations. These agents get a great deal of discretionary power from the cultural organization. They located and nuture creative talent, and indirectly attempt to influence the gate-keepers and directly influence the retail shops.

Overproduction and Differential Promotion

Given low capital costs and lots of undifferentiated products, it makes sense to try out alot of different products. It's cheaper to produce a bunch of failures for each success than to introduce fewer products and do more pre-testing.

Co-optation of "Institutional Regulators"

Cultural organizations will put big ads in trade papers and arrange parties for artists and media people to get necessary exposure.