The antecedents of conformity in an institutionalized federated system: The case of local united ways

Abstract To what extent do organizations conform to external pressures within a highly institutionalized federated system? Drawing on the theory of middle‐status conformity, and distinguishing between ascribed and achieved status, we examine variation in linguistic conformity across the United Way (UW) system. Using a unique set of data collected from multiple sources, we analyzed the effect of both ascribed status (age) and achieved status (fundraising performance) on local UW conformity to the community impact language of the United Way Worldwide (UWW). We found a curvilinear relationship between linguistic conformity and achieved status but not ascribed status. Local UWs with achieved middle status based on fundraising performance were more likely to conform to the UWW's community impact language than low and high‐status local UWs. The presence of a state UW association moderated the relationship between achieved status and linguistic conformity. This study contributes a novel conceptualization and operationalization of organizational conformity, refines the theory of middle‐status conformity by distinguishing two types of status in the context of a highly institutionalized federated system, and examines moderating conditions of middle‐status conformity.