How organizational histories shape the translation of an organizational model: a comparison of two science parks in Turkey

Purpose This study aims to examine how organizational histories shape the translation of a globally circulating organizational model, focusing on the founding of science and technology parks (STPs) at two Turkish technical universities. Drawing on institutional translation theory and organizational legacy, it examines how historically constituted governance arrangements and authority structures condition how actors interpret, adapt and enact imported organizational models. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a qualitative, comparative case design drawing on interviews with key founding actors, state policy documents, founding charter records, rector opening speeches (1989–2007) and published memoirs to reconstruct translation processes at Middle East Technical University (METU) and Istanbul Technical University (ITU). Findings Despite sharing an almost identical initial interpretive framing of the STP model, the two universities produced markedly divergent translation processes and translated organizational models. At METU, a consensus-oriented organizational legacy activated a welfare-developmental logic and fostered a collectively embedded, governance-integrated translation. At ITU, a pre-existing structural conflict between the rectorate and the university foundation − part of ITU’s organizational legacy before any STP translation began − activated a market-competitive logic and produced a contested governance architecture whose structural tension proved recursive across three decades and three successive foundations. Originality/value This paper advances institutional translation theory by showing that organizational legacy explains why the range of translations available to actors is already historically structured before translation begins, and why the resulting consequences persist after the original translators have left. It operationalizes Selznick’s concept of organizational character through four analytical dimensions, showing that legacies shape both translation processes and the translated models that result.