The various currents of institutionalism are used in management science, particularly in the area of information systems. Richard Scott's global model is a fertile framework for the analysis of institutional research. First, we will study the contributions of French research to institutionalism. Then, returning to the fundamentals of information systems (IS), we will show that the interaction between institutions and IS can be analysed via the notion of formal and informal rules. Research carried out at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense provides several illustrations, particularly on virtual worlds.
