Taking Stock of Institutional Complexity: Anchoring A Pool of Institutional Logics into the Interinstitutional System with a Descendent Hierarchical Analysis

2013 ◽  
pp. 319-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibault Daudigeos ◽  
Amélie Boutinot ◽  
Stéphane Jaumier
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Hierarchical Analysis ◽  
Institutional Complexity

A Nascent Sport for Development and Peace Organization’s Response to Institutional Complexity: The Emergence of a Hybrid Agency in Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 450-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene A. Dixon ◽  
Per G. Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Organizational Leaders ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Pivotal Moments ◽  
Formative Stage ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
Decision Points ◽  
Case Organization

Sport for development and peace (SDP) agencies increasingly deal with complex institutional demands. In this article, the authors present an in-depth case study of how a nascent SDP organization created from within a local community in Kenya responded to institutional complexity through a series of pivotal moments that shaped the nature of the SDP agency. Throughout the formative stage in its life course, organizational leaders faced increased institutional complexity as they grappled with a series of incompatible prescriptions and demands from multiple institutional logics. The case organization—Highway of Hope—responded to this complexity through a process of organizational hybridity. Five pivotal decision points were identified and analyzed to explore how they shaped the organization over its early stages of existence. Our findings provide guidance for advancing our understanding of hybridity processes in SDP, both theoretically and practically.

Contested internal legitimacy: the emergence of organized academic entrepreneurship

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Adi Sapir
Keyword(s):  
Academic Entrepreneurship ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Commercialization ◽  
New Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the emergence of organized academic entrepreneurship in the context of institutional complexity, in which multiple institutional logics co-exist. The paper is focused on the dynamics of internal legitimation of new research commercialization initiatives and the interrelations between internal and external legitimacy and their underlying institutional logics. Design/methodology/approach Based on a historical case study of the founding of Yeda Research and Development Company at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1959, the paper examines the rhetorical struggles between the proponents and opponents of the company. The analysis is based on archival data and focuses on the analysis of a meeting of the Institute’s Scientific Committee in which the new company was introduced and debated. Findings The findings show the strengths and limitations of rhetorical legitimation work in supporting the establishment of new organizational initiatives. Rhetorical strategies that bridge the different institutional logics in the field can enable the emergence of new enterprises. Yet, when organizational practices do not concur with the institutional logic on which internal legitimacy is based, new organizational initiatives become illegitimate and organizational actors withdraw their support. Originality/value This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the under-researched process of constructing internal legitimacy for an organizational change, both in general and in the specific context of academic entrepreneurship. Further, this study contributes new insights to research on the historical process of the emergence of organized research commercialization in universities in the context of institutional complexity.

The role of management control systems in situations of institutional complexity

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Utz Schäffer ◽  
Erik Strauss ◽  
Christina Zecher
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Structural Responses

Purpose – This study investigates in depth how decision-making of different organisational members is shaped by various management control systems (MCSs) that reflect different institutional logics, how the entire organisation deals with the arising institutional complexity and which role different management controls as a system play in such situations. Design/methodology/approach – A case study was conducted on a German Mittelstand firm whose MCSs were shaped by three different logics over time: a family logic, a stakeholder logic and a shareholder logic. Findings – This paper shows how different actors of an organisation confronted with institutional complexity used selective coupling of different MCS components and compartmentalizing MCS components to deal with clashing institutional logics. Thereby, it was possible for the actors to balance different sub-communities within the firm that were shaped by conflicting but yet complementary logics that were required for organisational survival. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the understanding of how an MCS can be exploited for organisational structural responses to multiple logics. Due to this research design, the present study deals with challenges of ex post rationalization. Practical implications – The results show options for organisational leaders to deal with different kind of worldviews (i.e. logics) that shape employees’ behaviour. Particularly, this paper explains how leaders can restructure their MCSs to influence human behaviour in times of radical change. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature on MCSs by showing what role MCSs play in structural responses to institutional complexity.

Academics’ experience of contradicting institutional logics of publishing

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1184-1201
Author(s):  
Herman Aksom
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Strategic Balance ◽  
Personal Career ◽  
Interpretative Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how Ukrainian scholars recognize and react to a situation of an absence of two major institutional logics of academic writing and publishing, namely the logics of science advancement and personal career promotion and the dominance of the logic of coercive pressures to publish regardless of quality and resonance and with no material and reputational rewards. Two fundamental and essential logics that drive research activity at any university in western societies seem to be almost absent in Ukrainian context, where symbolic publishing for accountability only is taken-for-granted. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts qualitative interpretative research methodology. The scholars from seven universities were interviewed, including 16 senior scholars and 15 PhD students. Findings The study shows the dominance of a single logic of accountability which is persisted due to coercive pressures exerted on scholars. Despite the absence of instrumental value behind publishing requirements in Ukrainian higher education system, most academics do not question this policy and largely take it for granted as the only possible system. Originality/value Research conducted in this study contributes to institutional logics and institutional complexity literature by highlighting a unique situation of institutional complexity when logic that offers neither economic nor social benefits dominates the field. It is shown how actors recognize, interpret and respond to this situation, identifying three types of responses that range from blind adherence to taken-for-granted institutional definitions to strategic balance between coercive pressures and desired logics.

Institutional Logics, Gender, and Advertising Within a Culture in Transition: Examining Strategies of Advertising Professionals in Turkey for Managing Institutional Complexity

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 510-527
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Coleman ◽  
Linda Tuncay Zayer ◽  
Özlem Hesapci Karaca
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Gender Relations ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Institutional Work ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
East West

Advertisers face longstanding challenges—perhaps more acute under shifting cultural and gender forces such as the global #metoo movement—in creating gendered messages. This research builds on work at the intersection of gender, advertising and institutions, which bridges macro and micro issues faced by advertising professionals, to explore the unique East-West context of Turkey. Using institutional theory as a lens to examine a context in transition, this research illustrates how macro forces permeate four logics from which advertising professionals draw, specifically logics of: gender roles, power, duality, and risk. It further identifies strategies that advertising professionals utilize to manage increasing institutional complexity when creating gendered messages amidst competing logics. This study contributes to an understanding of how advertising professionals engage in institutional work within broader macro realities and the impact this has on the creation of gendered messages in society. Implications for consumer welfare, particularly regarding gender relations, are offered.

scholarly journals Organizing professional work and services through institutional complexity – how institutional logics and differences in organizational roles matter

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872672097027
Author(s):  
Gry Cecilie Lunder Høiland ◽  
Lars Klemsdal
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Design ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Professional Work ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Organizational Roles ◽  
Case Study Data ◽  
Dynamic Interplay

How is the complexity of contemporary professional work and services organized differently by management at the strategic level and professionals at the operational level? And what are the implications for managing this complexity? Drawing on literatures on institutional complexity, organizational roles and the analyses of case study data from interviews, observations and documents at a large public service provider in Norway, this article advances the understanding of management in complex organizations and makes the following three contributions to the institutional logics literature. First, we show how multiple institutional logics have different functions at strategic and operational levels, resembling a dynamic interplay in organizing professional work and services. Second, we show how these differences in handling multiple logics are contingent upon the different roles of the strategic managers and operational professionals. Finally, we advance the understanding of what institutional complexity may involve in organizations by disclosing how the significant conflicts stem not only from the presence of multiple logics, but also from differences within the organizations in how multiple logics are handled. Our findings have implications for the planning and management of organizational design and implementation strategies and demonstrate the utility of the institutional complexity perspective for managing complexity in contemporary organizations.

Organizational Learning Under Institutional Complexity: Evidence from Township Clusters in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Shuyang You ◽  
Abby Jingzi Zhou ◽  
Steven Shijin Zhou ◽  
Liangding Jia ◽  
Chengqi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Community Influences ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Learning As A Process ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Interfirm Learning

ABSTRACT Drawing from conceptualizations of organizational learning and institutional complexity, we advance the understanding of how the coexistence of multiple institutional logics in a community influences firms’ learning. Viewing communities where firms and local governments coexist as clusters, our analysis of 354 firms in 39 township clusters in China shows that government logic negatively moderates the positive effect of community logic on organizational learning; however, social connections between the community and local governments mitigate this negative effect. Modeling the relationship between the two logics in this manner extends prior conceptualizations of interfirm learning as a process of isomorphic diffusion of social norms and advances understanding of the role of institutions in organizational learning. This study also offers new insights for theoretical conversations on the compatibility and incompatibility of multiple institutional logics by demonstrating when logic multiplicity leads to conflicts and when it maintains harmony.

An Institutional Perspective on Accountable Care Organizations

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 685-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Goodrick ◽  
Trish Reay
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Accountable Care Organizations ◽  
Accountable Care ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Health Care Settings ◽  
Strategic Approach

We employ aspects of institutional theory to explore how Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) can effectively manage the multiplicity of ideas and pressures within which they are embedded and consequently better serve patients and their communities. More specifically, we draw on the concept of institutional logics to highlight the importance of understanding the conflicting principles upon which ACOs were founded. Based on previous research conducted both inside and outside health care settings, we argue that ACOs can combine attention to these principles (or institutional logics) in different ways; the options fall on a continuum from (a) segregating the effects of multiple logics from each other by compartmentalizing responses to multiple logics to (b) fully hybridizing the different logics. We suggest that the most productive path for ACOs is to situate their approach between the two extremes of “segregating” and “fully hybridizing.” This strategic approach allows ACOs to develop effective responses that combine logics without fully integrating them. We identify three ways that ACOs can embrace institutional complexity short of fully hybridizing disparate logics: (1) reinterpreting practices to make them compatible with other logics; (2) engaging in strategies that take advantage of existing synergy between conflicting logics; (3) creating opportunities for people at frontline to develop innovative ways of working that combine multiple logics.

scholarly journals Institutional Complexity and Individual Responses: Delineating the Boundaries of Partial Autonomy

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Martin ◽  
Graeme Currie ◽  
Simon Weaver ◽  
Rachael Finn ◽  
Ruth McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Organizational Fields ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Professional Market ◽  
The Relationship

Research highlights how coexisting institutional logics can sometimes offer opportunities for agency to enterprising actors in organizational fields. But macro- and micro-level studies using this framework diverge in their approach to understanding the consequences of institutional complexity for actor autonomy, and correspondingly in the opportunities they identify for agents to resist, reinterpret or make judicious use of institutional prescriptions. This paper seeks to bridge this gap, through a longitudinal, comparative case study of the trajectories of four ostensibly similar change initiatives in the same complex organizational field. It studies the influence of three dominant institutional logics (professional, market and corporate) in these divergent trajectories, elucidating the role of mediating influences, operating below the level of the field but above that of the actor, that worked to constrain or facilitate agency. The consequence for actors was a divergent realization of the relationship between the three logics, with very different consequences for their ability to advance their interests. Our findings offer an improved understanding of when and how institutional complexity facilitates autonomy, and suggests mediating influences at the level of the organization and the relationship it instantiates between carriers of logics, neglected by macro- and micro-level studies, that merit further attention.

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