Barriers to resolving institutional complexity in access-based service innovation

Abstract

Access-based services (ABS) mobilize heterogeneous sets of actors, and failed collaboration among these actors can lead to service failure. This case study of a failed casual carpooling project (a form of peer-to-peer access-based service) demonstrates that actors struggle to collaborate when operating under differing institutional logics. When logics are incompatible, key factors can hinder tension resolution and ultimately doom an ABS project. These factors include an absence of effective orchestration, the imposition of a singular (contested) logic while silencing others, and the provision and dissemination of conflicting information. This case study highlights some of the reasons why ABS initiatives, such as casual carpooling, succeed or fail.