Field dynamics and receptive geographical fixes in responses to institutional complexity

Abstract

In this paper we use the case of the internationalization of English law firms into Italy, and the refocusing of their operations on the city of Milan, to make two contributions to existing literatures on MNCs’ responses to institutional complexity. Firstly, we show through our longitudinal qualitative analysis that responses are determined by the hereto understudied influence of the temporally dynamic nature of fields within the specific host-country in question; these dynamics determining which responses to complexity are viable. Secondly, we specify the way geographical fixes also affect responses to complexity. We show how English law firms’ refocused their Italian operations through field repositioning responses on a new Milan centred field partition which constituted a more receptive geographical fix in which less complexity was experienced. The paper concludes by examining how sensitivity to the temporal and spatial dynamics of fields, and the field repositioning responses these dynamics enable, can be better theorised as part of efforts to both advance understanding of the recursive relationship between responses to complexity and field change, and efforts to understand how MNCs respond to complexity, in particular through the exploitation of receptive geographical fixes within fields.