How Do Internet Enterprises Obtain Sustainable Development of Organizational Ecology? A Case Study of LeEco Using Institutional Logic Theory

Abstract

This study explores how Internet enterprises integrate different industries to sustainably develop organizational ecology, using institutional logic theory and an exploratory case study of LeEco, a famous Chinese Internet enterprise. The findings are as follows: (1) There are two main barriers to sustainable development of internal organizational ecology: resource barriers and information barriers. To overcome these obstacles, managers should carry out a series of institutional practices so that the organizational ecology obtains both product and institutional legitimacy; (2) A new institutional practice, the rigid/flexible method, is proposed, which includes implementation, communication, incentive, and cultural mechanisms. This method can help reconcile institutional logic conflicts caused by multiple logic coexistences in the organizational ecology; (3) A sustainable development model of organizational ecologies for Internet enterprises is presented, based on institutional logic, for closed-loop analysis of the ecological growth path. Based on a case study of China’s Internet environment, this paper opens up the “black box” of the internal growth of Internet enterprises at the micro level, complementing the macro studies in the literature. This study enriches organizational ecology theory and institutional logic theory. In addition, the case study of LeEco provides sufficient information on sustainable development to serve as a model for other Internet enterprises.