Inception point: Combining institutional complexity and strategy-as-practice for strategizing

Abstract

This paper examines the intersection between institutional theory and strategy, and more specifically, institutional complexity and strategy-as-practice, to further our understanding of how organizations can effectively respond to multiple, and often conflicting, institutional pressures. We present an in-depth case study of a UK-headquartered commercial law firm, documenting how the firm has navigated the ongoing shift from a once traditional legal field dominated by the professional logic, to a more fluid situation, characterized by the increasing encroachment of the market logic. Our study brings together the macro approach of institutional complexity and the micro processes of strategy to offer multiple contributions. In particular, we further current literature on organizational strategic responses by showing that multiple strategies can co-exist within one firm at a given time, and we highlight the potential of talk as a medium through which organizational response strategies are initially brought into being.