Individual strategies as interaction modes for handling institutional logic diversity over time: A case study on a public-private collaboration project

Abstract

A diversity of institutional logics can impede public–private collaboration. In this paper, we explore how individuals use different strategies as interaction modes to foster institutional logic convergence in a public–private collaboration project. To do this, we rely on research on public–private collaboration and institutional logics and a single case study of a public–private smart city development project in the city of Aguas, Brazil. This paper contributes to the research on institutional logic diversity in three ways. First, we find that individuals use different strategies as interaction modes to achieve institutional logic convergence, but these strategies serve diverse purposes over time in a project. Second, when the organizational and individual goals in a project are balanced, this eases institutional logic convergence. Third, individuals can be facilitators of institutional logic convergence if they can unite diverse institutional logics and are perceived to have a central position in a project.