Organizational Responses to Institutional Complexity: Analytical Frameworks and a Research Model

Abstract

The organization needs to effectively deal with the institutional environment challenges to secure legitimacy and achieve sustainable development. Due to some problems such as holding the isomorphism hypothesis, ignoring the organizational micro-level dynamic role, underestimating the degree of institutional complexity, the explanatory power of traditional institutional theory is weak in the context of the increasingly complex institutional environment. Therefore, the research on organizational responses to institutional complexity has gradually become a hot topic of scholars’ attention. Firstly, based on the evolution of theoretical understanding, this paper puts forward the quantity–content–time” framework of the institutional complexity connotation analysis, emphasizing the number of institutional logics”, the interactive pattern of institutional logics” and the dynamics of institutional complexity” are the core content dimensions of institutional complexity. Secondly, based on the key influencing factors of the organizational response behavior, this paper presents the structure–situation–person–time–location” framework of the institutional complexity response strategies analysis. Then, this paper analyzes the typical application scenarios of institutional complexity response research, including hybrid organizations, complex and dynamic organizational fields. This paper further points out the key differences to be considered in Chinese context application, including the overall characteristics difference of the institutional complexity, the government and the market both strong and coexistence, both change and interaction” to bring a unique impact, the organizational response behavior rooted in the unique social and cultural environment, the complexity and dynamics of the fields are more significant in the transitional environment. Finally, based on the above analytical frameworks, this paper constructs a theoretical model of organizational responses to institutional complexity and proposes some prospects for future research. The model emphasizes that the institutional complexity research should focus on the complexity connotation, localization characteristics and typical application situations, organizational response behavior research should focus on response strategies, response heterogeneity, response levels and response ambidexterity, and organizational response outcomes research should focus on the relationship between response behaviors and organizational legitimacy, organizational changes or innovations, institutional changes or innovations, and fields changes. This research will help to deepen the theoretical understanding of the emerging concept of institutional complexity and help to systematically sort out the types of response strategies and develop new strategies. Meanwhile, it also points out the direction for the connotation analysis, feature identification and response research of institutional complexity in the context of emerging markets and transition countries represented by China.