Complex Institutional Environment Research Articles

Coping With Institutional Complexity and Voids: An Organization Design Perspective for Transnational Interorganizational Projects

This study investigates how transnational interorganizational projects (IOPs) cope with institutional complexity and voids. A case study of a cross-border gas pipeline suggests the coexistence of institutional complexity and voids that amplify collaboration hazards in developing transnational IOPs. Institutional complexity harms the feasibility of a unified form of organizing, whereas institutional voids sabotage the ability of involved organizations to collaborate in a market-based approach. A hybrid organization featured by modular structure, complementary advantages, and system integrator, was designed to navigate complex institutional environments. This study contributes to the project–organization–institution linkage by depicting the impacts of institutions on project organizing.

How are Competing Logics Combined in Managerial Teams? The Impact of Branch Founding Team Hybridity on the Growth of Islamic Bank Branches in Turkey, 2002–19

AbstractHybrid staffing – i.e., composing a workforce with individuals with oppositional institutional logics – is a strategy organizations can use to navigate through complex institutional environments. We propose that hybrid teams led by individuals with the legitimate logic from the perspective of the target audiences (conformist‐led hybrids) will outperform all‐conformist, non‐hybrid teams, and that hybrid teams led by individuals with the contested logic (alien‐led hybrids) will underperform non‐hybrid teams. Moreover, the performance advantage of conformist‐led hybrids will be attenuated by ideological polarization and demographic stability of the embedding community, and the performance disadvantage of alien‐led hybrids will be exacerbated by these two community characteristics. We tested our multilevel contingency model with the newly founded Islamic bank branches in Turkey in 2002–19. We found that the conformist‐led hybrids had a growth advantage over non‐hybrids, and alien‐led hybrids had a growth disadvantage, especially when the embedding communities were ideologically polarized. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Considering context in information systems research: Understanding the conditions of developing country scholarship

AbstractResearch on information systems (IS) in developing countries focuses on understudied contexts that recent scholars believe have the potential to provide new knowledge. However, the extant discussion on this endeavor rarely considers IS scholars inside the developing countries who could be the ideal discoverers of such context‐specific knowledge. In this study, we review the facilitating conditions of the discovery of new theories to examine IS research in the case of Indonesia. We then interview experienced Indonesian IS scholars to develop a richer understanding of the IS scholarship's conditions. We found that while considering and theorizing context have been interests by a small group, the extant efforts are intertwined by the lack of exposure to myriad research epistemology/methodology, the infancy state of IS as a discipline, and the tendency to address convenient rather than crucial research questions, all of which are manifested in a complex institutional environment. We then provide important pathways and future agendas to strengthen and advance IS scholarship in developing countries.

Knowledge innovation network externalities in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area: borrowing size or agglomeration shadow?

ABSTRACT The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is one of the most active innovation areas in China, but the complex institutional and cultural environment makes innovation cooperation among the cities challenging. Based on 2001–2019 data, this study analyses the spatial pattern and externalities of GBA’s knowledge innovation network using a social network method and spatial econometric model. Results show that Guangzhou and Hong Kong have always been the cores of knowledge innovation in network. Shenzhen emerged as an innovation centre after 2012, and other cities have become peripheral areas in the network. Small- and medium-sized cities do not benefit from the innovative development of core cities but are trapped in their agglomeration shadow. Institutional and cultural differences are the main obstacles hindering innovation cooperation between cities. In comparison, distance has fewer limitations on innovation cooperation. The negative externality of knowledge innovation network indicates that this region should narrow the gap of spatial differences, optimise the innovation network pattern to improve the network externalities.

Competition and collaboration: Title IX Coordinators and the barriers to achieving educational equity

How do compliance occupations successfully navigate complex institutional environments characterized by changing policy initiatives, managerial logics, unclear expectations, and competition from other occupational groups? This article examines the work of Title IX Coordinators at U.S. Colleges and Universities, who often hold dual roles, operate at lower levels within the institution, and lack the necessary resources to do their work. Using interviews, surveys, professional association materials, and Title IX job ads, this paper describes how Title IX Coordinators adapt to a complex institutional environment and overcome these obstacles in their efforts to enforce Title IX. Title IX Coordinators develop and create collaborative networks of expertise that develop and build shared institutional influence. Using pre-existing relationships and sharing information and expertise, Title IX Coordinators partner with legal counsel, campus police, human resources, ombuds, student affairs, and other occupations to co-produce Title IX compliance.

Inequality through MNE–emerging economy coevolution? A political actor view on Myanmar/Burma’s peacebuilding

PurposeThis study aims to understand how the coevolution of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and emerging economy institutions affects social and economic (in)equality in an ambiguous, emerging economy context from a political actor perspective.Design/methodology/approachQualitative in nature, the study builds on conversations with 20 political actors involved in the peacebuilding process in Myanmar/Burma. It analyzes their perceptions of interaction of MNEs and host economy institutions from a social constructionist viewpoint.FindingsThe study identifies four coevolution patterns which portray the evolving interaction between MNE activities and different elements of their host institutional environment as well as their consequences for social and economic (in)equality.Originality/valueThis study contributes to critical international business research on emerging economies by emphasizing the different and partly conflicting host institutions of various stakeholder groups involved in the coevolution of MNEs and host institutional environments. The more nuanced conceptualization of the complex institutional environment enables the analysis of inequality as a direct and indirect outcome of MNE–institution interaction. Thus, the study connects to the business and human rights discussion and provides insight into the consequences of MNEs’ adoption of social and environment standards.

CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES PLANNING PRACTICE

The planning of social services in Bulgaria is carried out in a complex normative and institutional environment, which is constantly changing. Reform of the process of planning social services in the direction of their decentralization is underway, but for many reasons the reform is slowing down. This complicates the process of identifying social problems and finding solutions to overcome them, especially at regional and local level. The institutional analysis of the social services system clarifies the main (formal and informal) participants in the process of planning and implementation of social services and their motives and possibilities for coordination. The analysis makes it possible to understand how the social services sector functions, what incentives it creates and how individual institutions influence people's behavior and, consequently, the wealth of society. The aim of the paper is to clarify the planning environment of social services in Bulgaria and to outline the institutional framework of planning and the internal interrelationships. The study is based on the methodological individualism approach, which seeks explanations in social knowledge based on individuals and their properties, motives, goals and beliefs. The object of analysis are the desires (plans) of the economic agents, which at a certain moment are coordinated and thus transactions are carried out. Some incentives have been clarified, which motivate them to act in a certain way under conditions of limited access to resources (material, human and financial). Special emphasis is placed on transaction costs, which slow down the operation of the system and make it difficult to achieve its goals. Aspects of cooperation in the development of a map of social services and in the coordination of social service providers are discussed. Informal relations, such as customs, culture and attitudes of local communities, remain outside the model. The institutional analysis approach can be used in both research and training of public sector employees in clarifying the objectives, principles and scope of various aspects of the social services system.

A cross-cultural investigation of design and visual preference of signage information from Hong Kong and Pakistan

Signage design has been considered critically important for wayfinding, being a functional medium of delivering environmental information. Complex institutional environments have several factors affecting the wayfinding, including but not limited to the design of information signage and its visual preference. Visual preferences of information design in wayfinding signage vary, depending on the cultural and individual differences. This study explores the variance in design and visual preferences of wayfinding signage and its influencing elements. Responses through online questionnaire have been accumulated by the participants from Hong Kong and Pakistan based on their design and visual preference of campus wayfinding signage. Questions were asked related to the user preferences for signage colour if in line with the institutional visual identity, mono or multi-colour coding of information and its visual volume. In total, 170 university students and visitors participated in the exploratory study from the respective countries. The results demonstrated that participants of Hong Kong preferred inline colours of signage, along with mono or less colour coding and detailed information. While the other group preferred attractive colours with multi-colour coding and less detailed wayfinding information with pictograms. Individual differences concerning age, literacy level and gender were also computed, however trivial differences have been recorded. This study suggests the need for detailed cross-cultural investigation concerning elements of signage design and visual preference to identify the drivers for culturally consistent university signage.

Department chair leadership: Exploring the role’s demands and tensions

Research exploring the challenges department chairs face has long suggested the role is difficult and lacks tangible reward (Buller, 2012, 2015; Gmelch et al., 2017). Yet, as higher education demographics, settings, and organizational expectations change and chairs function in more uncertain and increasingly complex institutional environments, it is important to understand how chairs describe the challenges they encounter, the ways in which they respond to those challenges, and the knowledge and skills they draw on to do so. Drawing on 45 interviews with chairs across a variety of institution types, this study focuses on chairs’ perceptions of their role, contextualization of their learning, and understanding how orientations toward faculty, staff, and students contribute to their work. Findings suggest chairs struggle to balance their approaches to the work, striving to employ common sense while decision making, humanity when working with others, and savvy when approaching an unavoidable and often overwhelming political landscape, all while possessing limited institutional authority. These are expressed as tensions of task, organization, and role, and the people and relationships that chairs must reconcile, rather than resolve, if they are to be successful.

Deployment of whistleblowing as an accountability mechanism to curb corruption and fraud in a developing democracy

PurposeThis paper investigates the challenges and opportunities for the deployment of whistleblowing as an accountability mechanism to curb corruption and fraud in a developing country. Nigeria is the institutional setting for the study.Design/methodology/approachAdopting an institutional theory perspective and a survey protocol of urban residents in the country, the study presents evidence on the whistleblowing program introduced in 2016. Nigeria’s whistleblowing initiative targets all types of corruption, including corporate fraud.FindingsThis study finds that, even in the context of a developing country, whistleblowing is supported as an accountability mechanism, but the intervention lacks awareness, presents a high risk to whistleblowers and regulators, including the risk of physical elimination, and is fraught with institutional and operational challenges. In effect, awareness of whistleblowing laws, operational challenges and an institutional environment conducive to venality undermine the efficacy of whistleblowing in Nigeria.Originality/valueThe study presents a model of challenges and opportunities for whistleblowing in a developing democracy. The authors argue that the existence of a weak and complex institutional environment and the failure of program institutionalization explain those challenges and opportunities. The authors also argue that a culturally anchored and institutionalized whistleblowing program encourages positive civic behavior by incentivizing citizens to act as custodians of their resources, and it gives voice to the voiceless who have endured decades of severe hardship and loss of dignity due to corruption.

An e-government framework for assessing readiness for public sector e-procurement in a lower-middle income country

ABSTRACT Governments globally are leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) growth towards improving the quality of public procurement services for socio-economic development. However, the extent of its application differs across nations. Notwithstanding the extant theoretical and empirical literature on IT for development, knowledge on how to assess readiness for adopting a full e-procurement system in the public sector of lower and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) begs for understanding. With the narrative of Ghana, we address this gap by drawing on the institutional and economic theory and the United Nations E-Government Development Index towards a holistic framework beyond the dyad of linear website functionalities and internet focus of prior e-government adoption models. Elite interviews gathered from multiple cases from Ghana’s public sector reveals the key readiness determinants for a full public sector e-procurement system. This study has significant implications for shaping the process-oriented management of government e-procurement projects towards socio-economic development in LMICs amid their complex institutional and socio-technical environments.

Multinational enterprises’ risk mitigation strategies in emerging markets: A political coalition perspective

This paper contributes to the IB literature by investigating MNEs’ risk mitigation strategies in emerging markets. Drawing on institutional perspectives and March’s theoretical concept of forming a ‘political coalition’, we propose that risk mitigation cannot be limited to passive compliance and/or demonstrating good corporate behavior, but should extend to collective efforts by building a political coalition and working with key stakeholders to manage potential risk and obtain favorable outcomes in complex institutional environments. In considering MNEs in contemporary China and India, we offer different types of risk mitigation strategies under various institutional contexts and a framework for future research.

The Patient’s Perspective on Institutional Logics in Russian Maternity Care

The interplay between different institutional logics is a vital topic in contemporary institutional analyses of healthcare. In this paper, we consider relations between professional, bureaucratic, market, and informal logics in the volatile and ever-transforming context of post-Soviet maternity care. We approach this issue from an unconventional angle and study how various logics are interpreted, enacted and manipulated by women-patients. Neo-institutional scholars commonly enlist patients as institutional actors that are involved both in maintaining and changing the institutional order. However, current research neglects the patients’ perspective instead focusing on the practices of healthcare providers. In order to fill this gap, we investigate how expectant mothers make sense of and navigate the complex institutional environment of Russian maternity care. In our analysis we rely on empirical data from fifty-nine qualitative interviews with recent mothers conducted in St. Petersburg in 2015–2017. This data allows us to conclude that the institutional dynamics of maternity care are powered mostly by the rivalry of two logics – one bureaucratic, the other market-driven. The professional logic, meanwhile, remains underrepresented and dominated by the other two. Unlike healthcare practitioners, women perceive the bureaucratic logic as chaotic and unpredictable, while wealthy clients employ a repertoire of actions offered by the market logic to exercise more control of their hospital routine. Different institutional logics compete for dominance, leaving areas of uncertainty in regard to institutional rules. In some cases, patients use informality to manage such ambivalence and challenge the formal order of healthcare facilities. The common character of this strategy prompts us to suggest that informality forms a distinctive fourth logic that frames some actions and interactions within Russian maternity care.

Towards a Framework for Assessing IT Strategy Execution

In this paper, we explore a framework for assessing the implementation of IT Strategic planning, grounded in the combination and iteration of different methods. It is a part of an Action Design Research exercise being made up at a leading online European university. The assessment mixes three main dimensions (strategy, performance and governance), extracted from the professional and academic research. Its application to this context through a varied scaffolding of methods, tools and techniques seems robust and helpful to work out with the business and IT senior stakeholders. It allows a quick deployment, even in a complex institutional environment.

Changing analytical levels and methods of leadership research on university presidents

ABSTRACT We conducted a systematic literature review of 111 empirical studies published between 1969 and 2018. We found that research does not exponentially grow in comparison to research on higher education or leadership; empirical research emerging in the 1980s does not completely replace non-empirical inquiry. Studies from English-speaking authors predominate. Research is characterized by the qualitative studies representative of over two thirds of publications; mixed-methods and international comparative approaches are uncommon. Altogether, 80 articles approach the person, 73 the organizational level and 30 the social context. We conclude that comparative approaches, mixed methods and a major focus on the societal environment may represent promising approaches to the study of presidential leadership. Presidential leadership research may see a desideratum in analyzing the embedded character of higher education in the wider national and international context. Future inquiry could consider university presidents’ leadership within the complex institutional environments in which the universities are embedded.

Transparency and Embodied Action: Turn Organization and Fairness in Complex Institutional Environments

Institutional settings in which large numbers of participants have the right and in some cases the responsibility to contribute to the proceedings pose particular challenges to the order and allocation of turns. These challenges are organizational, how to enable and order participation between large numbers of people, as well as moral and political—the fair, transparent, and even distribution of access to the floor. In this paper, we address two very different institutional settings—one political and the other economic—and consider how participants are provided opportunities to contribute to the proceedings in a fair and transparent manner. Drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, we examine the systematic management of turn allocation and demonstrate how multimodality is critical to understanding how particular institutions achieve their principal aims and outcomes. This study is based on the analysis of a substantial corpus of video recordings of public consultations concerned with the discussion of major public and private sector initiatives and auctions of fine art and antiques.

Access Fees and Efficiency Frontiers with Selectivity and Latent Classes: Falkland Islands Fisheries

A relevant question in fishery management is to what extent individual transferable quotas and effort quotas (ITQs/ITEQs) can contribute to higher efficiency and net returns as well as foster resource sustainability. To better account for factors that systematically affect efficiency of fishing companies within a complex institutional environment, two stochastic frontier semiparametric models treat unobserved heterogeneity as a finite mixture or discrete approximation to continuous parameter variation by adjusting for sample selection and latent classes, respectively. Assuming profitability-constrained, revenue-maximising strategies and based on a panel of Falkland Islands fisheries over the period 2003–14, both models suggest separate frontiers relative to revenues and limited to selection-corrected model costs. The hypothesis of frontier-enhancing effects of the new ITQ/ITEQ regime is supported for most—albeit not all—fishing companies. Based on model results, revenue efficiency gains are achievable by encouraging, when feasible, vessel ownership and larger arrangements between quota holders and joint-venture companies. Regression results of latent class production frontier models for southern hake catches similarly suggest heterogeneity across finfish vessels and widespread—though not uniform—frontier-enhancing effects of the new fishery regime.

INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FORMATION OF THE AGRO-FOOD MARKET IN THE METROPOLIS SUBURBAN AREAS: CHARACTERISTICS, DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIONS

Introduction. The article describes the prospects for competitive advantages’ development of wholesale and distribution centers as the necessary agro-food complex infrastructure in the metropolis suburban area. Moreover, agro-food complex’s role in the formation of the modern institutional environment of suburban agriculture is also discussed.Materials and methods. The causal relations of the need for the formation and functioning of the agrofood complex institutional environment in the suburban area, the creation of the internal food mechanism to the needy segments of the population are substantiated. The authors use monographic, statistical, graphic and expert methods in the research.Results. The authors justify the suggestions to create an institutional environment for the functioning of enterprises and organizations, which are included in the system of internal food aid to the population. Discussion and conclusions. As a result, the mechanism for the infrastructure development of the metropolis agro-food complex, based on the resource potential assessment of the food market in the suburban area, is presented. In addition, the recommendations on the development of modern institutions that provide food to the population of the metropolis in the current restrictions of state agriculture support after the accession of Kazakhstan to the WTO are made. Moreover, the creation of the mechanism for managing the infrastructure provision of the agro-food market in the metropolis suburban area, based on the interaction of agents in the system of economic relations, the Executive authorities of the metropolis, district administrations of territorial entities, business structures and science is proposed.

Biofuels are (Not) the Future! Legitimation Strategies of Sustainable Ventures in Complex Institutional Environments

Sustainable ventures often lack legitimacy (perceived to be desirable and appropriate) because various stakeholder groups use contradictory institutions (rules and norms) to make their judgements, which leads to there being fewer resources available and higher failure rates. Using an institutional theory framework and a multi-case research design with 15 biofuel ventures operating in the Netherlands, this study asks how sustainable entrepreneurs attempt to gain legitimacy in these circumstances. Analysis reveals that the entrepreneurs use a combination of rhetorical, reconciliatory and institutional change strategies to obtain legitimacy from different stakeholder groups. These findings further our understanding of sustainable entrepreneurial behavior by revealing how and why different legitimation strategies are used in complex institutional environments.

Multiculturalism, Legal Pluralism and Local Government in Colombia: Indigenous Autonomy and Institutional Embeddedness in Karmata Rúa, Antioquia

AbstractIn the 1990s, Colombia decentralised politics and passed multicultural reforms as part of wider strategies to strengthen the state. Multiculturalism produced a complex institutional environment marked by jurisdictional overlap and legal plurality. The literature on Colombia's multiculturalism confirms that violence, indigenous rights abuses and the lack of enabling legislation on indigenous territorial entities limited ethno-political autonomy and instead enhanced the capacity of the state to transform indigenous identity and bureaucratise local decision-making practices. However, some indigenous authorities used the new institutions to take control of communal matters, changing local governments along the way. The better-known case of indigenous self-government is that of the Nasa people in Cauca, characterised by the capture of local institutions to advance ethnic rights. In my study of the Embera Chamí of Karmata Rúa (Antioquia) I argue that they represent an alternative approach centred on institutional embeddedness, or the repetition of ethnic autonomy rules by multiple layers of government.