Damned if we do, damned if we don't: organizational responses to conflicting institutional demands
Author: Pache, Anne-Claire ; Santos, Filipe M.INSEAD Area: Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise ; Organisational Behaviour Series: Working Paper ; 2009/12/EFE/OB/ISIC Publisher: Fontainebleau : INSEAD Social Innovation Centre (ISIC) 2009.Language: EnglishDescription: 47 p.Type of document: INSEAD Working PaperAbstract: Institutional theory suggests that compliance is a typical response of organizations to institutional demands. Yet, organizations are often subject to conflicting demands imposed by their institutional environment which makes full compliance impossible to achieve because satisfying some demands will require ignoring or rejecting others. This paper explores the origins and types of such conflicting demands and outlines the likely organizational responses. We argue that organizational fields that are fragmented and decentralized are particularly likely to impose conflicting demands on organizations. We develop a typology that outlines two dimensions across which conflicting demands may vary: focus of demands and internal representation. We then use this typology to argue about the likelihood of adopting different organizational responses. Our key contribution is exploring the conflict dimension of institutional pressures and providing a more precise model of organizational responses, including the identification of situations in which conflicting institutional demands may lead to organizational breakup. Next title: Damned if we do, damned if we don't: how organizations manage the dilemma of conflicting institutional demands (RV of 2009/12/EFE/OB/ISIC) - Pache, Anne-Claire;Santos, Filipe M. - 2009 - INSEAD Working Paper| Item type | Current location | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
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Europe Campus Archives | Available | BC008653 |
Institutional theory suggests that compliance is a typical response of organizations to institutional demands. Yet, organizations are often subject to conflicting demands imposed by their institutional environment which makes full compliance impossible to achieve because satisfying some demands will require ignoring or rejecting others. This paper explores the origins and types of such conflicting demands and outlines the likely organizational responses. We argue that organizational fields that are fragmented and decentralized are particularly likely to impose conflicting demands on organizations. We develop a typology that outlines two dimensions across which conflicting demands may vary: focus of demands and internal representation. We then use this typology to argue about the likelihood of adopting different organizational responses. Our key contribution is exploring the conflict dimension of institutional pressures and providing a more precise model of organizational responses, including the identification of situations in which conflicting institutional demands may lead to organizational breakup.
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