Besharov Review

Session 6
 Multiple Institutional Logics
in Organizations: Explaining
Their Varied Nature and
Implications
Marya L. Besharov
Wendy K. Smith

Academy of Management Review, 2014

 Theoretical Context
Widespread recognition of multiplicity of
institutional logics (Thornton, Ocasio, & Lounsbury,
2012) within organizations

In: Social Enterprise (Dacin, Dacin, & Tracey, 2011),

Health Care (Dunn & Jones, 2010), Cultural
Industries (Glynn & Lounsbury, 2005), Life Sciences
(Murray, 2010), professional services (Smets,
Morris, & Greenwood, 2012), & Manufacturing
(Greenwood, Diaz, Li, & Lorente, 2010).
Theoretical Context (cont.)
Research offers divergent conclusions
concerning the consequences of logic
multiplicity within organizations

Some studies associate multiple logics in

organizations with contestation and conflict
(Battilana & Dorado, 2010; Zilber, 2002), other
research describes coexistence (McPherson &
Sauder, 2013) or logic blending (Binder, 2007).
Theoretical Context (cont.)
Some research views logic multiplicity as threatening
performance and leading to organization demise (Tracey,
Phillips, and Jarvis 2011)
Other research suggests that logic multiplicity promotes
more enduring, sustainable, and innovative organizations
(Jay 2012; Kraatz & Block 2008)
Moreover, some studies indicate that logic multiplicity
within organizations facilitates transitions between logics
at the field level (Haveman & Rao 1997), while others
show how the co-existence of multiple logics within
organizations enables multiplicity to persist at the field
level (Reay & Hinings 2009).
 Contribution
How not if multiple logics are present in orgs

Provide a typology of logic multiplicity along two

dimension:
Compatibility (conflicting goals or means)
Centrality (core or periphery)
On three levels
 Contribution (cont.)

Explains how factors on three level field,

organization, and individual impact
compatibility and centrality.

Outlines the consequences of logic multiplicity

 Contribution (cont.)
Compatibility:
At Field level number of professional institutions
decreases compatibility

Org level hiring and socialization practices impact

compatibility

At Individual level strong ties to field level actors

may decrease compatibility & strong ties within
org increases compatibility
 Contribution (cont.)
Centrality:
Field fragmentation distinct and uncoordinated
clusters of institutional actors & centralization
clusters w/ clear hierarchy that promulgates a unified
set of demands increase centrality

Org mission and strategy & resource dependence

impact centrality

Individual ties to fields actors can increase centrality

but position in org may shield individuals from field
decreasing centrality
 Strengths (and
Weaknesses)

Strengths comprehensive framework that

makes sense of empirical research

Weaknesses explaining agency

 Theoretical Links
One important link concerns concerns the role of
managers in defining the org mission and
strategy.
This is a key role for agency within orgs

Compare to next two papers (on Selznick and

AMJ)
 Opportunities for Future
Research
Applying the framework to 3 or more logics
within orgs

Examining logic multiplicity at the sub-unit level

 Leading Amidst Competing
Technical and Institutional
Demands: Revisiting
Selznicks Conception of
Leadership
Marya L. Besharov
Rakesh Khurana

Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 2014

 Theoretical Context
Recent interest in logic multiplicity and hybrids

Interest in how Selznick can inform institutional

theory and leadership (Glynn & Rafaelli, 2013;
Kraatz, 2009; Washington, Boal, & Davis, 2008)
 Contribution
Organizations as Technical and Institutional Systems

. Org behavior cannot be explained purely in technical

terms

. Selznick: Orgs are infuse[d] with values beyond the

technical requirements of the task at hand. (1957:
17)

. Selznick emphasized that technical and institutional

systems, while conceptually distinct, are deeply
intertwined and exist in continual tension with each
other.
 Contribution (cont.)
Leadership as Poetry and Plumbing:

The plumbing of leadership involves keeping watch

over an organizations efficiency in everyday tasks,
such as making sure the toilets work and that there
is somebody to answer the telephone... These
aspects are essential for the smooth operation of
organizations... Leadership also requires, however,
the gifts of a poet, in order to find meaning in action
and render life attractive (March & Weill, 2005: 98).
 Contribution (cont.)
Defining Organizational Values and Purposes

A primary task of leadership is to articulate and

commit to values and purposes that transcend
technical efficiency.

In defining values and purpose, leaders must

consider the values of society at large, of the
particular communities within which the
organization is embedded, and of the
organizations members.
 Contribution (cont.)
Maintaining Institutional Integrity

Leaders must ensure that values are enacted not

merely symbolic.

Integrity: fidelity to self-defining principles

(Selznick 1992).

Integrity and technical imperatives

Autonomy & Responsiveness

 Contribution (cont.)
Embodying Purpose in Social Structure
The task of leadership is not only to make policy
but to build it into the organizations social
structure (Selznick, 1957: 63).

Elites form the institutional core of org

Later, there is a greater need for formalization &

and the establishment of explicit goals and rules.
 Contribution (cont.)
Infusing Meaning into Organizational Life

Using myth to infuse daily tasks with meaning

Leaders should seek to discover and articulate

existing values that are meaningful to organizational
members and society at large, not to create new
meanings from whole cloth.

Infusing meaning, in the sense of meaningfulness, is

the province, and moral responsibility, of leaders.
 Contribution (cont.)
Playing the Part

Leaders must internalize values

Leaders play a social role that is both technical

and symbolic.

Failure to play the role effectively threatens the

legitimacy of the leader and the organization.
 Strengths (and
Weaknesses)

Strengths linking ethics with institutional

theory

Weaknesses other research may be relevant

(institutional work?)
 Theoretical Links
Link with AMR paper concerning role of defining
strategy and mission.

Practices for defining goals are explaining in AMJ

paper
 Opportunities for Future
Research
Organizations as technical, cultural, and political
systems.

Managing external environment (strategic

function)
Role of Leadership in defining values (cultural
role)
Long-term economic performance and
institutional leadership
 The Relational Ecology of
Identification: How
Organizational Identification
Emerges When Individuals
Hold Divergent Values

Marya L. Besharov

Academy of Management Journal, 2014

 Theoretical Context

Research that focuses on the nature and management of org identity

(Albert & Whetten, 1985; Whetten, 2006)

Recognizes multiple or incompatible values (Albert & Whetten, 1985;

Dutton & Dukerich, 1991; Gioia, 1998; Pratt & Foreman, 2000)

Incompatible commitments to different stake- holder groups (King,
Felin, & Whetten, 2010; Kraatz & Block, 2008; Whetten, 2006)

inconsistent attributes (Gioia, Schultz, & Corley, 2000: 74; Golden-
Biddle & Rao, 1997

members disagree about which attributes are central, enduring, and
distinct (Glynn, 2000; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997)

\
Theoretical Context (cont.)

This research stream says little about the

implications that multiple identity attributes
have for individual members and, in particular,
for members identification with their
organization.
Theoretical Context (cont.)
Second stream of research that is relevant
focuses on identification among individuals
who differ in which organizational values
they hold to be important.

This work emphasizes negative con-

sequences of divergent values, but does
not explain how identification can emerge
in such a context.
Theoretical Context (cont.)
The content involved in members identification both the
content of ones self-identity and that of the organizations
identitycan vary, even within a single organization or
collective (Brickson, 2013; Elsbach & Cable, 2012; Foreman
& Whetten, 2002; Kreiner & Ashforth, 2004)

When members think different values are important, conflict

and tension are rampant (Fauchart & Gruber, 2011; Golden-
Biddle & Rao, 1997; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997) and
organizational performance suffers (Anteby & Wrzesniewski,
2014; Battilana & Dorado, 2010; Voss, Cable, & Voss, 2006).
 Contribution
Identification Management Practices

Removing Ideology

Developing Integrative Solutions

Routinizing Ideology
 Contribution (cont.)
Identification Process

Identity Confirmation

Identity Conversion

Leading to Identification
 Contribution (cont.)
Identification Process

Identity Confirmation

Identity Conversion

Identity Violation
 Strengths (and
Weaknesses)

Strengths fascinating topic that has not been

addressed, rich data, compelling model

The finding might not be generalizable NF may

be distinctive from other cases
 Theoretical Links
Link with AMR paper concerning role of defining
strategy and mission.

Link with Selznick on leadership

 Opportunities for Future
Research
One fruitful area for further investigation
concerns the role that direct contact among
members who hold divergent values plays in
identification and dis-identification.

A second area for future research concerns how

organizations attain pluralist members.
 Managing Social-Business
Tensions: A Review and
Research Agenda

Wendy K. Smith
Michael Gonin
Marya L. Besharov

Business Ethics Quarterly, 2013

 Theoretical Context
The growth of social entrepreneurship
scholarship (Battilana, Lee, Walker, & Dorsey,
2012)

Tensions in social enterprises (Smith, Besharov,

Wessels, & Chertok, 2012; Tracey & Phillips,
2007; Besharov & Smith, 2013; Dees, 2012;
Margolis & Walsh, 2003)
 Contribution
Reviews empirical research forming a
categorization of tensions within social
enterprises: performing, organizing, belonging,
and learning

Links these categories with 4 theories:

institutional theory, organizational identity,
stakeholder theory, and paradox theory
 Strengths (and
Weaknesses)

Comprehensive overview and the establishment

of a research agenda
 Theoretical Links
Link with AMR paper concerning role institutional
theory.

Link with AMJ paper on identity

 Opportunities for Future
Research
From an institutional perspective, understanding
tensions within social enterprises can inform
research on the environmental and
organizational factors that impact the survival
and effectiveness of hybrid organizations
Social enterprise research can expand theory in
organizational identity by enriching our
understanding of the nature and management of
multiple identities within organizations
 Opportunities for Future
Research (cont.)
Stakeholder theory can benefit from research on
how social enterprises manage their numerous
stakeholders.
Social enterprise research can inform paradox
theory by providing a set- ting that makes
salient the tensions between social missions and
business purposes.