IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-02312323.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Sustaining Inter-organizational Relationships Across Institutional Logics and Power Asymmetries : The Case of Fair Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Nicholls

    (EM - EMLyon Business School)

  • Benjamin Huybrechts

Abstract

This paper explores an empirical puzzle, namely, how inter-organizational relationships can be sustained between organizations that draw upon distinctive--and potentially conflicting--institutional logics under conditions of power asymmetry. This research analyses cases of these relationships and suggests some key conditions underlying them. Examining relationships between 'Fair Trade' organizations and corporate retailers, a series of contingent factors behind the dynamic persistence of such relationships are proposed, namely: the presence of pre-existing 'hybrid logics'; the use of boundary-spanning discourses; joint tolerance of conflict; and co-creation of common rules. These four elements are supported by a fifth mediating factor, i.e. the presence and use of a Fair Trade certification system in the collaboration. The latter appears as a central vehicle facilitating cross-logic relationships--it can be seen as a 'boundary object' embodying a series of narratives and discourses that are open to multiple interpretations corresponding to the dominant institutional logics of each partner organization.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Nicholls & Benjamin Huybrechts, 2016. "Sustaining Inter-organizational Relationships Across Institutional Logics and Power Asymmetries : The Case of Fair Trade," Post-Print hal-02312323, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02312323
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Björn C. Mitzinneck & Marya L. Besharov, 2019. "Managing Value Tensions in Collective Social Entrepreneurship: The Role of Temporal, Structural, and Collaborative Compromise," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 381-400, October.
    2. Pradeep Kumar Hota, 2023. "Tracing the Intellectual Evolution of Social Entrepreneurship Research: Past Advances, Current Trends, and Future Directions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 637-659, January.
    3. Claudia Savarese & Benjamin Huybrechts & Marek Hudon, 2020. "The Influence of Interorganizational Collaboration on Logic Conciliation and Tensions Within Hybrid Organizations: Insights from Social Enterprise–Corporate Collaborations," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/311573, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Costin Lianu & Irina Gabriela Radulescu & Simona Corina Dobre Gudei & Cosmin Lianu & Veronica Mindrescu, 2022. "Cohesion Forces Determinants in Cluster Development: A Study Case for Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-12, March.
    5. Minelle E. Silva & Breno Nunes, 2022. "Institutional logic for sustainable purchasing and supply management: Concepts, illustrations, and implications for business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1138-1151, March.
    6. Alvina Gillani & Smirti Kutaula & Leonidas C. Leonidou & Paul Christodoulides, 2021. "The Impact of Proximity on Consumer Fair Trade Engagement and Purchasing Behavior: The Moderating Role of Empathic Concern and Hypocrisy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 557-577, March.
    7. Alinaghian, Leila & Razmdoost, Kamran, 2021. "How do social enterprises manage business relationships? A review of the literature and directions for future research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 488-498.
    8. Juelin Yin & Dima Jamali, 2021. "Collide or Collaborate: The Interplay of Competing Logics and Institutional Work in Cross-Sector Social Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(4), pages 673-694, April.
    9. Michael Moran & Libby Ward-Christie, 2022. "Blended Social Impact Investment Transactions: Why Are They So Complex?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(4), pages 1011-1031, September.
    10. Christiana Weber & Helen Haugh & Markus Göbel & Hannes Leonardy, 2022. "Pathways to Lasting Cross-Sector Social Collaboration: A Configurational Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 613-639, May.
    11. Tasneem Sadiq & Rob van Tulder & Karen Maas, 2022. "Building a Taxonomy of Hybridization: An Institutional Logics Perspective on Societal Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    12. Alex Gillett & Kim Loader & Bob Doherty & Jonathan M. Scott, 2019. "An Examination of Tensions in a Hybrid Collaboration: A Longitudinal Study of an Empty Homes Project," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 949-967, July.
    13. Jones, Janice & Seet, Pi-Shen & Acker, Tim & Whittle, Michelle, 2021. "Barriers to grassroots innovation: The phenomenon of social-commercial-cultural trilemmas in remote indigenous art centres," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    14. Claudia Savarese & Benjamin Huybrechts & Marek Hudon, 2021. "The Influence of Interorganizational Collaboration on Logic Conciliation and Tensions Within Hybrid Organizations: Insights from Social Enterprise–Corporate Collaborations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 709-721, November.
    15. Jisong Kim & Chang-Sik Kim & Mina Jo, 2023. "Cross-Country Analysis of Willingness to Pay More for Fair Trade Coffee: Exploring the Moderating Effect between South Korea and Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-22, November.
    16. Wendy Phillips & Elizabeth A. Alexander & Hazel Lee, 2019. "Going It Alone Won’t Work! The Relational Imperative for Social Innovation in Social Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 315-331, May.
    17. Gröbner, Sophie, 2022. "Zur Rolle interorganisationaler Beziehungen im Social Entrepreneurship – Ein systematisches Literaturreview [Inter-Organizational Relations of Social Enterprises – A Systematic Literature Review]," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 7(2), pages 504-523.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02312323. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.