1184: Of Friends and Foes: Dynamics of Managing Tensions in Interorganizational Collaborations (19799)

While scholars recognize the prevalence of colliding institutional logics in interorganizational collaborations, research offers incomplete perspectives on how institutional logic conflicts are concretely mediated, especially in contexts characterized by an uncertain institutional environment. In these settings, collaborative mechanisms that work in stable institutional environments may not be appropriate or may even prove ineffective. In response, this study explores how interorganizational collaborations overcome logic conflicts in uncertain institutional environments. We use a multiple case study approach, drawing on interviews and observations of three interorganizational collaborations in the off-grid energy sector in Uganda. We advance research by examining how distinct institutional logics materialize and interact, and we unpack the mediators that aggravated or mitigated emerging logic conflicts. We further explore the impact of an uncertain institutional environment on these collaborations. Focusing on this empirically rich, but dramatically understudied context, we deepen our understanding of the specific elements determining the degrees of logic harmonization and the resulting goal and action alignment in interorganizational collaborations.

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