@article{MairRathert, author = {Mair, Johanna and Rathert, Nikolas}, title = {Alternative organizing with social purpose: revisiting institutional analysis of market-based activity}, series = {Socio-Economic Review}, volume = {19}, journal = {Socio-Economic Review}, number = {2}, issn = {1475-147X}, doi = {10.1093/ser/mwz031}, pages = {817 -- 836}, abstract = {Given rampant economic inequality, social exclusion and overconsumption, organizing in markets increasingly focuses on leveraging commercial activity for a social purpose. Alternative forms of organizing have developed to overcome the deficiencies of contemporary capitalism. They have become prevalent in numerous institutional contexts through types of organizations such as social enterprises, cooperatives and platform-based sharing economy organizations. Our objective is to ignite research on alternative organizing. We build on two important institutional perspectives, Neo-institutionalism and Comparative Capitalism, to investigate how these organizations diverge from the archetypal corporation. In addition, we develop a framework to guide institutional analysis of the origins, enabling conditions and consequences of alternative organizing in contemporary markets and society. We conclude by laying out pathways for future research.}, language = {en} } @article{ChandraShangMair, author = {Chandra, Yanto and Shang, Liang and Mair, Johanna}, title = {Drivers of success in social innovation: Insights into competition in open social innovation contests}, series = {Journal of Business Venturing Insights}, volume = {16}, journal = {Journal of Business Venturing Insights}, doi = {10.1016/j.jbvi.2021.e00257}, abstract = {Social innovation is a fast-growing field of practice that has caught the attention of management and entrepreneurship scholars. The recent excitement surrounding "open social innovation" contests raises the question of what makes social innovation solutions successful contenders in these ubiquitous contests. We used uniquely assembled data, including data generated from external evaluators, to explore what determines success in an open social innovation contest (n = 150 out of 871 entries) in the field of poverty alleviation. We found that innovators who had networks with corporations and those who had commercial orientations were more likely to succeed in open social innovation contests. We also discovered that the perceived usefulness and innovativeness of social innovation solutions mediated these positive relationships. Our study offers early insights that deepen our understanding of success in the growing practice of open social innovation.}, language = {en} } @article{UzoMair, author = {Uzo, Uchenna and Mair, Johanna}, title = {How informality affects habitual improvisation in firms: insights from the Nigerian movie industry}, series = {International Studies of Management \& Organization}, volume = {51}, journal = {International Studies of Management \& Organization}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1080/00208825.2021.1898102}, pages = {162 -- 184}, abstract = {Research has often underestimated the pervasive and global occurrence of informality because studies largely define informality as illegal economic practices. This study adopts a multidimensional view of informality to explain how and why firms habitually improvise even when they do not experience unexpected or extreme eventualities. We addressed this concern through a comparative ethnographic study of three film production crews in the Nigerian movie industry. Our findings unravel the multiple dimensions of informality and define habitual improvization. We build a theoretical model that traces the organizing principles of informality and how they affect the modes of implementation and outcomes of habitual improvization. Finally, we offer an agenda for future theoretical and empirical research on informality and organizational improvization.}, language = {en} } @article{UzoMairAdewusi, author = {Uzo, Uchenna and Mair, Johanna and Adewusi, Adedeji}, title = {How firms strategically navigate informal and formal copyright practices: insights from Nollywood}, series = {International Journal of Organizational Analysis}, volume = {ahead-of-print}, journal = {International Journal of Organizational Analysis}, number = {ahead-of-print}, issn = {1934-8835}, doi = {10.1108/IJOA-06-2020-2236}, abstract = {Purpose The purpose of this study is to explain how and why firms configure copyright practices when confronted with state-sanctioned laws and informal customs projected by local ethnic or religious communities. Design/methodology/approach A multi-case inductive study of four film-producing organizations within the Nigerian film industry (i.e. Nollywood) was conducted. Specifically considered were firms that started their operations around the same time with similar founding conditions, experiences, resources and technical competencies. Field observations and multiple rounds of in-depth interviews were conducted to achieve the research objectives. Findings The study found that firms adopted dominant or hybrid configurations when interacting with informality and formality. Dominant configurations represent the exclusive adoption of informal copyright practices while hybrid configurations refer to the blended use of informal and formal copyright practices. The second set of findings revealed that each firm's strategic intent affected the type of interactional configuration that unfolded in the firm. Specifically, firms with social intents tended to adopt dominant configurations, whereas firms with socio-economic intents tended to adopt hybrid configurations. Practical implications The study implies that firms may profit from strategically focusing on when and in what circumstances to adopt informality. Strategic intents that blend social and economic rationales may secure more positive interactive outcomes from internal and external stakeholders promoting formality and informality. Social implications This study highlights the fact that firms embedded in local religious and ethnic communities use organizational practices to solve social and institutional problems of their members. The copyright practices of these organizations encourage apprenticeship, youth empowerment and entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that goes beyond macro-level analysis to investigate the interactional dynamics between formality and informality at the firm, community, and state levels. The study is also first of its kind to use copyright practices as an analytical lens to explore the interaction between informality and formality.}, language = {en} } @techreport{MairGegenhuber, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Mair, Johanna and Gegenhuber, Thomas}, title = {Open Social Innovation}, series = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, journal = {Stanford Social Innovation Review}, pages = {26 -- 33}, language = {en} } @article{MairSeelos, author = {Mair, Johanna and Seelos, Christian}, title = {Organizations, Social Problems, and System Change: Invigorating the Third Mandate of Organizational Research}, series = {Organization Theory}, volume = {2}, journal = {Organization Theory}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1177/26317877211054858}, pages = {1 -- 22}, abstract = {Organizations across sectors appear to be shifting their ambitions from solving social problems to changing entire social systems. This phenomenon offers a timely opportunity to revisit what came to be known as the third mandate of organizational theory. In this paper we interrogate how organizational scholarship can productively explore and theorize the relationship between organizations and social systems in organized system change - an effort by organizations to alter the conditions that generate the characteristics of social problems and their dynamics of change. As a basis for theorizing organized system change, we develop an analytical scaffold that helps researchers to attend to fundamental aspects of the phenomenon and to achieve parsimony without blanking out complexity. Grounded in realist metatheory and principles, the scaffold reduces ambiguity, provides a backbone for empirical analysis, and favours mechanism-based explanation. We suggest that generating theoretically interesting and practically adequate knowledge on organized system change requires attention to three system realms: First, the subjectively constructed problem realm of systems concerned with processes of evaluating and problematizing situations. Second, the objectively constituted situational realm that attends to factual characteristics of situations and their dynamics of change. And third, the realm of causality understood as the mechanisms that generate both the objective characteristics of situations and the subjective criteria by which situations are evaluated as problems. In concluding, we reflect on the topics of boundaries and power as two promising areas for theorizing organized system change.}, language = {en} } @incollection{MairWolf, author = {Mair, Johanna and Wolf, Miriam}, title = {Hybrid Organizations as Sites for Reimagining Organizational Governance.}, series = {Research Handbook on Nonprofit Governance. Research Handbooks in Business and Management series.}, booktitle = {Research Handbook on Nonprofit Governance. Research Handbooks in Business and Management series.}, editor = {Donnelly-Cox, Gemma and Meyer, Michael and Wijkstr{\"o}m, Filip}, publisher = {Edward Elgar Publishing}, address = {Cheltenham}, isbn = {9781788114905}, doi = {10.4337/9781788114912.00027}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {311 -- 325}, abstract = {In this chapter we argue that hybrid organizations, i.e., organizations pursuing dual goals, are an important site for rethinking and potentially recasting our perspective on organizational governance. We give an overview of the specific governance challenges hybrid organizations face and probe conventional and more novel approaches and their potential to understand governance in hybrid organizations. Introducing empirical findings from a large-scale qualitative and quantitative study about governance in social enterprises, we propose to complement the reactive approach dominant in the governance literature with a more proactive approach: drawing on the work of Philip Selznick, we introduce a governance approach focused on purpose, commitment and new ways of coordination. We propose that these three interlocking governance mechanisms allow hybrid organizations such as social enterprises to mitigate governance challenges such as the risk of mission drift in a proactive rather than reactive manner.}, language = {en} } @article{WeberOkrakuMairetal., author = {Weber, Clarissa E. and Okraku, Mark and Mair, Johanna and Maurer, Indre}, title = {Steering the transition from informal to formal service provision: labor platforms in emerging-market countries.}, series = {Socio-Economic Review}, journal = {Socio-Economic Review}, doi = {10.1093/ser/mwab008}, pages = {1 -- 30}, abstract = {Services that are especially suited to being offered via online labor platforms, such as cleaning, driving and tutoring, are frequently performed in an informal way, especially in emerging-market countries. The informal economy is thus important for recruiting workers for labor platforms. Platform use, however, requires formal service provision, which workers in the informal economy often resist. Thus, labor platforms have to promote workers' transition from informal to formal service provision. While recent studies have hinted at labor platforms' fostering of formal economic activity, we know little about how such intermediation unfolds. We use a process lens and comprehensive qualitative data on labor platforms in Panama and Mexico to study how labor platforms steer workers to formal service provision. Detailing the interactive process of workers transitioning to formal service provision as triggered by labor platforms, we add to platform research and literature on intermediation between informal and formal economic activity.}, language = {en} } @incollection{SezgiMair, author = {Sezgi, Funda and Mair, Johanna}, title = {To Control or Not Control: A Coordination Perspective to Scaling.}, series = {Sustainable Consumption and Production, Volume II.}, volume = {II}, booktitle = {Sustainable Consumption and Production, Volume II.}, editor = {Bali Swain, Ranjula and Sweet, Susanne}, publisher = {Palgrave Macmillan}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55284-8 | Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-55285-5}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-55285-5_15}, publisher = {Hertie School}, pages = {355 -- 376}, abstract = {In this chapter, we assess the link between scaling, control and organizational achievements. We argue that control is essential to coordinate organizational members towards a common and shared goal and to provide guardrails for scaling. We use the experience of the Aravind Eye Care System, a non-profit organization based in India providing eye care services to poor people to specify the mechanisms employed by Aravind underpinning three popular organizational scaling modes—branching, affiliation and dissemination. Our objective is to show how control and scaling can be combined in order to protect the value base of a social enterprise and at the same time ensure growth.}, language = {en} } @techreport{MairGegenhuberThaeteretal., type = {Working Paper}, author = {Mair, Johanna and Gegenhuber, Thomas and Th{\"a}ter, Laura and L{\"u}hrsen, Ren{\´e}}, title = {Learning Report. Open Social Innovation: Gemeinsam Lernen aus \#WirvsVirus}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-3782}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-37823}, pages = {22}, abstract = {Das \#WirvsVirus Begleitforschungsprogramm Seit dem Start des Hackathons begleiten wir, Prof. Johanna Mair (Hertie School und Stanford University), Thomas Gegenhuber (Leuphana Universit{\"a}t und JKU Linz), Ren{\´e} L{\"u}hrsen und Laura Th{\"a}ter (wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter*innen) den \#WirvsVirus Hackathon und das Umsetzungsprogramm. Ziel ist es zu erforschen, welche Lehren aus diesem Experiment f{\"u}r k{\"u}nftige Initiativen gezogen werden k{\"o}nnen. Wir als Forschungsteam verstehen uns als Lernpartner*innen dieses Experiments: Neben regelm{\"a}ßigem Austausch mit den \#WirvsVirus Organisator*innen schufen wir eine respekt¬volle, kollaborative Umgebung f{\"u}r gemeinsames Lernen mit allen beteiligten Interessensgruppen. Die Datenerhebung besteht aus 200+ semi-strukturierten Interviews mit allen Interessensgruppen (Teams, Organisator*innen, Pat*innen und Unterst{\"u}tzer*innen, sowie politische und zivilgesell¬schaftliche Akteure), Dokumentenanalyse (z.B. Analyse von Medienartikeln) sowie teilnehmende Beobachtungen (circa 650 Stunden Begleitung in „Echtzeit", wie z.B. Teilnahme an Community- Calls). Dar{\"u}ber hinaus organisierten wir am Ende des Umsetzungsprogramms einen Workshop mit ausgew{\"a}hlten Teams, bei dem wir gemeinsam die Innovationsreise der einzelnen Projekte reflek¬tierten. Unsere Analysen basieren auf den empirischen Daten, die wir im Zeitraum eines knappen Jahres - von M{\"a}rz 2020 bis Februar 2021 - sammeln konnten. Unsere Analysemethoden und -werkzeuge, sowie die Modelle, die wir anwenden und entwickeln, sind inspiriert von zahlreichen Vor¬denker*innen (s. Literaturliste). Die ersten Ergebnisse aus dieser Forschungsphase sind der vorliegende Learning Report und der bereits ver{\"o}ffentlichte Policy Brief. Diese Ergebnisse erg{\"a}nzen die Abschlussberichte der Organisa¬tor*innen. Das Forschungsprojekt wird vom Bundeskanzleramt bef{\"u}rwortet und dieser Teil wird von der Vodafone Stiftung gef{\"o}rdert.}, language = {de} }