The Power of Hybriding:Multiple Institutional Logics and Action Strategies for Cooperative Participation in Agricultural Science and Technology Services
As a new type of agricultural business entities,farmer cooperatives have become an important force for improving the degree of organization of small farmers and service-driven development of small farmers.While existing studies generally analyze the efficiency mechanism of cooperatives'participation in agricultural science and technology services from the theoretical perspectives of transaction cost economics theory,social capital theory,relational contract and relational governance,this study constructs an analytical framework of"institutional complexity-action strategies-organizational goals"through the institutional complexity faced by cooperatives as hybrid organizations,and reveals the legitimacy mechanism of cooperatives'participation in agricultural science and technology services.The study found that cooperatives,faced with the institutional complexity brought by the internal institutional logic of"community-market"competition and the multiple institutional logics of the external field,adjust the internal institutional logic relationship through selective coupling strategy,dominant strategy and alliance strategy,and win the support of stakeholders in the field with a"hybrid power"and obtain organizational legitimacy.Therefore,the action subjects driven by different system logic in the field can be mobilized to achieve the goals of organizational development.This study has certain theoretical value and policy implications for an in-depth understanding of how hybrid organizations can combine institutional logic to address complex social needs beyond organizational boundaries in order to achieve organizational development goals.
Cooperativesagricultural science and technology serviceslegitimacy mechanismsinstitutional complexityaction strategy