Institutional complexity and the strategic behaviors of SMEs in transitional environments

Yuan Ding, Véronique Malleret and S. Ramakrishna Velamuri

International Journal of Emerging Markets, 2016, vol. 11, issue 4, 514-532

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on institutional complexity by highlighting patterns of strategic behaviors of SMEs in institutional environments undergoing large scale transitions. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses five in-depth case studies of medium-sized enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region to study their behaviors over the 2000-2012 period during which the institutional landscape in China underwent major changes. Findings - The authors find that when institutional complexity is high, i.e., when neither the planned economy nor the market economy logic dominates, the role of organizational filters is more pronounced. In this situation, firm-level characteristics – its revenues and profitability, its competitive position and future prospects – play a dominant role in determining the nature of the strategic decisions and actions the firm undertakes. Research limitations/implications - The findings provide a nuanced perspective on strategic behaviors under institutional complexity. The qualitative research design offers rich insights but limited generalizability. Practical implications - The findings offer practical insights to SME leaders in terms of exercising caution in undertaking unrelated diversification during periods of transition from planned to market economies. Originality/value - The authors apply the concepts of institutional complexity and organizational filters in a context of large scale institutional transitions to study the strategic behaviors of SMEs over a 12 year period.

Keywords: Transition economies; SMEs; Institutional logics; Institutional complexity; Strategic behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijoemp:ijoem-07-2015-0131

DOI: 10.1108/IJoEM-07-2015-0131

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Emerging Markets is currently edited by Prof Ilan Alon

More articles in International Journal of Emerging Markets from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().