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Paper info: TELOS AND CONATUS – DECONSTRUCTING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IN BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS AND NETWORKS THROUGH A PROCESS METAPHYSICS PERSPECTIVE

Title


TELOS AND CONATUS – DECONSTRUCTING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IN BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS AND NETWORKS THROUGH A PROCESS METAPHYSICS PERSPECTIVE

Authors


I. Ojansivu and C. Medlin

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 32nd IMP-conference in Poznan, Poland in 2016.

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Abstract


In this research, we propose a process metaphysics perspective to studying institutional change in business relationships and networks. The motivation for our research stems from the following question: how do individuals instigate and mediate change in business relationships and networks? An historical case study of a business relationship and its focal net extending to three decades is employed to illustrate and explain mediation of change. We adopt a micro level analysis and embrace business relationships as a collective social identity, in a constant state of becoming. We illustrate how business relationships and networks change through the interplay of multiple institutional logics. More precisely, we elaborate on two specific institutional logics, Telos and Conatus, which managers can employ to instigate and mediate change, as well to gain legitimacy, in business relationships and networks.