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Global Professional Service Firms and the Challenge of Institutional Complexity: ‘Field Relocation' as a Response Strategy
Author(s) -
Faulconbridge James,
Muzio Daniel
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/joms.12122
Subject(s) - relocation , staffing , field (mathematics) , internationalization , service (business) , complexity theory and organizations , business , public relations , economic geography , political science , knowledge management , marketing , computer science , geography , organizational learning , law , mathematics , international trade , pure mathematics , programming language
In this paper we use the case of the internationalization of English law firms into Italy, and the refocusing of their operations on the city of Milan, to make a number of contributions to existing literatures on responses to institutional complexity. First, we contribute to the literature on how organizations address complexity at the field level, by revealing the role of ‘field relocation' as a particular response strategy. We also identify a number of organizational tactics – re‐scoping, re‐scaling, and re‐staffing – through which ‘field relocation' is accomplished. Second, we also show the importance of further developing our understanding of the geography of institutional fields by highlighting how the ‘receptivity' of different field locations may affect responses to complexity. This identifies the importance of geographically locating fields and sub‐fields in studies of organizational responses to institutional complexity.