Responding to Multiple Institutional Logics in Inter-institutional Temporary Organizations: A Longitudinal Study of the Making of the 21st Century Hospital

This paper draws on findings from a unique case study of a temporary organization that carried the responsibility for the planning and construction of a new super hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Our empirical study explores how this temporary organization responded to requirements from different and sometimes conflicting institutional logics. The paper identifies four distinct response strategies that project actors relied upon to deal with the multiplicity of logics: total integration, partial decoupling, avoidance, and surfing. We discuss how these response strategies were used in the studied case, in what situations, and what effects they had on the organization and the collaboration process.