Does Smart equal Sustainable? Selective Coupling and Sustainability Performance in 251 Smart City Initiatives understood as Hybrid Organizations
Journal
Academy of Management Proceedings
ISSN
0065-0668
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper depicts smart city initiatives as hybrid organizations that incorporate competing institutional logics. These logics are not equally pronounced across initiatives. The salience of the logics affects initiatives’ selective coupling with economic, social, and environmental sustainability and, hence, their triple-layered sustainability performance. We suggest that the performance-related selective coupling is driven by two mechanisms: leveraging experience and seeking legitimacy. An empirical analysis of 251 initiatives supports our arguments. In line with the theory of selective coupling, we further find that initiatives embedded in a market logic display better overall sustainability performance than those embedded in a social welfare logic.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Academy of Management
Pages
13344
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
264598
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
open.access
Name
ambpp.2021.162.pdf
Size
139.95 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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