Organizing Means–Ends Decoupling: Core–Compartment Separations in Fast Fashion

Business and Society - Tập 61 Số 4 - Trang 857-885 - 2022
Herman Stål1, Hervé Corvellec2
1Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg University, Sweden
2Department of Service Management and Service Studies, Lund University, Sweden

Tóm tắt

Means–ends decoupling, the institutionally induced implementation of ineffective practices, has become increasingly common. Extant theory suggests that means–ends decoupling has real consequences, which makes it unstable and difficult for organizations to sustain. Yet little is known of how, and with what outcomes, firms organize such means–ends decoupling. We examine organizing via multiple qualitative and longitudinal case studies of how Swedish fast fashion retailers implement and manage the collection of used garments. We find that firms combine two organizational arrangements: structural and temporal core–compartment separations, which mitigate consequences of means–ends decoupling by obscuring and justifying efficiency gaps. Thereby we provide a theoretical explanation for how means–ends decoupling can persist over time.

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