How informality affects habitual improvisation in firms: insights from the Nigerian movie industry

Uzo, Uchenna; Mair, Johanna

doi:10.1080/00208825.2021.1898102

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Whereas, informality is more fluid and is governed by unwritten rules (Helmke and Levitsky, 2004). Formality focuses on routinization of organizational tasks (Scott and Davis, 2007) while informality thrives on organizational improvisation (Uzo and Mair, 2021).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectives On Interactional Dynamics Of Inform...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, informality is complex and multifaceted in nature. Informal practices have varying structural compositions, configurations, interrelational dynamics and antecedents (Uzo et al, 2019;Uzo and Mair, 2021;Uruthirapathy and Kiggundu, 2018). For instance, informality in Africa is multidimensional and has multiple organizational consequences (Uzo and Mair, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How firms strategically navigate informal and formal copyright practices: insights from Nollywood

Uzo

Mair

Adewusi

2021

IJOA

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to explain how and why firms configure copyright practices when confronted with state-sanctioned laws and informal customs projected by local ethnic or religious communities. Design/methodology/approach A multi-case inductive study of four film-producing organizations within the Nigerian film industry (i.e. Nollywood) was conducted. Specifically considered were firms that started their operations around the same time with similar founding conditions, experiences, resources and technical competencies. Field observations and multiple rounds of in-depth interviews were conducted to achieve the research objectives. Findings The study found that firms adopted dominant or hybrid configurations when interacting with informality and formality. Dominant configurations represent the exclusive adoption of informal copyright practices while hybrid configurations refer to the blended use of informal and formal copyright practices. The second set of findings revealed that each firm’s strategic intent affected the type of interactional configuration that unfolded in the firm. Specifically, firms with social intents tended to adopt dominant configurations, whereas firms with socio-economic intents tended to adopt hybrid configurations. Practical implications The study implies that firms may profit from strategically focusing on when and in what circumstances to adopt informality. Strategic intents that blend social and economic rationales may secure more positive interactive outcomes from internal and external stakeholders promoting formality and informality. Social implications This study highlights the fact that firms embedded in local religious and ethnic communities use organizational practices to solve social and institutional problems of their members. The copyright practices of these organizations encourage apprenticeship, youth empowerment and entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that goes beyond macro-level analysis to investigate the interactional dynamics between formality and informality at the firm, community, and state levels. The study is also first of its kind to use copyright practices as an analytical lens to explore the interaction between informality and formality.

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Section: Theoretical Perspectives On Interactional Dynamics Of Inform...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How firms strategically navigate informal and formal copyright practices: insights from Nollywood

Uzo

Mair

Adewusi

2021

IJOA

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

How informality affects habitual improvisation in firms: insights from the Nigerian movie industry

Cited by 1 publication

References 70 publications

How firms strategically navigate informal and formal copyright practices: insights from Nollywood

How firms strategically navigate informal and formal copyright practices: insights from Nollywood

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