Temporal contexts and actors vis-a-vis I-deals' timing and creation: Evidence from Nigeria

Ayeni, Dotun; Chaudhry, Sara; Aldossari, Maryam

Abstract

I-deals (that is, personalised, non-standard employment arrangements negotiated between employees and their employers) arise at different stages of the employment lifecycle. I-deals can vary by timing, such as those created before hire (ex-ante) versus after hire (ex-post). However, scholars have not fully considered the impact of the temporal context (environmental, social, economic, individual) on I-deals or how a range of organisational actors may respond to enabling/constraining conditions when creating I-deals. Our paper focuses on the under-explored issue of I-deals’ timing by applying the theoretical lens of institutional entrepreneurship (IE). Key IE concepts enable a more critical understanding of broader temporal context impacts and the role of various actors (I-dealers, organisational agents) in creating I-deals. Drawing on a multicase study of 3 Nigerian organisations (62 semi-structured interviews, including fieldnotes and organisation-specific documents), our data revealed that field-level conditions and actors’ social positions interact to highlight (i) several distinctive temporal contexts, (ii) with differential impacts on I-deals’ timing and subsequently (iii) organisational actors adopting a range of tactics in response to enabling/constraining conditions. Based on these findings, we offer a theoretical model that reconceptualises I-deals’ timing by specifically focusing on the invisible concept of time. Finally, we discuss our study’s implications for I-deal research and offer future research directions and recommendations for practice.

Citation

Ayeni, D., Chaudhry, S., & Aldossari, M. (2023). Temporal contexts and actors vis-a-vis I-deals' timing and creation: Evidence from Nigeria. Group and Organization Management, 48(1), 262-316. https://doi.org/10.1177/10596011221117904

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 17, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Sep 26, 2022
• Publication Date: 2023-02
• Deposit Date: Oct 20, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 21, 2024
• Print ISSN: 1059-6011
• Electronic ISSN: 1552-3993
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 262-316
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10596011221117904
• Keywords: I-deals, I-dealers, I-deals’ timing, temporal context, institutional entrepreneurship