Competing for Being the Representative Field-Level Organization: When the Representative Role of A Meta-Organization is Contested by an Individual-Based Organization

Pierre Garaudel; Adrien  Laurent; Géraldine Schmidt

doi:10.37725/mgmt.2025.9988

Pierre Garaudel IAE Paris-Sorbonne Business School, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5805-7032
Adrien Laurent Dauphine Recherches en Management (DRM), Université Paris Dauphine, Paris, France https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4135-1810
Géraldine Schmidt IAE Paris-Sorbonne Business School, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3744-1307

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.2025.9988

Keywords: Meta-organizations, Competition, Representational legitimacy, Policymaking, Public service provision

Abstract

How meta-organizations (MOs) can be engaged in competitive settings remains an underexplored issue, largely because scholars have traditionally emphasized MOs’ tendency toward monopoly (Ahrne & Brunsson, 2005) and focused on potential internal tensions between MOs and their members. However, it is not uncommon for an MO to find itself in competition with other organizations, including nonmember, individual-based organizations. In this paper, adopting an MO theory perspective and drawing on insights from the literatures on competition and representational legitimacy, we investigate competitive tensions within a health policy-related field. Our research question is as follows: how does representational legitimacy become a central object of competition when the representative role of an MO is contested by another organization in a public-policy-related field? Our empirical study focuses on two organizations – one an MO, the other an individual-based organization – that compete for status and authority, ultimately seeking recognition by public authorities as the central, if not official, representative of their field. We highlight the importance of representational legitimacy alongside more classical dimensions of authority based on expertise and knowledge. We also emphasize the meta-organizational form as a distinct type of representative structure, owing to its specific membership composition. Finally, we outline the central role played by policymakers as pivotal third and fourth actors in this competition, having created the conditions for its emergence and persistence.

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Author Biographies

Pierre Garaudel, IAE Paris-Sorbonne Business School, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France

Pierre Garaudel is an associate professor of strategic management at IAE Paris (Sorbonne Business School) and a member of the LabIAE research center. While his previous research spanned various areas such as corporate governance, corporate downsizing, industrial relations, and non-profit organizations, his current work is more specifically situated within organization theory. His research focuses on meta-organization theory, civil society meta-organizations, and the role of representative meta-organizations in shaping public policymaking. His work has been published in journals such as Human Relations, Industrial Relations, Journal of Business Ethics, and Scandinavian Journal of Management.

Adrien Laurent, Dauphine Recherches en Management (DRM), Université Paris Dauphine, Paris, France

Adrien Laurent is an associate professor at Paris Dauphine-PSL University. He is a member of the MOST research team (Dauphine Research in Management laboratory), which specializes in critical and historical approaches to management and organization. His work focuses on social and solidarity economy organizations, public organizations, and healthcare organizations. He has studied the restructuring processes affecting the voluntary sector and the underlying issues at stake. His work also examines the relationship between organization theory and public policymaking, particularly through the lens of meta-organization and neo-institutional theory. More recently, he has been interested in the evolution of management education in response to ecological and social transitions.

Géraldine Schmidt, IAE Paris-Sorbonne Business School, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France;

Géraldine Schmidt is a full professor in human resource management at IAE Paris (Sorbonne Business School) and member of the research laboratory LabIAE. Her research revolves around employment management policies and restructuring practices in companies and in non-profit organisations. She mainly uses qualitative research methods, based on in-depth single or multiple case studies, but also qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and arts-based methods. Her work has been published in journals such as Human Relations, Work Employment and Society, Economic and Industrial Democracy, M@n@gement.

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