When meta-organizations fall asleep: The dormancy process

Abstract

In response to external adversity, organizations often employ dormancy as a defensive strategy. Dormancy, as the substantial reduction of activities, carries profound implications for understanding meta-organizations (MOs) passivity. While MOs possess the power to orchestrate collective action and impact their external environment, their intricate internal dynamics can lead to conflicts, potentially undermining their effectiveness. This research explores the composite process related to MO dormancy and highlight the entry into dormancy marked by paradoxical hyperactivity, enduring dormancy due to exhaustion and over-centralization, and overcoming dormancy through controlled deceleration. The study suggests a less conscious nature of dormancy and the importance of temporality in understanding this complex phenomenon and MO’s internal dynamics.