Introduction: Non-market Strategies and Complex, Institutionally Diverse Environments

In this section, it is taken as a given that because organisations are institutions of a certain kind that operate within a greater institutional matrix, their internal and external social environments and, thus, their internal institutions and those external to them of potential significance matter a great deal. In other words, it is assumed in this section that all organisations, one way or the other, must reflect what it is that society requires of them and this means that both their most important internal and external stakeholders will play a role in defining what this constituents at any given time. The framework discussed in the introduction to this section and the four chapters selected for inclusion in this section demonstrate these principles, that is, the need to develop defined non-market strategies that consider the whole institutional environment, including that address the challenges that both non-market and market-based institutions pose for an organisation. They also all make it clear why it is important for organisational decision-makers to engage with key stakeholders to define the institutional parameters within which the organisation should operate when developing and implementing its strategies. The four chapters explore these principles from different perspectives, including to better understand how organisational narratives emerge, agile public sector organisations are built, volunteer management strategies are developed and implemented, and diversity and inclusion strategies are successfully realised. The four chapters, taken together, make it abundantly clear that it is important to continually consider the macroenvironment, especially the institutions that could be of strategic relevance to the organisation. Consequently, we recommend that advanced PESTEL analysis be regularly conducted from multiple perspectives.