COVID 19 in South Africa Nigeria and Swaziland

Literature Review on Coping Through The Use Of Informal Institutions during COVID 19 in South Africa, Nigeria, and Swaziland
The institutional theory deals with the outlines, regulations, standards, and procedures that are formulated in the institutions as commanding instructions for social behavior. This theory gives an understanding of how institutions are shaped, and the societal norms and frameworks are informed to all people of an organization. Communication is the sole indicator of how organizations are formulated with the help of formal rules and regulations, as that would reflect how they are conversed across all levels of the firm and in what way people are obeying them. This would ultimately build an organizational culture for coping with social and political issues. The informal institutions are socially shared instructions, typically unwritten, that are formed, transferred and imposed outside the official boundaries (Torniainen & Sasstamoinen, 2007), for example, giving tips to the food delivery man is now an informal institution, which is actually not an official rule written anywhere but is still followed as acceptable social behavior.
Studies have been conducted to see what drives change in an organization and how institutional theory comes into play. There are certain actions carried out in an organization when change happens, and that is evident on all levels and hierarchies, in which the organization itself plays a part in a catalyst (Dacin, Goodstein & Scott, 2002). The character of the organization changes over time with a change in its potency, and this is where institutional theory highlights the richness and diversity inside the processes. The same research also revealed that there are three major sources of pressure on institutional norms, which are functional, political, and social. Functional pressures are observed when difficulty in performance is sensed with the institutionalization of practice within the organization. Political pressures are when the existing political arrangement within the institutional powers change, and the related interest dealings are altered accordingly. The social pressures are when different beliefs and practices within the organization are influenced by the social expectations that deter the continuance of customs. Due to these, institutional change can take place, which might sometimes be hardly noticeable for the institutional participants. When an organization is working on a multinational level, there are many new entrants with diverse backgrounds. Change takes place within the firm in the form of structural change, process change, and change in hierarchy. The concepts and principles are translated across all levels of the chain of command, and therefore, symbols, relations, and routine social standards of social behavior also alter. Coping with change and its effects are inevitable since the transformations even take place at larger levels, such as changes in relations within the organization, changes in limits of the existing organization, and governance structures. The ‘structuration’ within the firm signifies the density of connections since it creates bonds between the rules and the participants, mainly what is stated in institutional theory, through all echelons of the firm.
With the help of another research, it was deducted that informal institutions can entail criteria like corruption, political ideology, and culture (Kaufmann, Hooghiemstra & Feeney, 2018). Assumptions have been made that higher levels of corruption are related to tighter bureaucracy. Among the informal institutions, more bureaucracy is seen in countries where there is a conservative role of government, and the corrupt countries have more individualistic ideologies in nature. Perceptions were that informal institutions should be adhered to if there is less uncertainty avoidance, which means that others should follow strict formal rules, but no one wants to follow them on their own. Especially among the red tape bureaucrats, the obedience to rules is lower as they find these policies to be annoying but expect (informal institution for perception and expectations) that ordinary people and employees should follow them strictly. The personal observance is quite weak in this regard. Culture is the set of beliefs and social norms that the person learns at an early age and sticks to them throughout life. The cultural domain in different countries affects differently on the business dealings and entrepreneurship in the light of bureaucracy. Hofstede distinguishes four cultural dimensions, out of which collectivism versus individualism relates to the degree that society fellows would look after themselves or others. Mainly in entrepreneurship, self-fulfillment, and the accomplishment of personal goals is the highlight of a more individualistic approach. This would entail the entrepreneur’s perceptions (informal institutions) towards the government rules and regulations and whether those would be beneficial for their independence and personal growth. Also, individual autonomy reassures persistence and an urge to chase business aims with freedom of action.
Formal and informal institutions both have their respective effects on the entrepreneurship of a country. If the scope is limited to informal institutions, then it was studied that social norms, culture, and cognitive aspects like perceptions reduce the uncertainty in economic decisions of that region (Escandon-Barbosa et al., 2019). Prior studies suggested that there are four environmental dimensions of the entrepreneurial process: government policies, socio-economic conditions, business skills, and financial or non0finanacila help. The informal factors serve as mediators between formal factors and entrepreneurial activity. For example, if in a meeting of an entrepreneur and the investor, the formal rules and guidelines of the construction of a hotel at any site are available but whether the investor is willing to accept those rules and offer money as an investment is mainly based on his reaction accepted as a social norm. If the perception of the entrepreneur is based on his positive reaction, then he is certain to start a new entrepreneurial venture in that country. The same happened in Colombia; the entrepreneurial activities in rural and urban Colombia depended on informal institutions like social norms and subjective insecurity. The political and social contexts should not be ignored as these factors of a country shape the entrepreneurial decisions. The social norms of the country improve the results of formal institutions during the process of entrepreneurial pursuit.
The research was conducted where the role of informal institutions in corporate governance was investigated. The framework used in this study was Helmke-Levitsky, which is based on the interaction between formal and informal intuitions (Estrin & Prevezer, 2010). This framework believes that are two aspects of literature: the first is based on the fact that informal institutions can cope with problems by supporting in social interaction and improving coordination for better performance in complex institutional forms. The other is centered on the belief that informal institutions can create problems by penetrating deep into institutional roots and damaging it through corruption, patronage, or company politics. The framework also provides a systematic model for determining that informal institutions will either strengthen the failing formal institutions or weaken them. Also, four individual types of informal institutions based on the way they interrelate are mentioned: complementary, accommodating, competing, and substitutive. However, two characteristics should be considered: the first is the efficacy of the formal institutions, whether they are market-supportive and whether these rules are imposed or not; the second is the degree of agreeableness between the aims of the participants about the formal and informal institutions. The aims of the participants and those of the institution have to match for both formal and informal institutions to work well incompatibility. In this framework, the example of the US Senate was given in which informal institutions were helping in coping with the formal institutions so that combined goals of the participants and the betterment of the country are achieved. Further, in the same research, another literature was found that informal institutions work for creating a positive role in the market, boosting firms, resulting in an upsurge of entrepreneurship.
The role of informal institutions cannot be less emphasized when another research verified that its role is detrimental in the enforcement of rules and bettering the performance of the corporate governance, especially in Brazil (Coelho, 2019). Again, in this research, informal institutions helped in authorizing the impact of formal institutions embedded in the actions of the government, and the social and political reforms were possible only with the help of these institutions. It was also noted that if certain informal institutions were applied, the social norms would be accepted as they are and would impact how those rules within the institutions are obeyed; the lower the social disapproval of behavior, the lower the likelihood of law being obeyed. Another social norm accepted as an informal institution is there would be a lower perceived probability of being penalized by the person, the higher the occurrence of unlawful conduct. It leads to the results that connection between informal and formal institutions would help in strengthening regulatory agencies so that in time of any social or political emergency, these agencies could come together and work efficiently. However, it should be considered that is coping with uncertainties, such as the emergence of corruption in specific departments of the institution, should be investigated for better working of the whole organizational structure. For instance, if the regulatory agencies have to cope with a lack of financial resources, which would be controlled by the political authorities, the corrupt participants of the firm should be punished with the help of political pressures as that would be helpful in administrative control and survival.
A dissertation by Meluch (2016) stated that organizational culture is micro-level, whereas institutional theory is more macro-level. Both of these would be intertwined to study whether the organizational culture of beliefs and values influence everyday interactions for making better decisions. The author considered micro-level studies to be based on organizational members, groups, or the whole firm itself and considered macro-level approaches to be based on society. Also, organizational policies influence the way individuals interact with each other. Hence, it can be deduced that organizational rules determine the way informal institutions work in the respective context. As the same study was linked to the healthcare providers, the organizational values and beliefs were reflecting how they interacted with each other daily. For example, if there is a pandemic, the rules of the hospital would shape how they have to take actions as a group or individually for catering to a large number of patients coming in daily. Healthcare providers are likely to follow organizational values in line with the informal institutions so that instructional beliefs are tracked when interacting with clients and coping with medical emergencies. This is the basic reflection of institutional theory across organizational boundaries. People’s thoughts about the organizational values and beliefs form the foundation of legitimization of organizational rules at large. With the help of institutional theory, it would be critical to research further how institutions socially operate and construct patterns on which the organizational legitimacy is based. The client’s perceptions about healthcare would be interesting to study since that would provide as the beginning of coping with client’s opinions about healthcare following informal institutions, obeying formal institutions, and creating a comprehensive organizational culture for adherence to laws.
The research was conducted that showed how pivotal is supply chain management in tough times like COVID 19. The institutional theory was used to explore the supply chain during a pandemic and was learned how useful informal instructions could be in access to food (Craighead, Ketchen Jr. & Darby, 2020). They revert to these institutions to cope with such situations, and the subsistence of farming and garden foods becomes challenging. It was also intriguing to observe that institutional theory stresses from the environment and leads firms to select activities that assist them in achieving or sustaining legitimacy.
Another study was based in Africa when HIV hit hard. It became mandatory to maintain the health standards of those who were infected, especially when someone in a household is tested positive, and there are children, the family (Katjavivi & Otaala, 2003). Institutional strategies were used to address the issue systematically in economic terms so that the social situation of such households could be improved. The land ownerships where the food is grown and harvesting is done, and the people and farmers involved in this occupation are all connected through government intervention so that nutritional food is provided to infected families. The institutional theory tells how these parties come together for the betterment of society on the whole in such critical times.
A thought-provoking study was conducted on how the use of digital contact-tracing (DCT) would be used for coping with COVID 19 and involving complexities in Africa (Arakpogun et al., 2020). The results showed that while the use of technology would be beneficial in handling the pandemic, its adaptations should be deeply analyzed. DCT can be integrated within African societies, but some individuals leave no trace behind when using a technological app; hence, the increased access to mobile technology should be ensured with proper accessibility and infrastructure for coping with such pandemics on a large scale.
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A study was conducted to recognize institutional effects on digital platform progress and use for national health insurance in a rising country like Ghana. Renner-Micah, Effah & Boateng (2020) discussed that there were regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive institutional enablers as well as constraints when looked through the lens of institutional theory. The health-seeking normative behaviors of Ghana culture allowed for the access and expansion of health service. The increased use of health services under health insurance was the core reason for this enabler. Another normative enabler was the use of technology and mobile apps for the need of a digital platform for health services. The regulatory institution enables the surety of whether the legal establishment of the organization is working following rules and policies. However, there were certain constraints, as well. Normative constraint included the difficulty in handling and implementation of the interface of the technological software, and the health insurance people could not maximize its service experience. The cultural-cognitive constraint, which was no knowledge to the head of the family about any family member receiving health services and not responding to the messages generated to the head NHIS provider, made it hard for the system to keep track of the members and the delivery of medical care. It also increases the costs of the institutions like the government, including its sustainability drive. With the use of institutional theory, the authors deduced that in an emerging country like Ghana, the digital platform development, and the use of health insurance were based on many enablers and hindrances. It was also known that digital technology could not be ignored since it is the best in modern times to help health insurance organizations to attain national coverage.
Maclean (2010) argued in his book that in societies where literacy level is low and strong oral traditions are held, defining all unwritten rules as information would be tough. The main consideration is not whether the rules are written or not, or if they are considered formal; the main concern is the amount to which the familiarity of rules is exposed, noticeable, and clear. It was also observed that public knowledge was essential for formal institutions but in the form of codes, and those codes could not be in available written form. There are more chances of discussions and negotiations if informal rules seem uncertain and are non-transparent. The author also mentions that informal institutional change can be political and regulatory but can vary from country to country; the same was the case in Ghana. In such cultures, if a village resident had an issue with some other village resident, they might reach a village committee for the resolution of the issue. This was considered a high-level formal institution for them, although their rules were not written but were expected to be transferred strictly from generation to generation. These rules are mainly norms or customs that are followed by the village community of Ghana but are fluid enough for anybody to know where and how to reach the village head for their issues. The oral communication of rules, which were firmly reflected as formal ones since non-adherence to these rules by the community fellows, would be viewed as a crime, were clear and transparent in this society. It was distinctively mentioned in the book that the government’s provision of infrastructure for day-to-day medical services is embedded in diverse relations of reciprocity. The state’s role in elimination risk is critical, and these systems should be studied more closely and deeply for highlighting informal risk-sharing systems. The overall argument emphasizes the examination of areas naming political administration, social service delivery, and economic policy.
Amine & Staub (2009) pointed out the use of communication strategies through social marketing for the scrutiny and administration of environmental factors, including opinions, approaches, and manners in given populations. The authors observed that women entrepreneurs face many challenges in sub-Saharan Africa from socio-cultural, economic, legal, political, and technological facets. The institutional theory was again made basis for this investigation. The total population of Africa living in rural areas is 70 percent and relies primarily on agriculture for their persistence. The female economic activity rate in Nigeria in comparison to males for ages above 15 years is 54 percent. Previous authors like Busenitz, Gomez & Spencer in the same article observed that country-specific institutional arrangements are rooted within the institutions. A nation’s cognitive setting is depicted by the social knowledge and cognitive structures collectively. The sociological view of institutions includes consideration of cognitions in the market environment and entrepreneurship. Busenitz, Gomez & Spencer made a connection between national institutional profiles and entrepreneurial levels varying from country to country. These studies have provided a foundation for the links between entrepreneurship, environmental factors, and institutional systems; it should be noted that institutional theory is a suitable context for evaluating obstacles that are faced by women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Another study was used to interpret the understanding of participants in pandemic clinical research. Gobat et al., (2018) analyzed interpretive theory for the better gaining of knowledge about how public views could shape primary and critical care in such emergency times. The authors observed that the provision of information played a vital role in four majorly selected European countries. In the light of interpretive theory, public engagement in clinical research about the pandemic would be fundamental for improving medical health care since the need for healthcare would be high at such times. Better treatments and their access would be ensured along with transparency in science and fine clinical practice.
The following diagram shows how interpretive theory comes into play with environmental, social, and political factors for coping with the inclusion of formal and informal institutions.
Interpretive Theory
Political Factors
· Government
· Funding
· Corruption
· Patronage
· Organization politics
Social Factors
· Relations
· Norms & customs
· Beliefs
· Expectations
· Culture
· Knowledge among individuals in a community
Environmental Factors
· Technology
· Population’s behavior
· Food provision
· Provision of healthcare
Formal Institutions (government Laws, Contracts that are written)
Informal institutions, unwritten but strictly communicated rules (traditions, customs, moral values, beliefs)
Limitations of Institutional Theory
· Little attention paid to the role of human agency in institutionalism
· Assuming that organizational inactivity exists
· Failure to communicate tactical behavior (Munir, 2019)
Limitations of Interpretive Theory
· Having a subjective nature towards its methodology
· Researchers can create a bias on their behalf (Primus, 2009)
References
Arakpogun, E.O., Elsahn, Z., Prime, K.S., Gerli, P. & Olan, F. (2020). Digital contact-tracing and pandemics: Institutional and technological preparedness in Africa. World Development, 136, 105105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105105
Coelho, A. (2019). The role of informal institutions in the enforcement of rules and how to improve corporate and public governance in Brazil: Studies based on a set of corporate governance cases involving state-owned companies (Working Paper). Retrieved from SSRN website https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3434037
Craighead, C.W., Ketchen Jr., D.J. & Darby, J.L. (2020). Pandemics and supply chain management research: Toward a theoretical toolbox. Decision Sciences, 51(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/deci.12468
Dacin, M.T., Goodstein, J. & Scott, W.R. (2002). Institutional theory and institutional change: Introduction to the special research forum. Academy of Management Journal, 45(1), 45- 47. DOI: 10.2307/3069284
Escandon-Barbosa, D.M., Urbano, D., Hurtado-Ayala, A., Paramo, J.S. & Dominguez, A.Z. (2019). Formal institutions, informal institutions, and entrepreneurial activity: A comparative relationship between rural and urban areas in Colombia. Journal of Urban Management, 8(3), 458-471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2019.06.002
Estrin, S. & Prevezer, M. (2010). The role of informal institutions in corporate governance: Brazil, Russia, India, and China compared. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 28, 41- 67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-010-9229-1
Gobat, N.H., Gal, M., Butler, C.C., Webb, S.A.R., Francis, N.A., Stanton, H., Anthierens, S., Bastiaens, H., Godycki-cwirko, M., Kowaczyk, A., Pons-Vigues, M., Pujol-Robera, E., Berenguera, A., Watkins, A., Sukumar, P., Moore, R.G., Hood, K. & Nichol, A. (2018). Talking to the people that really matter about their participation in pandemic clinical research: A qualitative study in four European countries. Health Expectations, 21(1), 387-395. DOI: 10.1111/hex.12634
Katjavivi, P.H. & Otaala, B. (2003). African higher education institutions responding to the HIC/Aids pandemic, AAU Conference of Rectors, Mauritius, 2003. https://hivhealthclearinghouse.unesco.org/sites/default/files/resources/AAU_Conference Mauritius.pdf
Kaufmann, W., Hooghiemstra, R. & Feeney, M.K. (2018). Formal institutions, informal institutions, and red tape: A comparative study. Public Administration, 96(2), 386-403. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12397
Maclean, L.M. (2010). Informal institutions and citizenship in rural Africa: Risk and reciprocit in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Cambridge University Press
Meluch, A.L. (2016, August). Understanding the organizational and institutional origins of social support in a cancer support center. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=kent1466944822&disposition=inline
Munir, K.A. (2019). Challenging institutional theory’s critical credentials. Sage Journals, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2631787719887975
Primus, R.A. (2009). Limits of interpretivism. University of Michigan Law School.
Renner-Micah, A., Effah, J. & Boateng, R. (2020). Institutional effects on national health insurance digital platform development and use: The case of Ghana, International Federation. Responsible Design, Implementation, and Use of Information and Communication Technology, Online, Springer.
Torniainen, T.J. & Sasstamoinen, O.J. (2007). Formal and informal institutions and their hierarchy in the regulation of the forest lease in Russia. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 80(5), 489-501. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpm033