Managing the grand challenge of biological threats to food production: The importance of institutional logics for managing Australian biosecurity

Abstract

This article argues that an institutional logics framework is critical for developing a shared responsibility approach to managing the grand challenge of biosecurity in Australian agriculture. We identify the dominant logics evident in the Australian biosecurity context. In doing so, we draw attention to how a shared responsibility approach is compromised by tensions created by multiple logics, such as varying interpretations of biosecurity roles and responsibilities that different actors hold. However, in reframing such tensions from an institutional ambidexterity framework, we argue that a shared responsibility approach is achievable and, through examples from the Australian context, highlight the sites and spaces through which it may be fostered. We argue that identifying these sites and spaces requires that scholars conceptualise logics as blended rather than as discrete modes of operation.

JEL Classification: M19