Hybrid Organizations: A Micro-Level Strategy for SDGs Implementation: A Positional Paper

Abstract

(1) Background: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of objectives and sub-targets that aim to promote a more comprehensive system for sustainability, peace, and social justice. The SDGs propose a more holistic approach to the evolution of society, enlarging the responsibilities and roles for their implementation; therefore, it is worthwhile asking who will be in charge of the processes to develop adequate strategies. (2) Methods: This is a positional paper based on a literature review about the two main topics of this analysis: hybrid organizations and the SDGs’ governance. (3) Results: The hybrids combine diverse institutional logics within a unique organizational structure as a central tool for SDG implementation. The scientific literature explains how this organizational form is capable of mitigating possible tensions and trade-offs stemming from its heterogeneity and how hybrid structures can prove to be a useful solution for SDG implementation at the micro-level. (4) Conclusion: Although hybrid organizations can be a valuable aid to sustainable development, the absence of clear-cut coordination and responsibility structures at the macro-level could jeopardize efforts at the micro-level. In light of this hypothesis, this paper argues that hybrid organizations cannot be left in isolation in this mission, especially as the SDGs’ rationality is based on a new, holistic vision of development, which exposes a risk of implausibility surrounding macro-level political forces.

Exploring the Link between Sustainable Development Practices, Institutional Pressures, and Green Innovation

“…Because stakeholders share and use their knowledge more, companies change the way in which they make things by introducing sustainable development practices. They can also figure out how and where waste can be used to make a by-product or lessen their impact on the environment [93,94]. Third, this study measured the role that sustainable development practices play in bringing about a balance between cost-effectiveness and damage to the environment.…”

Businesses’ Role in the Fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…As SDG 17 establishes, the SDGs should be achieved by partnerships [24]. This means that this is not an issue that only affects public institutions or governments-companies are a key element in achieving the SDGs [14,18,[25][26][27][28]. The SDGs are of such magnitude that it is not enough for one actor to commit to them; commitments of businesses, governments, non-governmental organizations, and stakeholders are needed [1,2,28,29].…”

“…The following papers with higher academic impact were those by van Zanten and van Tulder (2018) [34] and Gunawan et al (2020) [48]. Conversely, the papers with a lower number of citations were those by Bianchi (2021) [25], Andrian et al (2021) [49], and Shah and Acharya (2021) [50]. These papers had no citations.…”

“…The following papers with higher academic impact were those by van Zanten and van Tulder (2018)[34] and Gunawan et al (2020)[48]. Conversely, the papers with a lower number of citations were those by Bianchi (2021)[25], Andrian et al (2021)[49], and Shah and Acharya (2021)[50]. These papers had no citations.Almost all of the articles belonging to this cluster were written by multiple authors (20 papers), whereas there were 5 publications that were written by single authors.…”