Hybrid organizations: concept and measurement

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to find a new conception of hybridity to set ground for further systematic research. The concept of hybrid organisations is used in many ways. This leads to confusion among scholars and the term of hybridity appears to be meaningless and useless for research and practice. Design/methodology/approach – In this explorative research design, the authors conducted 11 interviews with managing directors and managers of hybrid organisations in four different countries across Europe. Findings – Each and every organisation is hybrid but to different degrees and with different patterns. It is important to measure hybridity to give value to the term of hybrid organisations. According to input, process and output dimensions, the authors could classify possible dimensions of hybridity measurement within organisations. Research limitations/implications – The developed cube model serves as a new point of departure for hybrid organisation research and helps to build analytical types of hybrid organisations. The research has been highly explorative, and the limited number of cases researched leads to the requirement of further validation on a broader basis. In addition, the still rather conceptual state of the cube model will need further validation by means of a set of hybridity indicators. Originality/value – The paper presents a way to deal with the question about what hybridity exactly is and whether hybridity is a term that has an analytical value. It also provides the first attempt to connect more analytical meaning to the concept of hybridity by suggesting an approach to concretely measure it.

Sustainability disclosures of hybrid organizations: Swedish state-owned enterprises

“…SOEs are considered to be hybrid organizations (Bruton et al , 2015), as they incorporate the specific elements of hybridity (Schmitz and Glänzel, 2016). SOEs have a wide range of stakeholders (e.g.…”

“…Such complexity may influence SOEs’ capability to disclose sustainability information that satisfies the needs of different stakeholders (Kurunmäki and Miller, 2006; Johansen et al , 2015; Schmitz and Glänzel, 2016). Stakeholders’ interests include information related to outputs and outcomes, legitimacy and financial profits (Grossi and Thomasson, 2015).…”

The role of the fourth sector in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Authors argue that hybridity combines characteristics of organizations belonging to the second and third sectors. Hybrid organizations can generate revenue and attract capital in different ways, and present both management models (Schmitz & Glänzel, 2016). These organizations' purpose is to generate social impact by meeting the society's challenges without neglecting their financial sustainability (Battilana & Lee, 2014; Battilana, Lee, Walker, & Dorsey, 2012; Hoffman, Badiane, & Haigh, 2012).…”

Logic Salience in Ideologically-torn Nonprofit Hybrids

“…The idea of making the public sector more efficient, economical and effective (Lapsley 2008) by outsourcing its services to actors such as nonprofits makes a hybrid set-up (Battilana and Lee 2014) attractive for donors, policy-makers and practitioners (Lapsley 2009). Hybridity generally describes the combination of elements perceived as detached from each other, and has led to many debates around it covering various research topics (Schmitz and Glänzel 2016). These include debates on contracts and partnerships between markets and hierarchies (Ménard 2004); a combination of public and private elements (Emmert and Crow 1987); or a combination of economic and social features (Schmitz and Glänzel 2016).…”

“…Hybridity generally describes the combination of elements perceived as detached from each other, and has led to many debates around it covering various research topics (Schmitz and Glänzel 2016). These include debates on contracts and partnerships between markets and hierarchies (Ménard 2004); a combination of public and private elements (Emmert and Crow 1987); or a combination of economic and social features (Schmitz and Glänzel 2016). The latter hybrid defined as "nonprofit social service organizations that combine business enterprises with a social purpose mission" (Cooney 2006, 145), is of particular interest here.…”