Theorizing hybridity : institutional logics, complex organizations, and actor identities : the case of nonprofits
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Authors
Colleges, School and Institutes
External organisations
- American Political Science Association
Abstract
We propose a novel approach to theorizing hybridity in public and nonprofit organizations. The concept of hybridity is widely used to describe organizational responses to changes in governance, but the literature seldom explains how hybrids arise or what forms they take. Transaction cost and organizational design literatures offer some solutions, but lack a theory of agency. We use the institutional logics approach to theorize hybrids as entities that face a plurality of normative frames. Logics provide symbolic and material elements that structure organizational legitimacy and actor identities. Contradictions between institutional logics offer space for them to be elaborated and creatively reconstructed by situated agents. We propose five types of organizational hybridity - segmented, segregated, assimilated, blended, and blocked. Each type is theoretically derived from empirically observed variations in organizational responses to institutional plurality. We develop propositions to show how our approach to hybridity adds value to academic and policy-maker audiences.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 433-448 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Public Administration |
Volume | 93 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 20 Jul 2014 |
Publication status | Published - 15 Jun 2015 |