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Description:
At the heart of social enterprise and social innovation is the need to combine commercial and social objectives (Doherty et al. 2014). The focus of a growing body of research has the focused on such combination, highlighting the existence of hybrid models and organizing (Battilana & Lee, 2014). While much research has focused on the tensions between social and commercial objectives, research has also found that the ability to combine objectives is also a source of opportunities to contribute toward addressing social and environmental problems and challenges (Saebi et al. 2019; Ciambotti & Pedrini, 2021).
At a time of growing research in this area, this stream of ISIRC conference will explore social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of hybrid organisations. Hybridity is also found to be breaking down some of the boundaries between sectors, professions and disciplines. It is the bringing together of different goals, processes, means…, approaches, norms and logics that defines hybridity (Smith & Besharov, 2019). Given the recent literature reviews on this topic (Battilana et al. 2017; Besharov et al. 2019), there is much to learn about how hybridity is emerging and manifesting in social entrepreneurship, expanding the nature, challenges and outcomes of hybridity, such as mission drift (Grimes et al. 2019) or the identity-based dynamics of hybrid/social entrepreneurs (Wry & York, 2017). Also, research in social enterprises as hybrids has to deepen the understanding on how hybrids can creatively build, grow and develop solutions to tackle some of the global challenges such as food system restoration, climate change, gender inequality, decent work, and the overall SDGs etc. Paper which investigate such outcomes as social development, inclusive growth, community transformation, economic development, social change etc. are very important for this stream. How hybridity drives, affects and changes the social entrepreneurial processes is still under exploration (Saebi et al., 2019).
Secondly, future studies need to better explore variations of hybrid organisations and models and in different contexts, especially those that have had less involvement in social enterprise research, particularly those in developing countries. For this reason, we call for research which investigate hybridity and social entrepreneurship in developed and developing countries, such as Africa (Ciambotti et al. 2020), or hybridity and contextual challenges such as Covid-19 (Bacq & Lumpkin, 2020), or hybridity at different levels of analysis (micro, meso and macro-level) (Saebi et al. 2019). For instance, research is needed to understand how social entrepreneurship under the light of hybridity may contribute toward systemic change and civic wealth creation (Lumpkin and Bacq, 2019; Sottini et al. forthcoming) or addressing institutional voids in developing contexts (Sydow et al., 2020). Also, research which investigates variations in forms of hybrids as social enterprises, B Corps, or other organizational forms as cross-sectoral partnership require much more exploration and development.
Third, hybridity has relevant implications throughout the organization shaping models, behaviours and strategies (Battilana & Lee, 2014; Sottini et al. forthcoming), with research now needed on how it shapes different stages of an enterprise and different parts of the operations. There are specific issues facing start-ups and those in the early stages, and in relation to opportunity recognition and exploitation (Wry & York, 2017). Also, business models have been demonstrated as useful lens in hybridity (Davies & Doherty, 2019), but more research is required to investigate challenges and opportunities in business model design and innovation in relation with hybridity toward addressing grand challenges and complex problems. There is a need for more understanding of marketing issues, human resource management and innovation strategy that involves the interplay of different missions, processes and goals. Finally, we would welcome works which expand research on growth and scaling strategies of social entrepreneurship and hybrid organisations to develop greater theories on how they contribute to societal and environmental impact (Smith & Besharov, 2019; Shepherd & Patzelt, 2020).
This stream is thus for theoretical and practical research which focus on any element of hybrid research (and not exhaustive) including:
How hybrid organizations tackle global challenges and SDGs (models, strategies, processes…)
Identity of hybrid organisations and social enterprises
Hybrid organisational forms (social enterprises, B Corp, benefit corporations, etc.)
Management of conflicting goals, means and processes, and risk of mission drifts
Opportunity recognition/exploitation that combines social and commercial
Strategies of hybrid organisations and social enterprises
Growth and scaling drivers, processes and outcomes in hybrid organisations
Capabilities, skills and knowledge required within of hybrid organisations
Internal organization of marketing, HR, etc. oriented to social and environmental value creation
Hybridity and contextual challenges (e.g. Covid-19, economic crisis etc.)
Hybrid organisations and communities/local contexts
Hybrid organisations and systemic change/civic wealth creation
Hybrid organisations and the institutional context
Hybrid organisations and social/environmental impacts in developed and developing countries
International and cultural differences in hybrid models
Hybrids involving cultural objectives
Dark sides of hybridity in social entrepreneurship and beyond
References
Bacq, S., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2020). Social Entrepreneurship and COVID‐19. Journal of Management Studies.
Battilana, J., Besharov, M., & Mitzinneck, B. (2017). On hybrids and hybrid organizing: A review and roadmap for future research. The SAGE handbook of organizational institutionalism, 2, 133-169.
Besharov, M., Smith, W., & Darabi, T. (2019). A framework for sustaining hybridity in social enterprises: combining differentiating and integrating. In Handbook of Inclusive Innovation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Ciambotti, G., & Pedrini, M. (2021). Hybrid harvesting strategies to overcome resource constraints: Evidence from social enterprises in Kenya. Journal of Business Ethics, 168(3), 631-650.
Ciambotti, G., Littlewood, D., Sottini, A., & M’ithiria, E. N. (2020). Building and scaling social enterprise business models for BOP markets in Kenya. In Base of the Pyramid Markets in Africa (pp. 199-227). Routledge.
Davies, I. A., & Doherty, B. (2019). Balancing a hybrid business model: The search for equilibrium at Cafédirect. Journal of Business Ethics, 157(4), 1043-1066.
Doherty, B., Haugh, H., & Lyon, F. (2014). Social enterprises as hybrid organisations : A review and research agenda. International journal of management reviews, 16(4), 417-436.
Grimes, M. G., Williams, T. A., & Zhao, E. Y. (2019). Anchors aweigh: The sources, variety, and challenges of mission drift. Academy of Management Review, 44(4), 819-845.
Lumpkin, G. T., & Bacq, S. (2019). Civic wealth creation: A new view of stakeholder engagement and societal impact. Academy of Management Perspectives, 33(4), 383-404.
Shepherd, D. A., & Patzelt, H. (2020). A Call for Research on the Scaling of Organisations and the Scaling of Social Impact.
Smith, W. K., & Besharov, M. L. (2019). Bowing before dual gods: How structured flexibility sustains organizational hybridity. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(1), 1-44.
Sottini, A., Ciambotti, G., & Littlewood, D. (forthcoming). Engaging symbiotic ecosystems to build community centred business models for the BoP: Evidence from small social enterprises in East Africa. International Small Business Journal. Forthcoming.
Sydow, A., Cannatelli, B. L., Giudici, A., & Molteni, M. (2020). Entrepreneurial workaround practices in severe institutional voids: Evidence from Kenya. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 1042258720929891.
Wolf, M., & Mair, J. (2019). Purpose, commitment and coordination around small wins: A proactive approach to governance in integrated hybrid organisations . VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organisations , 30(3), 535-548.
Wry, T., & York, J. G. (2017). An identity-based approach to social enterprise. Academy of Management Review, 42(3), 437-460.
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