A Framework for Exploring the Degree of Hybridity in Entrepreneurship

• Published in: Academy of Management perspectives Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 491 - 512
• Main Authors: Shepherd, Dean A., Williams, Trenton Alma, Zhao, Eric Yanfei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Briarcliff Manor Academy of Management 01.11.2019
• Subjects: Ascription; Classification; Concept formation; Economic impact; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Exploitation; Organizational structure; Social impact; Success factors
• ISSN: 1558-9080; 1943-4529
• DOI: 10.5465/amp.2018.0013

In this paper, we problematize the growing literature on hybrid organizing to demonstrate that research on hybrids and entrepreneurship can benefit from considering the degree of hybridity in organizing the exploitation of potential opportunities for the creation of both economic and social value. Recent work has moved beyond discrete categorization of organizations as hybrid (or not) to conceptualize hybridity as a continuum anchored by a strong social logic at one end and a strong economic logic at the other end. We take the conceptualization of hybridity one step further by acknowledging that organizations can differ in the relative importance they ascribe to the economic logic vis-à-vis the social logic and that both the economic and social logics can be held at varying levels of intensity. The main purpose of reconceptualizing the degree of hybridity is to develop a framework for future research. This framework highlights the importance of understanding how entrepreneurs can both directly and indirectly (through the co-construction of potential opportunities) influence the degree of hybridity, and how differences in degree of hybridity affect organizational outcomes in terms of success and failure in creating economic and social value.