Understanding the Diverse Scaling Strategies of Social Enterprises as Hybrid Organizations

Thomas Bauwens, Benjamin Huybrechts and Frédéric Dufays
Additional contact information
Thomas Bauwens: Universiteit Utrecht / Utrecht University [Utrecht]
Benjamin Huybrechts: EM - EMLyon Business School, HEC Liège
Frédéric Dufays: KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This article seeks to shed light on the diversity of scaling strategies of social enterprises, which can be considered as emblematic hybrid organizations. By comparing three Flemish renewable energy cooperatives with contrasted scaling strategies, the article shows how these strategies can be understood in relation to the organizational mission as imprinted at the founding. We extend the notion of hybridity beyond the combination of institutional logics to highlight the interest orientation (mutual vs. general interest). Unlike what is suggested in extant literature, we find that mutual interest orientation may be associated with "scale-up," business growth strategies, while general interest orientation may lead to less growth-focused "scale-out" and "scale-deep" strategies. The findings illuminate aspects of the hybrid nature of social enterprises by explaining their diverse scaling strategies and extend the notion of imprinting to the interorganizational level by highlighting how social enterprises may collaborate to collectively achieve the pursuit of their multiple missions.

Keywords: Social enterprise; hybrid organization; scaling; organizational growth; renewable energy; cooperatives; imprinting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02312322v1
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Published in Organization & Environment, 2020, 33 (2), 195-219 p. ⟨10.1177/1086026619837126⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-02312322v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02312322

DOI: 10.1177/1086026619837126

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().