Problemistic search and hybrid organizations: multiple sources of performance feedback in diversifications by corporate foundations in Korea

Shinwon Noh (), Dongyoub Shin () and Sunhyuk Kim ()
Additional contact information
Shinwon Noh: University of St. Thomas
Dongyoub Shin: Yonsei University
Sunhyuk Kim: Korea University

Asian Business & Management, 2023, vol. 22, issue 1, No 8, 188-216

Abstract: Abstract In this study, we view corporate foundations as a unique form of hybrid organizations that embody both for-profit and nonprofit institutional logics and examine how the coexistence of the multiple logics affects their diversification decisions. Based on the problemistic search argument of the organizational learning literature, we posit that diversifications by a corporate philanthropic foundation are affected by negative performance feedback both at for-profit level (e.g., parent company’s economic performance) and at nonprofit level (e.g., legitimacy of foundation’s philanthropic activities). The results of our empirical analysis of the data of 157 Korean corporate philanthropic foundations for a twenty-year period (1990–2009) support these predictions. We also find that the effects of performance feedback at nonprofit level on diversification vary depending on whether a parent corporation is visibly connected to its foundations via name. General implications on hybrid organizations and corporate philanthropy are discussed.

Keywords: Diversification; Corporate foundations; Corporate philanthropy; Hybrid organizations; Problemistic search (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41291-021-00160-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:pal:abaman:v:22:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41291-021-00160-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41291

DOI: 10.1057/s41291-021-00160-4

Access Statistics for this article

Asian Business & Management is currently edited by Fabian Jintae Froese

More articles in Asian Business & Management from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().