Hybrid Organizations as Agents of Positive Social Change: Bridging the For-profit & Non-profit Divide

This chapter explores the distinctive characteristics of hybrid organizations; a new organizational form that expands our existing categories of organizations by bridging the for-profit and non-profit domains. In particular, we utilize a positive lens to explore the role of hybrids in creating positive social and environmental change on two levels. At the firm level, hybrid organizations develop new products that promote environmental and social well-being, and new practices for producing and bringing them to market. At the institutional level, hybrid organizations diffuse acceptance for their products and practices throughout their markets, competitors, and industry. To explain how hybrid organizations accomplish these objectives, we present a Sustainability-Driven Business Model that explains their social change agency. The theoretical model has three basic elements: 1) Social change as organizational objective; 2) Mutually-beneficial relationships with suppliers and supplier communities, employees, and customers; and 3) Progressive interaction with markets, competitors, and industry institutions. The chapter discusses the implications for theory and practice, and concludes with suggestions for future research.