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  • December 2010
  • Article
  • Academy of Management Journal

Building Sustainable Hybrid Organizations: The Case of Commercial Microfinance Organizations

By: Julie Battilana and Silvia Dorado
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Abstract

We explore how new types of hybrid organizations (organizations that combine institutional logics in unprecedented ways) can develop and maintain their hybrid nature in the absence of a "ready-to-wear" model for handling the tensions between the logics they combine. The results of our comparative study of two pioneering commercial microfinance organizations suggest that to be sustainable, new types of hybrid organizations need to create a common organizational identity that strikes a balance between the logics they combine. Our evidence further suggests that the crucial early levers for developing such an organizational identity among organizational members are hiring and socialization policies.

Keywords

Organizational Structure; Microfinance; Growth and Development Strategy; Identity; Commercialization; Balance and Stability; Policy; Recruitment; Business Model

Citation

Battilana, Julie, and Silvia Dorado. "Building Sustainable Hybrid Organizations: The Case of Commercial Microfinance Organizations." Academy of Management Journal 53, no. 6 (December 2010).
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About The Author

Julie Battilana

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Julie Battilana and Rachel Tropp
  • Democratize Work: The Case for Reorganizing the Economy By: Isabelle Ferreras, Julie Battilana and Dominique Méda
  • Sustainability for People and the Planet: Placing Workers at the Center of Sustainability Research By: Julie Yen, Julie Battilana and Emilie Aguirre
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