Hybrid Organizations - Value Creation and Strategy

Course Director: Martin Carlsson-Wall

General Course Description

The information in this section is uesed as background for the Program Committee's decision on a proposed new course.

Content

In recent years, hybrid organizations (i.e. organizations that rely on two or more institutional logics) have grown in importance in society. Instead of being a "pure" private, public or civil society organization, organizations such as social enterprises, sports clubs, state-owned enterprises, mutuals and privately owned schools need to combine norms and ideals from at least two sectors.

Managing this increased institutional complexity is difficult. When an organization has "dual missions", both internal and external stakeholders can get confused about the strategic direction and how resource allocation should be done. On the other hand, when a hybrid organization is successful, performance can be extraordinary since resources and legitimacy come from a wide range of stakeholders.

The purpose of this course is to explore the many roles accounting play in managing multiple institutional logics in hybrid organiations.

Format & Structure

The course will combine lectures, seminars and a project in four modules:

1. An introduction to hybrid organizations and its growing importance in society.

2. Value creation practices in civil society hybrids (e.g. sport, art/culture organizations, social enterprises, family businesses, mutuals etc).

3. Value creation practices in public hybrids (e.g. state-owned companies, municipality-owned companies, hospitals, universities, public-private partnerships etc).

4. Project work.

Relevance to the students

a) Hybrid organizations are becoming increasingly important in society. Historically, SSE has focused on the private sector with a strong focus on multinational companies and professional services firms. With this course, we offer students a broader view. No only will they deal with the public sector and the civil society sector, they will have to learn about the institutional complexity that emerges when organizations are part of two sectors.

b) FREE is about "being free and alive in relation to the unknown". This is a different (but complementary) topic compared to many other courses. The ambition is that this forces the students to Reflect and show Empathy, but also become more Entrepreneurial.

c) Martin Carlsson-Wall has published several articles and book chapters on accounting in hybrid organizations. He is also the research director for the Center for Sports and Business.

d) The course contributes to two fields; (1) accounting and (2) organizational theory. As can be seen in the literature for this course, module 1 consists of articles form organizational theory and then module 2 and 3 are articles from accounting.

e) This is an introductory course. As such, it complements other courses and gives students contextual knowledge of hybrid organizations and the role accounting can play in them. Career wise, students can hopefully become more interesting in hybrid organizations and apply for jobs in social enterprises (Norrsken Foundation, Red Cross, Stadsmissionen etc), sports organizations and state/municipality owned enterprises. Learning about institutional complexity is also important for students aiming for management consultancy. Regardless if the student is working for a client in the private, public or civil society sector, handling interdependencies between sectors will most likely be an important task.

Course Director: jessica.kihlman@hhs.se

To successfully complete the course, students need to demonstrate knowledge in:

1. How and why hybrid organizations are different compared to organizations that rely primarily on one institutional logic.

2. The multiple value creation practices that are involved in managing hybrid organizations (e.g. budgeting, performance metrics, costing etc).

3. Understand contextual differences among hybrid organizations coming from sectors such as sports, culture, social enterprises, family businesses and state-owned enterprises.

General entry requirements.

MODULE 1: An introduction to hybrid organizations and its growing importance in society

Battilana, J., Lee, M., Walker, J., & Dorsey, C. (2012). In Search of the Hybrid Ideal. Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2012 49-55.

Besharov, M., & Smith, W. (2014). Multiple institutional logics in organizations: Explaining their varied nature and implications. Academy of Management Review, 39(3), 364-381.

Smith, W., Besharov, M. (2019). Bowing before Dual Gods: How Structured Flexibility Sustains Organizational Hybridity. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(1), 1-44.

Carlsson-Wall, M., Kraus, K., & Messner, M. (2016). Performance measurement systems and the enactment of different institutional logics: Insights from a football organization. Management Accounting Research, 32, 45–61.

Chenhall, R. H., Hall, M., & Smith, D. (2013). Performance measurement, modes of evaluation and the development of compromising accounts. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 38(4), 268–287.

Christiansen, J. K., & Skærbæk, P. (1997). Implementing budgetary control in the performing arts: Games in the organizational theatre. Management Accounting Research, 8(4), 405–438.

Ferry, L., & Slack, R. (2021). (Counter) accounting for hybrid organising: a case of the Great Exhibition of the North. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. forthcoming.

Schäffer, U., Strauss, E., & Zecher, C. (2015). The role of management control systems in situations of institutional complexity. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management. 12(4), 395-424.

Carlsson-Wall, M., Iredahl, A., Kraus, K., & Wiklund, M. (2021). The role of management controls in managing heterogeneous interests during extreme situations: the Swedish migrant crisis in 2015. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 18(1), 1-25.

Ezzamel, M., Robson, K., & Stapleton, P. (2012). The logics of budgeting: Theorization and practice variation in the educational field. Accounting, organizations and society, 37(5), 281-303.

Gerdin, J. (2020). Management control as a system: Integrating and extending theorizing on MC complementarity and institutional logics. Management Accounting Research, 49, 100716.

Kaufman, M., & Covaleski, M. A. (2019). Budget formality and informality as a tool for organizing and governance amidst divergent institutional logics. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 75, 40–58.

Kreander, N., & McPhail, K. (2019). State investments and human rights? The case of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 32(6), 1742–1770.

Morinière, A., & Georgescu, I. (2022). Hybridity and the use of performance measurement: facilitating compromises or creating moral struggles? Insights from healthcare organizations. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 35(3), 801-829.

Exam (70%), ILO 1-3

Project (30%), ILO 1-3

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

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