Individual responses to multiple logics in hybrid organizing: The role of structural position

Abstract

This article investigates how employees respond to hybrid organizing, that is, organizational settings that are characterized by multiple institutional logics. We examine individuals’ propensity to either hybridize or compartmentalize multiple logics in such settings. Our empirical setting is that of a French energy corporation that engages in research partnerships with multiple public and private actors to further energy transition. Their hybrid organizing is informed by a logic of science and a logic of market, which tend to conflict with one another. Our findings suggest that three types of capital—scientific, social and cultural—shape individual responses to multiple logics. In addition, we found that individuals gain capital from three elements of their structural position: a) their professional training, b) the type of organizational position they occupy, and c) the length and the variety of their work experience in a hybrid organizational setting. These insights shed new light on how individuals respond to multiple logics, insight that can be useful for addressing the tensions that arise in hybrid organizing and that impact on organizational performance.