Governance and accountability in hybrid organizations – past, present and future
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
ISSN: 1096-3367
Article publication date: 26 March 2021
Issue publication date: 2 June 2021
Abstract
Purpose
In addressing policy problems, it is difficult to disentangle public policies from private efforts, business institutions and civic activities. Societies may acknowledge that all these domains have a role in accomplishing social aims, but there are fundamental problems in understanding why, how and with what implications this occurs. Drawing upon the insights from the papers of this special issue, the authors aim to advance the understanding of governance and accountability in different contexts of hybridity, hybrid governance and organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conceptualize common theoretical origins of hybrid organizations and the ways in which they create and enact value by reflecting on the articles of the special issue. Furthermore, the authors propose agendas for future research into hybrid organizations.
Findings
Hybrid organizations can be conceptualized through two types of lenses: (1) the dimensions of hybridity (ownership, institutional logics, funding and control) and (2) their approaches to value creation (mixing, compromising and legitimizing).
Practical implications
This article provides more detailed and comprehensive understanding of hybridity. This contribution has also important practical implications for actors, such as politicians, managers, street-level bureaucrats, professionals, auditors and accountants who may be enveloped in various hybrid settings, policy contexts and multi-faceted interfaces between public, private and the civil society sector.
Originality/value
Hybridity lenses reveal novel connections between four types of hybrid institutional contexts: state-owned enterprises (SOEs), non-profit organizations (NPOs), social enterprises (SEs) and municipally owned corporations (MOCs). This paper provides theoretical instruments for doing so.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The guest editors want to thank the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management for the opportunity to introduce this important special issue on hybridity and hybrid organizations. The authors also thank for the constructive comments and recommendations by the reviewers regarding our conceptual paper.Funding: This study has been supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant number 326525).
Citation
Vakkuri, J., Johanson, J.-E., Feng, N.C. and Giordano, F. (2021), "Governance and accountability in hybrid organizations – past, present and future", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 245-260. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-02-2021-0033
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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