Building Sustainable Hybrid Organizations: The Case of Commercial Microfinance Organizations

This study explores how new types of hybrid organizations can develop and maintain their hybrid nature, and remain sustainable in the absence of a ready-to-wear model.

Research indicates that tension between different types of logic might cause one type to dominate the other, making the organization unstable. The study explores how these organizations can build and maintain their hybrid nature through a comparative case study of Banco Solidario and Caja de Ahorro y Prestamo Los Andes, two commercial microfinance organizations in Bolivia. Study results suggest that:

• New types of hybrid organizations need to create a common organizational identity that strikes a balance between different types of logic;
• A common organizational identity prevents formation of sub-groups of identities that may increase tension and make the combination untenable;
• Hiring and socialization policies are crucial early levers for developing an organizational identity;
• Hiring and socialization policies have limitations in reducing tension between different types of institutional logic within hybrid organizations.