Towards a taxonomy of hybrid organizations

Organizations are usually distinguished on the basis of their purpose, with a historically marked dichotomy between for-profit and nonprofit. Over the years, there has been a shift to a more fluid interpretation, a spectrum, at the ends of which the classical conformations remain and within which various hybrid forms of organizations lie. Although over time these forms of hybridity have been studied from different perspectives – organizational, institutional, legal – a comprehensive and integrated view of these different dimensions is lacking. The paper aims at systematizing the concepts of “hybrid” available in the literature and bringing order to the landscape of organizations that, in various capacities and with varying degrees of priority, pursue goals related to sustainability and the improvement of environmental and social conditions in their context of interest. After the introduction of the different types of enterprises and the hybrid spectrum, the paper approaches the conceptual issues – whose implications, however, are interpretive and practical – related to the idea of hybridity, addressing the main literature and identifying the main types of hybrid organizations (HO) currently existing. After this first step, it tackles issues regarding the legal forms that HOs can take, in different parts of the world or within the same regulatory framework. Finally, the concept of certifications is explored as an additional regulatory and identifying step.