TY - JOUR A1 - Chliova, Myrto A1 - Mair, Johanna A1 - Vernis, Alfred ED - Delmestri, Giuseppe ED - Wezel, Filippo Carlo ED - Goodrick, Elizabeth ED - Washington, Marvin T1 - Persistent Category Ambiguity: The case of social entrepreneurship JF - Organization Studies N2 - Literature on categories recognizes that in the early stages of a category, ambiguity can arise from divergent frames used to define the category. Yet it also largely expects this ambiguity to be either temporary, or else detrimental to the survival and evolution of the category. In this study, we demonstrate and explain how, alternatively, category ambiguity can persist when multiple frames continue to be applied to a category as it progresses into maturity. Drawing on an in-depth qualitative study of the case of social entrepreneurship, we examine how and under what conditions this outcome occurs. We specify two co-occurring conditions that prompt category stakeholders to shift their framing from exclusive to inclusive, enabling category ambiguity to persist. We furthermore show how the use of category frames that draw from pre-existing resonant categories supports the persistence of category ambiguity. We contribute to literature on categories by clarifying the antecedents of category evolution towards a trajectory of persistent ambiguity. KW - - KW - categories KW - ambiguity KW - frames KW - labels KW - stakeholders Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-35701 SN - 0170-8406 (print), 1741-3044 (online) VL - 41 IS - 7 SP - 1019 EP - 1042 PB - SAGE Publications CY - Sage UK: London, England ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mair, Johanna A1 - Mayer, Judith A1 - Lutz, Eva T1 - Navigating Institutional Plurality: Organizational Governance in Hybrid Organizations JF - Organization Studies N2 - Hybrid organizations operate in a context of institutional plurality and enact elements of multiple, often conflicting institutional logics. Governance is highly relevant in navigating such an environment. This study examines how hybrid organizations set up their governance structures and practices. Building on survey data from 70 social enterprises, a subset of hybrid organizations, we identify two types of hybrid organization: conforming hybrids rely on the prioritization of a single institutional logic and dissenting hybrids use defiance, selective coupling and innovation as mechanisms to combine and balance the prescriptions of several institutional logics. We illustrate these mechanisms by drawing on the qualitative analysis of selected cases. This study refines current debates on social enterprises as hybrid organizations. Based on our findings, we speculate that some social enterprises might assume hybridity for symbolic reasons while others – genuine hybrids – do so for substantive reasons. KW - - KW - governance KW - hybrid organization KW - institutional logic KW - institutional plurality KW - mechanism KW - social enterprises Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840615580007 SN - 0170-8406 SN - 1741-3044 VL - 36 IS - 6 SP - 713 EP - 739 PB - SAGE Publications CY - Sage UK: London, England ER -