Legitimation of Social Enterprises as Hybrid Organizations

Abstract

On the basis of an inductive multiple case study of ten social enterprises, we explore how social enterprises, which incorporate for-profit and not-for-profit logics as a hybrid form, gain legitimacy. Our analysis suggests the existence of three types of social entrepreneurs' hybrid identities and shows how these hybrid identities systematically shape legitimation patterns of social enterprises. Furthermore, our findings suggest that social enterprises' organizational types as hybrids also determine their legitimation patterns. These findings theoretically contribute to the research on hybrid organizing, legitimation of new ventures, and social entrepreneurship.