Managing Hybrid Realities: How to Successfully Combine Two Opposite Models?

The paper focuses on hybrid business and governance models, specifically referring the Italian social and healthcare sector, in order to infer practical implications. Three types of business and governance models can be conceptualised, namely the integrated, disintegrated and semiintegrated models. From in-depth interviews with managers and board members of NPOs, critical issues for managers of hybrid organizations have emerged. In particular, six factors best describe hybrid business and governance models’ characteristics and aspects: internal and external legitimacy, monetary exchanges, loss of identity risk, organizational structure and constraints to growth. Comparisons between hybrid business and governance models will be provided, highlighting each model’s advantages and disadvantages in relation to specific criticalities.