How Founders Harness Tensions in Hybrid Venture Development
Journal
Business & Society
ISSN
0007-6503
1552-4205
Date Issued
2024
Author(s)
Type
journal-article
Abstract
Although the simultaneous presence of multiple ambitions is inherent in hybrid venturing, pursuing social and/or environmental missions while securing commercial viability can generate ambivalence among stakeholders. In this study, we draw on the notion of “holism” to show how venture founders both embrace tensioned ambitions and sustain hybridity during critical venture development phases. Based on 6 years of data on The People’s Supermarket in the United Kingdom, we identify three distinct practices— fantasizing, bartering, and conjuring—used by founders to harness tensions productively, without compromising their venture’s multiple ambitions. These practices demonstrate the founders’ ability to maintain a venture’s hybrid nature throughout the ideation, organizational, and scale-up phases, thereby shedding light on the application of “holism” within the realm of hybrid venturing.
Cite this document
Muñoz, P., Farny, S., Kibler, E., & Salmivaara, V. (2024). How founders harness tensions in hybrid venture development. Business & Society, 63(8), 1842-1886. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503241255483
Subjects
ambivalence
;
entrepreneurship
;
holism
;
hybridity
;
social enterprise