Public‐Private Collaboration, Hybridity and Social Value: Towards New Theoretical Perspectives

• Author: Ilze Kivleniece,Bertrand V. Quélin,Sergio Lazzarini
• Date: 01 September 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12274
• Published date: 01 September 2017

Public-Private Collaboration, Hybridity and Social

Value: Towards New Theoretical Perspectives

Bertrand V. Quelin, Ilze Kivleniece and Sergio Lazzarini

HEC Paris; INSEAD; Insper

ABSTRACT Focusing on the collaboration intersecting public, non-profit and private spheres of

economic activity, we analyse the conceptual forms of hybridity embedded in these novel inter-

organizational arrangements, and link them to different mechanisms of creating social value. We

first disentangle alternative notions of hybrid arrangements in existing literature by proposing a

conceptual typology on two theoretically complementary yet distinct dimensions: hybridity in

governance and hybridity in organizational logics. We show how both forms of hybridity can

jointly occur in complex public-private and cross-sector collaborations, and propose the notion of

value as a crucial bridging point between these perspectives. Crucially, we develop a conceptual

framework on key theoretical mechanisms leading to economic and social value in these inter-

organizational collaborations. Our work deepens the understanding of how diverse, hybrid forms

of collaboration can create value and builds critical links between previously disparate streams of

literature on public-private interaction, cross-sector collaboration and social enterprises.

Keywords: cross-sector collaboration, hybrid arrangements, interorganizational governance,

organizational design, public-private partnerships, social value

INTRODUCTION

Hybrid forms of collaboration with mixed economic and social interests represent a phe-

nomenon receiving growing attention in organization science and management studies.

Defined as organizational arrangements at the intersection of public, social and private

spheres of economic activity (Mahoney et al., 2009), these new inter-organizational

Address for reprints: Bertrand V. Quelin, HEC Paris, 1, rue de la Liberation, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France

(quelin@hec.fr).

The three authors contributed equally to this paper, and more generally, in their role as guest editors to

this Special Issue. We express our gratitude to the Journal of Management Studies General Editors and

Dries Faems, in particular, for the continuous support and guidance provided in the development of this

issue. We are likewise indebted to numerous reviewers who generously devoted their time and expertise

to provide feedback and advance the papers submitted to this Special Issue. Bertrand Quelin would like

to thank the HEC Foundation for its financial support.

V

C2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

Journal of Management Studies 54:6 September 2017

doi: 10.1111/joms.12274

forms bring together actors from governmental, business, and non-profit domains aimed

at delivering value beyond the locus of firms and customers to broader sets of stakehold-

ers. Some forms of collaboration, such as the more traditional contract-based partner-

ships, attempt to increase efficiency or quality in established public services and

infrastructure, e.g., in water, electricity, or transportation (Iossa and Martimort, 2015;

Kwak et al., 2009). Other forms address some of the world’s most pressing social con-

cerns and unresolved needs, such as poverty and disease eradication, and humanitarian

aid provision. They increasingly fall under the realm of multi-actor collaborative

arrangements involving socially oriented corporations, social entrepreneurs, non-

governmental organizations (NGOs), public bodies and civil society organizations

(George et al., 2012; Koschmann et al., 2012; McMullen and Warnick, 2016).

From a theoretical perspective, these increasingly commonplace collaborations are

recognized as distinct form of hybrid arrangements and raise important questions on

their governance, design, and performance (Henisz, 2006; Klein et al., 2010; Mahoney

et al., 2009; Rufin and Rivera-Santos, 2010). We know from prior studies that public-

private, multi-partner and cross-sector arrangements respond to underlying inter-

organizational tasks by drawing resources from markets (Ebrahim et al., 2014); yet their

resources, governance, and output go beyond the market-based exchange. Owing to

their dual market and nonmarket nature, they therefore manifest as different from

purely market exchange–based collaborations and alliances in terms of organizational

design, underlying strategies, and the nature of ties with the broader environment, insti-

tutional actors, key stakeholders, and other social constituents (Moszoro and Spiller,

2012; Rufin and Rivera-Santos, 2010). Crucially, understanding hybrid forms of collab-

oration, that span beyond the mere private sector interests, also requires a reconceptual-

ization of organizational performance beyond private economic rents to broader

notions of public or social value (Margolis and Walsh, 2003).

In this paper and the Special Issue as a whole, we aim to deepen our understanding of

how hybrid, public-private and cross-sector forms of collaboration can create social value,

and thereby, more broadly, build critical links between previously disparate streams of litera-

ture on public-private interactions, cross-sector relations, and socially oriented organizations.

In the present work, we propose a conceptual typology that builds on dual perspectives on

hybridity, and, critically, shows how complex public-private and cross-sector collaborations

may blend mixed governance features, as well as potentially different objectives and operat-

ing logics. We further argue that the notion of social or public value constitutes a crucial

bridging point between these two divergent theoretical approaches to hybridity, and is criti-

cal to understanding the impact and outcomes of diverse hybrid arrangements observed.

Finally, we identify and discuss a set of key theoretical mechanisms leading to economic and

social value in these interorganizational arrangements.

In doing so, we build on the established literature both from economics and management

scholarship perspectives. We first note that in the economics literature most of the attention

has been paid to the formal economic exchange aspects underlying public and private actor

ties (Chong et al., 2015; Glachant and Saussier, 2006). In this set of studies, transaction cost

economics and incomplete contract theory have been the predominant theoretical lens, with

most research work dedicated to understanding the uncertainty inherent in public-private

organizational collaborations and the associated exchange hazards (Engel et al., 2009; Hart,

764 B. V. Quelin et al.

V

C2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies