Cooperation in Hybrid Businesses – A Relational View

Abstract

Hybrid businesses, organizations that pursue a social goal while remaining financially independent, access large networks of stakeholders and complementors to gain strategic benefits on markets in which they operate. The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents for relational rents in hybrid businesses. To do so, the authors used a two-wave qualitative content analysis of face-to-face interviews from 18 German hybrid business founders against the background of the relational view. Findings suggest that hybrid businesses put strong efforts into stakeholder mobilization and continuous exchange with a diverse range of partners to occupy a strategic mar-ket position. This allows them to further enable and interconnect their stakeholders in pursuit of their social mission. Thereby hybrid businesses refrain from bureaucratic inertia and rather place reliance on personal relationships and mutual trust. The study reveals that the rent term in the context of hybrid businesses is not limited to financia...