Crossing the Private-Public Boundary: Why, What and How?

Abstract

Boundaries that constitute the legitimacy of organizational categories are becoming more and more blurry. One salient example is found in the private- public sphere, with private ventures increasingly involved in social innovations while socially-oriented agencies are gradually integrating a commercial logic. This symposium consists of four papers that explore practices that transcend the private-public boundary. The first paper proposes a field-level typology to examine the hybridity of private-public interests among organizations, and so sets the tone for the symposium by identifying meaningful dimensions to consider for this phenomenon. The rest of the papers explore specific empirical contexts where organizations integrate social and commercial logics in different ways. Two of these papers focus on the commercialization of socially-oriented agencies, recognizing that juxtaposing a commercial logic with social mission may jeopardize the latter. The last paper investigates the integration of social value in commercial business as shaped by institutional context, which highlights the nuance of competing stakeholder interests. Taken together, these papers recognize that categorization for organizations is a socially constructed process. Authors of these papers challenge the binary view of a social-commercial dichotomy, and offer new thoughts for multiple organization theories i.e. organizational identities, categorical legitimacy, institutional hybridity. Unpacking Variation in Hybrid Organizational Forms Presenter: Jean-Baptiste Litrico; Smith School of Business, Queen's U. Presenter: Marya Besharov; Cornell U. The Market for the Corporate Soul: Evidence from Sustainable Food Acquisitions Presenter: Matthew Lee; INSEAD Presenter: Clarence Lee; Cornell U. How Commercial Pressures Affect Microfinance Organizations Identity Commitments Presenter: Eric Y.-F. Zhao; Indiana U., Bloomington Presenter: Matthew Grimes; Cambridge Judge Business School Presenter: Tyler Wry; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Incorporating Social Value in Commercial Lending among Chinese Banks Presenter: Xuege Lu; Cornell Johnson School Presenter: Lisha Liu; Cornell U.