Accounting in and for hybrids. Observations of the power of disentanglements

Abstract

PurposeThe authors argue that the mainstream scholarly discourse on hybridity and accounting is thus far primarily interested in the use and effects of accounting “in” hybrid organizations. Consequently, the literature has to a lesser extent explored how accounting mediates hybrid settings (while also being mediated), and the role of disentanglements in such processes. In hybrid settings, objects are difficult to define, and measures and tools difficult to agree upon. However, the literature on hybrid accounting is inconclusive and indicates that accounting can potentially both stabilize and de-stabilize relations in a hybrid setting. The authors address the research question of how accounting emerges and manifests itself in a process of entangling and disentangling in a heterogeneous emerging hybrid setting.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a longitudinal qualitative case study of the implementation of social investments, a public sector calculative framework based on the logic of measuring long term and social and economic impact of prevention. Methodologically, the study was guided by actor-network theory. In total, 18 observations and 48 interviews were conducted.FindingsThe observation the authors make in their case study is that much effort was spent on both keeping things apart and tying elements together. What the authors add to the literature is an illumination of how the interplay between entanglements and disentanglements facilitated the design idea of social investments to be enacted as multiple semi-integrated and purified hybridizations. The authors describe different translation points, each representing a specific hybridization where elements were added, recombined and disentangled. Still, the translation points were not completely compartmentalized, but rather semi-integrated where associations were facilitated through active mediation, likeness and productiveness for each other.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation is the single case approach. A second limitation arises from the ANT approach to hybridity.Practical implicationsA practical implication of this paper is that in hybrid settings, the semi-integrated character may be interpreted as a strength because it allows the mobilization of heterogenous actors. However, this may also come at the cost of governability and raises further questions of managerial practices in hybrid settings.Social implicationsThe paper suggests the potentially productive role of disentanglements in allowing multiple hybridizations to evolve in hybrid accounting settings.Originality/valueThe paper suggests the potentially productive role of disentanglements in allowing multiple stabilized hybridizations to evolve in hybrid accounting settings.

Hybridity in a hotel chain: designing a package of controls to sustain a hybrid mission

“…By doing so, this study contributes to a recent stream of research on how controls (e.g. Busco et al, 2017;Maran and Lowe, 2021) and accounting more generally (Clune et al, 2019;Ferry and Slack, 2021) mediate in hybrid settings, an area in need of further research (Weichselberger and Lagstr€ om, 2021). Second, by delving into the role of the leader in a for-profit organization, this study responds to calls from Kraus et al (2017) and Smith and Besharov (2019) to enhance our understanding of how leaders of hybrid organizations contribute to the persistence of their organization's hybrid mission.…”

“…, 2017; Maran and Lowe, 2021) and accounting more generally (Clune et al. , 2019; Ferry and Slack, 2021) mediate in hybrid settings, an area in need of further research (Weichselberger and Lagström, 2021). Second, by delving into the role of the leader in a for-profit organization, this study responds to calls from Kraus et al.…”

Accounting, performance and accountability challenges in hybrid organisations: a value creation perspective

“…Some AAAJ special issue articles relate to “public benefit” objectives and private benefits in the case of benefit corporations (Baudot et al , 2022), market and social objectives in a federal power administration (Convery and Kaufman, 2022), financial, social and environmental objectives in social housing companies (Maine et al , 2022), short- and long-term humanitarian activities (Sargiacomo and Walker, 2022), the goals of cost-efficiency and the needs of individual childcare (Schrøder et al , 2022), and the mission of “care” and the value of “public service” with “efficiency” (Moriniére and Georgescu, 2022). Other articles demonstrated the existence of and tensions between the multiplicity of institutional logics, such as economic and social logics (Ferry and Slack, 2022); the logics of calculating the long-term social and economic impacts of preventive social investments (Kastberg Weichselberger and Lagström, 2022); regulatory/bureaucratic, market and service logics in the case of information and communication technology (ICT) service providers (Maran and Lowe, 2022); community, public and market logics in the case of public and private partnership (PPP) policies (Stafford and Stapleton, 2022) and healthcare (medical), administrative and political-institutional logics (Rautiainen et al , 2022). Other studies provided evidence of a variegated mix of different institutions, such as alliances between public, private and third-sector actors (Rajala and Kokko, 2022); a network of public and private companies (Sargiacomo and Walker, 2022) and networks of multiple organisations (purchaser and providers) with different motivations (Zawawi and Hoque, 2022).…”

“…Compromising on values is an instrument for reconciling competing value-creation logics and interests may be organised in several ways. Some studies related to hybridity on health and social care organisations recognise the role of performance measurement as a mediating and compromising one (Begkos and Antonopoulou, 2022; Maran and Lowe, 2022; Zawawi and Hoque, 2022; Kastberg Weichselberger and Lagström, 2022; Sargiacomo and Walker, 2022). Other studies show that performance measures may play an ambivalent role in mitigating the tensions, by enabling compromises between actors with divergent values, and enhancing tensions between actors with convergent values (Moriniére and Georgescu, 2022).…”

“…The most relevant aspect of legitimisation is communicating simultaneously with different stakeholders and audiences. The paper on social investments emphasises a design idea that presupposes the formation of new associations and relationships (Kastberg Weichselberger and Lagström, 2022). The paper on social housing emphasises the strategies that enable hybrid organisations to respond to the expectations of different stakeholders (Maine et al , 2022).…”