Organizational hybridity refers to the combination of multiple institutional logics and identities that, within an organizational setting, do not conventionally complement one another. In such conditions, organizations must develop strategies to combine logics and sustain their hybrid forms. Success, however, is not inevitable. In this article, we take a legitimacy-as-process perspective to focus on a failed Microfinance Organization (MFO) in the African context of Zambia. MFOs represent a fascinating context because of their hybrid nature and need to balance several competing institutional demands. We utilise field interviews to analyse the process through which MFOs fail, analysing actor legitimation responses to emerging hybridity demands. We identify three phases associated with these changes: 1) dependent coupling, (2) misaligning legitimation, and (3) circumnavigating over conformity. Our findings emphasise that legitimation efforts in a failed hybrid are not simply the reverse of those that succeed. We observe adaptive processes consistent with successful hybrids but that ultimately sow the seeds of eventual failure. This demonstrates the need to re-think the role of legitimation strategies in hybrids alongside their potential deleterious consequences.

中文翻译：

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混合组织的失败：合法性视角

组织混合是指多种制度逻辑和身份的组合，在组织环境中，它们通常不会相互补充。在这种情况下，组织必须制定策略来结合逻辑并维持其混合形式。然而，成功并非不可避免。在本文中，我们采用合法性作为过程的视角来关注在赞比亚非洲背景下失败的小额信贷组织 (MFO)。MFO 代表了一个迷人的背景，因为它们具有混合性质，并且需要平衡几个相互竞争的机构需求。我们利用现场访谈来分析 MFO 失败的过程，分析参与者对新兴混合需求的合法化反应。我们确定了与这些变化相关的三个阶段：1）依赖耦合，(2) 错位合法性，以及 (3) 绕道而行。我们的研究结果强调，在失败的混合体中的合法化努力不仅仅是与成功的相反。我们观察到与成功的杂交种一致的适应性过程，但最终播下了最终失败的种子。这表明有必要重新思考合法化策略在混合动力车中的作用及其潜在的有害后果。