Navigating the energy transition: the hybrid organization under transitional turmoil

The transition towards a more sustainable society is on the horizon but will not happen automatically. Many organizations involved in the transition are facing complex challenges. Organizations in the energy infrastructure sector play an especially central role, due to their public positioning and direct environmental impact. The complexity of such transitioning is rooted in the complex stakeholder field, unravelling a business eco system that requires collaboration and co-creation with internal and external stakeholders, who may be coming from different or conflicting institutional logics. Sustainability demands are revealing weaknesses in traditional business models and opening the door to the possibility of alternative business models. New business models must consider how to successfully combine the multiple institutional logics that arise within the organization and unify them to create a single integrated organizational identity – a hybrid organization. Hybrid organizations must operate in the aforementioned complex stakeholder field. In order to do this, it is vital to understand the landscape of where and how conflicts arise, how the boundaries that arise from these conflicts are being spanned (or not spanned), and how this affects the organization’s ability to survive and thrive. To contribute to this understanding, we ask the question: What is the landscape of institutional logics in an energy infrastructure hybrid organization? To answer this question, we conduct semi-structured interviews with managers and executives in a Dutch public energy infrastructure firm and qualitatively analyze the findings using the lenses of hybrid organizations and boundary spanning. Findings from this study can inform strategic management in energy infrastructure hybrid organizations by shedding light on successful and unsuccessful navigation strategies for conflicting institutional logics. Findings can also inform energy policy by contributing to the discussion of support for alternative business models in the energy transition.