Joshua Maine (2025)
Control in hybrid organisations: A study of board and management practices
This dissertation examines how the hybridity of municipal corporations (MCs) influences their organisational control and accountability structures. By addressing the challenges and opportunities arising from the interaction of multiple institutional logics, it explores how hybrid organisations navigate tensions between economic, social, and environmental objectives in complex organisational environments. The dissertation comprises three interconnected studies that collectively address the research question: How does the hybridity of MCs shape organisational control and accountability structures?
The first study presents a systematic literature review of MCs, mapping key thematic areas and contributing to the conceptual development of MCs across varying national contexts, highlighting their dual pressures to balance financial performance with public service delivery. Building on this foundation, the second study introduces the concept of ambidextrous sustainability to assess how top managers in MCs balance short-term operational demands with long-term sustainability goals. It demonstrates how organisational structures moderate the relationship between sustainability strategies and performance outcomes, illustrating the dynamic interplay between hybridity and organisational results. Extending this exploration, the third study investigates accountability at the strategic apex of MCs, focusing on how key actors reconcile tensions between financial, social, and environmental accountabilities. This study identifies processes that align diverse stakeholder demands and institutional expectations, highlighting the discretionary role of apex actors in shaping accountability practices.
Together, these studies contribute to management control, public management, and organisational hybridity streams of research by offering empirical insights into how hybrid organisations balance accountability regimes and reconcile institutional tensions. The findings also extend sustainability research by demonstrating how ambidextrous sustainability enables MCs to align social, financial, and environmental performance within complex operational contexts. Additionally, this dissertation advances management control research in hybrid organisations by examining how control structures respond to public accountability demands and commercially oriented pressures. It illustrates the pivotal role of strategic apex actors in navigating organisational tensions and maintaining flexible control systems capable of addressing multifaceted institutional requirements.
The aggregated findings reveal that the hybridity of MCs presents both challenges and opportunities in achieving alignment between public service mandates and commercially driven objectives. By synthesising insights from management control, public management, and organisational hybridity streams, this dissertation provides valuable implications for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to enhance accountability and performance in hybrid organisations.
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