Hybrid Organization In High-Tech Enterprise

This paper describes research-in-progress that examines the dynamics of hybrid R&D organizations in high-tech industry, and compares them to hybrid research organizations in academia. Our preliminary definition of “hybrid organization” is based on funding: it is an enterprise that receives revenues from commercial activity (in goods and/or services), but that primarily sustains its R&D work through competitive grants and awards. Hybrid organizational forms have been studied in academia, but there is very little literature on industry hybrids. Through prior research, we have encountered several firms that we would call industry hybrids, and in our view, this finding demands further investigation. Therefore, we have launched a pilot study to characterize the “industry R&D hybrid” as an emergent organizational form. This line of inquiry explores the possibility that these hybrid forms are viable and legitimate ways of organizing R&D activities over the long term, and not simply project-based collaborations among independent firms, immature forms of the commercial firm, or corrupted forms of the academic research unit. Our study will begin to elucidate this possibility in ways that may inform policy-making and strategic planning, not only within industry and academia, but also at regional and federal levels.