A Nascent Sport for Development and Peace Organization’s Response to Institutional Complexity: The Emergence of a Hybrid Agency in Kenya

in Journal of Sport Management

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Marlene A. Dixon Texas A&M University

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Per G. Svensson Louisiana State University

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2019-0065
Keywords:
case study; institutional logics; organizational hybridity; social change
In Print:
Volume 33: Issue 5
Page Range:
450–466
Restricted access

Sport for development and peace (SDP) agencies increasingly deal with complex institutional demands. In this article, the authors present an in-depth case study of how a nascent SDP organization created from within a local community in Kenya responded to institutional complexity through a series of pivotal moments that shaped the nature of the SDP agency. Throughout the formative stage in its life course, organizational leaders faced increased institutional complexity as they grappled with a series of incompatible prescriptions and demands from multiple institutional logics. The case organization—Highway of Hope—responded to this complexity through a process of organizational hybridity. Five pivotal decision points were identified and analyzed to explore how they shaped the organization over its early stages of existence. Our findings provide guidance for advancing our understanding of hybridity processes in SDP, both theoretically and practically.

Dixon is with Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. Svensson is with Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.

Dixon (madixon@tamu.edu) is corresponding author.
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