A Blessing in Disguise: Logic (In)Compatibility, Centrality, and Social Innovation in Hybrid Social Ventures

Multiple institutional logics can create problematic tensions—and synergies catalyzing innovation. This study examines when and how organizational hybridity—the interaction between logic incompatibility and centrality—fosters innovation. Survey and expert evaluation data from 318 social ventures (SVs) supported a mediated moderation model. Perceived centrality of social–market logics exerts opposite moderating effects: Centrality amplifies the inverted U-shaped relationship between logic incompatibility and social innovation, an effect that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) partially mediates. However, centrality weakens the inverted U-shaped relationship between incompatibility and EO. These findings provide nuanced, novel insights into hybrid organizing and social innovation, highlighting the unique trade-offs SVs face.