Good Business Can be Big Business : Balancing Mission and Revenue Motives in Hybrid Organizations

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines hybrid organizations, a business model that is defined by the blurring of social and environmental missions with income generation to support its accomplishment. However, given the wicked nature of sustainability challenges, tensions between financial performance and mission objectives may influence organizational priorities. The analysis focuses on whether hybrid organizations maintain their mission alignment in their annual reports while experiencing revenue growth. The triple bottom line, and creating shared value theories provide the theoretical framework. Together, they address the integration of economic, social, and environmental objectives alongside the strategic creation of social value. The study used a mixed methods approach that combined content analysis, correlational analysis, and word frequency supported content analysis. All data and material were drawn from annual reports, with particular focus given to the CEO statements, of the hybrid organization Tony’s Chocolonely between 2017 and 2025. Particular attention was given to the company’s attempt to address wicked sustainability challenges surrounding child labor prevention and remediation in the cocoa industry, as these issues shape their mission. The study compared revenue with mission-revenue orientation index scores and reporting related to child labor monitoring and remediation. The findings indicate that hybrid organizations can maintain their mission focus alongside financial growth by actively balancing both. Overall, the CEO statements show moderate to strong mission orientation, although weaker alignment is apparent at times across the data sets. Revenue and mission-alignment indicators show a positive correlation, but this relation is only partly explained, suggesting that other variables may shape mission communication. This study offers both theoretical and practical contributions for understanding how hybrid organizations may preserve mission alignment while experiencing revenue growth in wicked sustainability contexts.