In modern society, governments face complex societal issues that cannot be
tackled through traditional governance arrangements or ideal-typical public,
private, or third-sector organizations. Therefore, governments increasingly initiate
hybrid governance arrangements, working with or through hybrid organizations,
and opt for hybridized service delivery systems. These “hybrids” transcend the
boundaries of policy domains and jurisdictions, combine governance mechanisms
(state, market, networks, and self-governance), and foster new forms of
collaboration. While hybridization is often perceived as an opportunity, it also
poses many challenges when organizations need to pursue diverse and
ambiguous performance goals.
Understanding hybridity was the mission for the research group at Tampere
University working on the “HYPER — Performance Measurement for Hybrid
Governance” project from 2017 to 2021. Funded by the Academy of Finland, the
project focused on theorizing new ways of assessing the value and performances
of hybrid governance arrangements. The project also contributed to existing
research on performance evaluation and measurement by re-conceptualizing
performance measurement and evaluation in hard-to-measure hybrid activities
and environments. The project director was Professor Jarmo Vakkuri, and the vice-
director was Professor Jan-Erik Johanson.
HYPER produced 44 peer-reviewed articles and three special issues in
international scientific journals, three academic books, 15 book chapters, and 12
conference proceedings. In addition, there were five master´s theses and one
doctoral dissertation related to the project. Moreover, 10 international seminars
were organized during the project, although COVID-19 complicated the situation
and moved many events online. In 2020, an international online seminar was
organized under the theme “Value of Hybridity — Hybridity of Value” at Tampere
University. The seminar brought together over 100 participants from 25 different
countries. During HYPER the Special Interest Group of the International Research
Society for Public Management (IRSPM) on Governing and Managing Hybridity
as well as a workgroup on Public Policies for Hybrid Governance in International
Conference on Public Policy (ICPP) were established. Currently, these networks
include over 140 members around the world.
Upload the full version of the Final Project Report as PDF: