The complex work of the hybrid manager - A qualitative study on how hybrid managers in healthcare respond to competing demands in their day-to-day activities

Abstract: In this thesis, hybrid managers' responses to competing demands are studied, in order to build an understanding of how they handle institutional complexity in their day-to-day activities. Thirteen managers with backgrounds as healthcare professionals participate in this qualitative study. To understand how hybrid managers respond to competing demands, theory on institutional logics and individual-level responses to institutional complexity is used. The findings show that hybrid managers mostly retain their professional logic in their managerial role and that most of the managers in balanced ways adhere to both the professional logic and the managerial logic in their daily work. The degree of adoption of the managerial logic varies from defiance, compartmentalization and combination. This thesis builds an understanding of how healthcare professionals act in managerial roles, which has implications for the potential outcomes of hybrid management.