Hybrid Strategic Leadership: Integrating Spiritual and Market Logics for Sustained Success in Megachurches: A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract:
Megachurches, acting
as highly visible, resource-intensive Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs),
inherently operate under a profound institutional contradiction: the tension
between their core, non-commercial spiritual mandate (Spiritual Logic) and the
massive operational, administrative, and financial demands characteristic of
any large-scale enterprise (Market Logic). When this internal conflict is
poorly managed, organizational instability or mission failure frequently
follows. An exhaustive review of the extant academic literature reveals a
critical theoretical vacuum: the absence of a unified, dedicated leadership
model specifically engineered to navigate the unique complexity and intense
public scrutiny faced by these large-scale hybrid religious institutions. To
overcome this theoretical limitation, this study utilizes a rigorous Systematic
Literature Review (SLR) methodology. This process comprehensively maps and
synthesizes existing theoretical and empirical research on institutional logics
and strategic management within the megachurch ecosystem. The robust evidence
synthesized dictates the necessity of the Hybrid Strategic Leadership (HSL)
model as the essential executive capability for achieving sustained
organizational success. HSL is defined as the dynamic strategic capacity
required to both intentionally decouple and synergistically blend spiritual
functions (e.g., mission clarity and pastoral care) with market imperatives
(e.g., efficiency, professionalization, and growth). The resultant HSL framework
offers a crucial, actionable strategic blueprint for senior megachurch leaders,
securing both long-term spiritual authenticity and material operational
vitality.
References:
[1]. Besharov, M. L., & Smith, W. K., 2014. The paradox of embeddedness: A
dialectic of meaning, management, and markets. Organization Science,
25(2), 380–398.
[2]. D'Aunno, T., Sutton, R. I., Price, R. H., 2000, The professional
construction of organizational change: A dialectical analysis. Administrative
Science Quarterly, 45(4), 844–876.
[3]. Allen, P., 2015, Authentic spiritual leadership: The mega church
corporate model of the new millennium. Author House.
[4]. Andrews, S. M., 2023, Strategic leadership, change, and growth in
not-for-profit, membership-based, value-driven organizations. Journal of
Organizational Change Management, 46(6), N/A.
[5]. Bianchi, M., Roy, M. J., & Teasdale, S. (2022). Towards a multi-level understanding of the edited strategies employed in managing hybridity: A systematic review. Sustainability, 15(1), 177.
[6]. Browning, D., 2010, Hybrid Church: The Fusion of Intimacy and Impact. John
Wiley & Sons.
[7]. Burton, O., Brister, J., 2012, Organizational hybridization: A business
model to integrate best practices of for-profit and non-profit organizations. Journal
of Biblical Integration in Business, 15(1), N/A.
[8]. Chaves, M., 2017, American Religion: Contemporary Trends. Princeton
University Press.
[9]. Chen, L., et al., 2019, Bifocal leadership: Navigating dual missions in
hybrid organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 62(4), 1001-1025.
[10]. Grassl, W., 2011, Hybrid forms of business: The logic of gift in the
commercial world. Journal of Business Ethics, 100(Suppl 1), 109-123.
[11]. Gronn, P., 2011, Hybrid configurations of leadership. In: A. Bryman, D.
Collinson, K. Grint, B. Jackson, M. Uhl-Bien (Eds.), The Sage handbook of
leadership, 437-454. SAGE.
[12]. Hestad, D., Tàbara, J. D., Thornton, T. F., 2021, The three logics of
sustainability-oriented hybrid organisations: A multi-disciplinary review. Sustainability
Science, 16(2), 647-661.
[13]. Johnson, A. B., 2020, Mission drift and fiscal health: A study of
faith-based organizations. Journal of Religious Management, 45(2),
112-135.
[14]. Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B., 1977, Institutionalized organizations:
Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology,
83(2), 340-363.
[15]. DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W., 1983, The iron cage revisited:
Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American
Sociological Review, 48(2), 147-160.
[16]. Oyo, C., Musinguzi, D., & Owino, P., 2025. Contract-covenant
governance model: A theoretical framework for integrated faith-based
institutional governance in Catholic organizations. East African Scholars
Multidisciplinary Bulletin, 8(04), 69–82.
[17]. Pache, A. C., Santos, F., 2013, Inside the hybrid organization: Selective
coupling as a response to competing institutional logics. Academy of
Management Journal, 56(4), 972-1001.
[18]. Pruisken, I., Coronel, J., 2014, Megachurches: Managerization in the
Religious Field? In: W. Faulstich (Ed.), Religion im Wandel: Die
Renaissance des Religiösen in der Gesellschaft, 53–79. Springer VS.
[19]. Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J., 1977, The population ecology of
organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 82(5), 929-964.
[20]. Smith, J., 2018, The paradox of the sacred and the secular: Institutional
logics in non-profit management. Non-Profit Quarterly, 25(1), 45-58.
[21]. Smith, S. R., 2010, Hybridization and nonprofit organizations: The
governance challenge. Policy and Society, 29(3), 219-229.
[22]. Thornton, P. H., & Ocasio, W., 1999, Institutional logics and the
historical contingency of power in organizations: The emergence of the early
retirement program at General Motors, 1974-1994. American Journal of
Sociology, 105(3), 801-843.
[23]. Tagirov, M. R., 2025, Ways to balance spiritual values and economic
efficiency. Economics and Management: Problems, Solutions, 5(13), 14–21.
[24]. Greenwood, R., & Oliver, C., 1991, Organizational effectiveness and
human services sector: An application of the population ecology model. Administrative
Science Quarterly, 36(2), 273-299.
[25]. Yi, P. T. T., 2023, Faith-based investing, stewardship, and
sustainability: A comparative analysis. Erasmus Law Review, 16, 114.
