Hybrid Transformation through Communicative Leadership and Learning: Evidence from Civil Society Organizations in Indonesia

Abstract

This research explores how the internal organizational processes such as transformational leadership, organizational learning culture and internal communication impact the social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) to jointly drive the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Indonesia towards sustainable hybrid models. To overcome the perennial problem of donor dependence, this underscores communicative and motivational underpinnings of hybrid resilience in fledgling democracies.  Adopting a quantitative, explanatory design, data were collected from 115 registered CSOs in Semarang, Indonesia. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), the study test a sequential double-mediation model linking leadership, learning, communication, and SEI as internal pathways toward organizational transformations. Results demonstrate that internal communication and SEI sequentially mediate the effects of leadership and learning on transformation. Transformational leadership exhibits competitive mediations; its direct influence becomes negative when communicative participation is weak; whereas organizational learning culture shows partial complementary mediation. Sustainable hybridization is thus achieved through dialogic communications, participatory dialogue, and shared entrepreneurial intention rather than structural reform alone.  The study focuses on CSOs in single Indonesian city, which may limit generalizability. Future research could extend the model across sectors or region to assess institutional and cultural variations in hybrid transformation processes.Findings provide actionable insights for policymakers, donors, and capacity-building institutions to design leadership and communications development initiatives that strengthen CSO autonomy and hybrid sustainability aligned with SDG 8, SDG 10 and SDG 16.  This research advances social enterprise and hybridity theory by conceptualizing communication and SEI as processual micro-foundations of transformations. It provides rare empirical evidence from the Global South, offering a nuanced understanding of how leadership-driven learning and communicative capacity enable sustainable hybridization in civil society contexts.