New Approaches to Organization Design: Theory and Practice of Adaptive Enterprises

195 Pages·2009·0.91 MB·English

by  Charles C. Snow

Information and Organization Design Series
Volume 8
SeriesEditors
RichardM.Burton
DukeUniversity,FuquaSchoolofBusiness,USA
BørgeObel
AarhusSchoolofBusiness,AarhusUniversity,Denmark
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/6126
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· ·
Anne Bøllingtoft Dorthe Døjbak Håkonsson
· ·
Jørn Flohr Nielsen Charles C. Snow John Ulhøi
Editors
New Approaches
to Organization Design
Theory and Practice of Adaptive Enterprises
123
Editors
AnneBøllingtoft DortheDøjbakHåkonsson
AarhusSchoolofBusiness AarhusSchoolofBusiness
AarhusUniversity AarhusUniversity
Denmark Denmark
[email protected] [email protected]
JørnFlohrNielsen CharlesC.Snow
AarhusSchoolofBusiness ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity
AarhusUniversity USA
[email protected]
Denmark
jfl[email protected]
JohnUlhøi
AarhusSchoolofBusiness
AarhusUniversity
Denmark
[email protected]
ISBN978-1-4419-0626-7 e-ISBN978-1-4419-0627-4
DOI10.1007/978-1-4419-0627-4
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2009931578
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On August 12 2009, Richard Burton will be celebrating his
70thbirthday.Suchamilestoneprovidesanaturaloccasionto
look back and take stock of one’s work. Rich, however, would
be the last person to draw attention to himself, to loudly pro-
claimhisownaccomplishments.Andyethehashadaprofound
impactonourfield.
With his frequent visits to Denmark (starting in 1974), Rich
was one of the natural founders of the International Workshop
on Organization Design. We are proud to take the publication
of this book, originating from this conference, as an excellent
opportunity tocelebrateRichandhismajoraccomplishments.
Rich’s numerous books and articles have been published
in the major journals within our field, and have had a far-
reaching and substantial impact on the field of Organization
Design. His research has advanced our understanding of
organization theory and design, not the least by the use of
simulationtechniques.Richhashelpedcreateandimprovethe
journalsOrganizationScience,ComputationalandMathemat-
ical Organization Theory, and Management Science. He has
helped found institutions such as the College on Organization
Science, the EIASM conference on Organization Design, and
the Organization Science Winter Conference. In many ways,
Richhasbeenthecatalystintheformationofourinternational
researchcommunity.
But above all, Rich has been and remains a friend and men-
tortomanyofus,anexemplarofagentlemanandascholar.
ThisbookisdedicatedtoRich.
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Contents
PartI TowardNewOrganizationalForms
1 Blade.Org:ACollaborativeCommunityofFirms . . . . . . . . . . 3
CharlesC.Snow,DoreenR.Strauss,andChristopherLettl
2 Network-LevelTaskandtheDesignofWholeNetworks:
IsThereaRelationship? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
PatrickKenis,KeithG.Provan,andPeterM.Kruyen
PartII DynamicsofAdaptationandChange
3 OrganizationalTrade-OffsandtheDynamicsofAdaptation
inPermeableStructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
StephanBillingerandNilsStieglitz
4 UnpackingDynamicCapability:ADesignPerspective . . . . . . . 61
DeborahE.M.MuldersandA.GeorgesL.Romme
5 PredictingOrganizationalReconfiguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
TimothyN.CarrollandSaminaKarim
6 EmbeddingVirtualityintoOrganizationDesignTheory:
VirtualityandItsInformationProcessingConsequences . . . . . . 99
KentWickstrømJensen,DortheDøjbakHåkonsson,
RichardM.Burton,andBørgeObel
PartIII FitandPerformance
7 Learning-Before-DoingandLearning-in-Action:Bridging
theGapBetweenInnovationAdoption,Implementation,
andPerformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
EitanNaveh,OferMeilich,andAlfredMarcus
vii
viii Contents
8 UnderfitsVersusOverfitsintheContingencyTheoryof
OrganizationalDesign:AsymmetricEffectsofMisfitson
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
PeterKlaasandLexDonaldson
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Contributors
StephanBillinger StrategicOrganizationDesignGroup,Departmentof
MarketingandManagement,UniversityofSouthernDenmark,Odense,Denmark,
[email protected]
RichardM.Burton FuquaSchoolofBusiness,DukeUniversity,Box90120,
Durham,NC27708-0120,USA,[email protected]
TimothyN.Carroll MooreSchoolofBusiness,UniversityofSouthCarolina,
Columbia,SC29208,USA,[email protected]
LexDonaldson AustralianSchoolofBusiness,UniversityofNewSouthWales,
Sydney,NSW2052,Australia,[email protected]
GeorgeP.Huber McCombsSchoolofBusiness,UniversityofTexasatAustin,
Austin,TX,USA,[email protected]
DortheDøjbakHåkonsson AarhusSchoolofBusiness,UniversityofAarhus,
Haslegårdsvej10,8210ArhusV,Denmark,[email protected]
KentWickstrømJensen DepartmentofEntrepreneurshipandRelationship
Management,UniversityofSouthernDenmark,Engstien1,6000,Kolding,
Denmark,[email protected]
SaminaKarim SchoolofManagement,BostonUniversity,Boston,MA02215,
USA,[email protected]
PatrickKenis TiasNimbasBusinessSchool,TilburgUniversity,Tilburg,The
Netherlands,[email protected]
PeterKlaas VestasAssemblyA/S,Rymarken2,DK8210AarhusV,Denmark,
[email protected]
PeterM.Kruyen DepartmentofOrganisationStudies&TilburgSchoolof
PoliticsandPublicAdministration,TilburgUniversity,Tilburg,TheNetherlands,
[email protected]
ChristopherLettl DepartmentofMarketingandStatistics,AarhusSchoolof
Business,UniversityofAarhus,DK-8210AarhusV,Denmark,[email protected]
ix