Organizing for fluidity? Dilemmas of new organizational forms

Organization Science

Volumn 21, Issue 6, 2010, Pages 1251-1262

  Schreyögg, Georg ^a   Sydow, Jörg ^a  

^a FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN   (Germany)

Author keywords

Ambidexterity; Boundary; Flexibility; Fluidity; Identity; Paradox; Path dependence

Indexed keywords

EID: 78649733060     PISSN: 10477039     EISSN: 15265455     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1100.0561     Document Type: Article

References (113)

1. Aldrich, H. E. 1971. Organizational boundaries and inter-organizational conflict. Human Relations 24(4) 279-293.
2. Alvesson, M. 2002. Understanding Organizational Culture. Sage Publications, London.
3. Andriopoulos, C., M. W. Lewis. 2009. Exploitation-exploration tensions and organizational ambidexterity: Managing paradoxes of innovation. Organ. Sci. 20(4) 696-717.
4. Argote, L. 1999. Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.
5. Argyris, C. 1976. Single-loop and double-loop models in research on decision making. Admin. Sci. Quart. 21(3) 363-375.
6. Arthur, W. B. 1994. Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
7. Ashkenas, R. 1999. Creating the boundaryless organization. Bus. Horizons 42(5) 5-10.
8. Ashkenas, R., D. Ulrich, T. Jick, S. Kerr. 2002. The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organizational Structure, 3rd ed. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
9. Badaracco, J. L. 1988. Changing forms of the corporation. J. R. Meyer, J. M. Gustafson, eds. The U.S. Business Corporation: An Institution in Transition. Ballinger, Cambridge, MA, 67-91.
10. Barney, J. B. 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. J. Management 17(1) 99-120.
11. Beech, N., C. Huxham. 2004. Cycles of identity formation in interorganizational collaborations. Internat. Stud. Management Organ. 33(3) 28-52.
12. Benner, M. J., M. L. Tushman. 2003. Exploitation, exploration, and process management: The productivity dilemma revisited. Acad. Management Rev. 28(2) 238-256.
13. Bouchikhi, H. 1998. Living with and building on complexity: A constructivist perspective on organizations. Organization 5(2) 217-232.
14. Brown, S. L., K. M. Eisenhardt. 1998. Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
15. Burgelman, R. A. 2010. Strategic consequences of co-evolutionary lock-in: Insights from a longitudinal process study. G. Schreyögg, J. Sydow, eds. The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence: Institutions and Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 233-248.
16. Carroll, J. B. 1993. Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of FactorAnalytic Studies. Cambridge University Press, New York.
17. Child, J., R. G. McGrath. 2001. Organizations unfettered: Organizational form in an information-intensive economy. Acad. Management J. 44(6) 1135-1148.
18. Ciborra, C. U. 1996. The platform organization: Recombining strategies, structures, and surprises. Organ. Sci. 7(2) 103-118.
19. Crozier, M. 1993. Will a new logic of management emerge? J. Child, M. Crozier, R. Mayntz, eds. Societal Change Between Market and Organization. Avebury, Aldershot, UK, 19-29.
20. Daft, R. L., A. Y. Lewin. 1993. Where are the theories for the "new" organizational forms? An editorial essay. Organ. Sci. 4(4) 1-6.
21. Daft, R. L., K. E. Weick. 1984. Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems. Acad. Management Rev. 9(2) 284-295.
22. D'Aveni, R. A. 1994. Hypercompetition: Managing the Dynamics of Strategic Maneuvering. Free Press, New York.
23. David, P. A. 1985. Clio and the economics of QWERTY. Amer. Econom. Rev. 75(2) 332-337.
24. Davidow, W. H., M. S. Malone. 1992. The Virtual Corporation. Harper Collins, New York.
25. DeFillipi, R. J., M. B. Arthur. 1998. Paradox in project-based enterprise: The case of film making. Calif. Management Rev. 40(2) 125-139.
26. De Rond, M., H. Bouchikhi. 2004. On the dialectics of strategic alliances. Organ. Sci. 15(1) 56-69.
27. DeSanctis, G., P. Monge. 1999. Introduction to the special issue: Communication processes for virtual organizations. Organ. Sci. 10(6) 693-703.
28. Dierickx, I., K. Cool. 1989. Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Management Sci. 35(12) 1504-1510.
29. Dosi, G., M. Hobday, L. Marengo. 2003. Problem-solving behaviors, organizational forms, and the complexity of tasks. C. E. Helfat, ed. The SMS Blackwell Handbook of Organizational Capabilities: Emergence, Development, and Change. Blackwell Publishers, Malden, MA, 167-192.
30. Duncan, R. B. 1976. The ambidextrous organization: Designing dual structures for innovation. R. H. Kilmann, L. R. Pondy, D. P. Slevin, eds. The management of Organization Design: Strategies and Implementation, Vol. 1. Elsevier, New York, 167-188.
31. Duschek, S., G. Ortmann, J. Sydow. 2001. Grenzmanagement in Unternehmungsnetzwerken: Theoretische Zugänge und der Fall eines strategischen Dienstleistungsnetzwerks. [Boundary management in inter-firm networks.] G. Ortmann, J. Sydow, eds. Strategie und Strukturation: Strategisches Management von Unternehmen, Netzwerken und Konzernen. [Strategy and Structuration: Strategic Management of Firms, Networks and Concerns.] Gabler, Wiesbaden, 191-233.
32. Eisenhardt, K. M., J. A. Martin. 2000. Dynamic capabilities: What are they? Strategic Management J. 21(10-11) 1105-1121.
33. Eisenhardt, K. M., N. R. Furr, C. B. Bingham. 2010. Microfoundations of performance: Balancing efficiency and flexibility in dynamic environments. Organ. Sci. 21(6) 1263-1273.
34. Farjoun, M. 2010. Beyond dualism: Stability and change as a duality. Acad. Management Rev. 35(2) 202-225.
35. Feldman, M. S. 2000. Organizational routines as a source of continuous change. Organ. Sci. 11(6) 611-629.
36. Flint, D. J. 2002. Compressing new product success-to-success cycle time: Deep customer value understanding and idea generation. Indust. Marketing Management 31(4) 305-315.
37. Ford, J. D., L. W. Ford. 1994. Logics of identity, contradiction, and attraction in change. Acad. Management Rev. 19(4) 756-785.
38. Garud, R., A. Kumaraswamy, R. N. Langlois, eds. 2002. Managing in the Modular Age: Architectures, Networks, and Organizations. Blackwell Publishers, Malden, MA.
39. Ghemawat, P. 1991. Commitment: The Dynamic of Strategy. Free Press, New York.
40. Gibson, C. B., J. Birkinshaw. 2004. The antecedents, consequences, and mediating role of organizational ambidexterity. Acad. Management J. 47(2) 209-226.
41. Giddens, A. 1984. The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.
42. Gilbert, C. G. 2005. Unbundling the structure of inertia: Resource versus routine rigidity. Acad. Management J. 48(5) 741-763.
43. Graetz, F., A. C. T. Smith. 2008. The role of dualities in arbitrating continuity and change in forms of organizing. Internat. J. Management Rev. 10(3) 265-280.
44. Gulati, R. 1995. Social structure and alliance formation: A longitudinal analysis. Admin. Sci. Quart. 40(4) 619-652.
45. Gulati, R., M. Gargiulo. 1999. Where do interorganizational networks come from? Amer. J. Sociol. 104(5) 1439-1493.
46. Gupta, A. K., K. G. Smith, C. E. Shalley. 2006. The interplay between exploration and exploitation. Acad. Management J. 49(4) 693-706.
47. Hannan, M. T., J. Freeman. 1977. The population ecology of organizations. Amer. J. Sociol. 82(5) 929-964.
48. Hannan, M. T., J. Freeman. 1984. Structural inertia and organizational change. Amer. Sociol. Rev. 49(2) 149-164.
49. Hedlund, G. 1994. A model of knowledge management and the N-form corporation. Strategic Management J. 15(S2) 73-90.
50. Helfat, C. E., M. A. Peteraf. 2003. The dynamic resource-based view: Capability lifecycles. Strategic Management J. 24(10) 997-1010.
51. Helfat, C. E., S. Finkelstein, W. Mitchell, M. A. Peteraf, H. Singh, D. J. Teece, S. G. Winter. 2007. Dynamic Capabilities: Understanding Strategic Change in Organizations. Blackwell Publishers, Malden, MA.
52. Heracleous, L., M. Barrett. 2001. Organizational change as discourse: Communicative actions and deep structures in the context of information technology implementation. Acad. Management J. 44(4) 755-778.
53. Hoetker, G. 2006. Do modular products lead to modular organizations? Strategic Management J. 27(6) 501-518.
54. Ilinitch, A. Y., R. A. D'Aveni, A. Y. Lewin. 1996. New organizational forms and strategies for managing in hypercompetitive environments. Organ. Sci. 7(3) 211-220.
55. Jacobides, M. G., S. Billinger. 2006. Designing the boundaries of the firm: From "make, buy, or ally" to the dynamic benefits of vertical architecture. Organ. Sci. 17(2) 249-261.
56. Kellogg, K. C., W. J. Orlikowski, J. Yates. 2006. Life in the trading zone: Structuring coordination across boundaries in postbureaucratic organizations. Organ. Sci. 17(1) 22-44.
57. Kenis, P., M. Janowicz-Panjaitan, B. Cambré, eds. 2009. Temporary Organizations: Prevalence, Logic and Effectiveness. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK.
58. Lawrence, P. R., J. W. Lorsch. 1969. Organization and Environment. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
59. Leonard-Barton, D. 1995. Wellsprings of Knowledge. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
60. Lewin, K. 1947. Frontiers in group dynamics: Concept, method and reality in social science; social equilibria and social change. Human Relations 1(1) 5-41.
61. Lewis, M. W. 2000. Exploring paradox: Toward a more comprehensive guide. Acad. Management Rev. 25(4) 760-776.
62. Lindkvist, L. 2004. Governing project-based firms: Promoting market-like processes within hierarchies. J. Management Governance 8(1) 3-25.
63. Luhmann, N. 1993. Risk: A Sociological Theory (Social Institutions and Social Change). Aldine de Gruyter, Berlin.
64. Luhmann, N. 1995. Social Systems. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
65. Lundin, R. A., A. Söderholm. 1995. A theory of the temporary organization. Scand. J. Management 11(4) 437-455.
66. Lytras, M. D., M.-A. Sicilia. 2005. The knowledge society: A manifesto for knowledge and learning. Internat. J. Knowledge Learn. 1(1-2) 1-11.
67. Madsen, P., V. Desai, K. Roberts, D. Wong. 2006. Mitigating hazards through continuing design: The birth and evolution of pediatric intensive care unit. Organ. Sci. 17(2) 239-248.
68. March, J. G. 1991. Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organ. Sci. 2(1) 71-87.
69. Marengo, L. 1992. Coordination and organizational learning in the firm. J. Evolutionary Econom 2(4) 313-326.
70. Miles, R. E., C. C. Snow, J. A. Mathews, G. Miles, H. J. Coleman Jr. 1997. Organizing in the knowledge age: Anticipating the cellular form. Acad. Management Executive 11(4) 7-24.
71. Miller, D. 1993. The architecture of simplicity. Acad. Management Rev. 18(1) 116-138.
72. Miller, D. 1994. What happens after success: The perils of excellence. J. Management Stud. 31(1) 325-358.
73. Miner, A. S., P. Bassoff, C. Moorman. 2001. Organizational improvisation and learning: A field study. Admin. Sci. Quart. 46(2) 304-337.
74. Mintzberg, H. 1979. The Structuring of Organizations. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
75. Mom, T. J. M., F. A. J van den Bosch, H. W. Volberda. 2009. Understanding variation in managers' ambidexterity: Investigating direct and interaction effects of formal structural and personal coordination mechanisms. Organ. Sci. 20(4) 812-828.
76. Neisser, U. 1976. Cognition and Reality: Principles and Implications of Cognitive Psychology. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.
77. Nelson, R. R., S. G. Winter. 1982. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
78. O'Reilly, C. A., III, M. L. Tushman. 2008. Ambidexterity as a dynamic capability: Resolving the innovator's dilemma. Res. Organ. Behav. 28 185-206.
79. Parsons, T. 1991. The Social System. New preface by B. S. Turner. Routledge, London. (Orig. pub. 1951.)
80. Pedler, M., J. Burgoyne, J. Boydell. 1991. The Learning Company: A Strategy for Sustainable Development. McGraw-Hill, London.
81. Piaget, J. 1985. The Equilibration of Cognitive Structures: The Central Problem of Intellectual Development. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
82. Pierson, P. 2000. Increasing returns, path dependence, and the study of politics. Amer. Political Sci. Rev. 94(2) 251-267.
83. Piore, M. J., C. F. Sabel. 1984. Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. Basic Books, New York.
84. Raisch, S., J. Birkinshaw, G. Probst, M. L. Tushman. 2009. Organizational ambidexterity: Balancing exploitation and exploration for sustained performance. Organ. Sci. 20(4) 685-695.
85. Rometsch, M., J. Sydow. 2006. On identities of networks and organizations. M. Kornberger, S. Gudergan, eds. Only Connect: Neat Words, Networks and Identities. Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen, 19-47.
86. Sanchez, R., J. T. Mahoney. 1996. Modularity, flexibility, and knowledge management in product and organization design. Strategic Management J. 17(Winter Special Issue) 63-76.
87. Santos, F. M., K. M. Eisenhardt. 2005. Organizational boundaries and theories of organization. Organ. Sci. 16(5) 491-508.
88. Schilling, M. A. 2000. Toward a general modular systems theory and its application to interfirm product modularity. Acad. Management Rev. 25(2) 312-334.
89. Schreyögg, G., M. Kliesch-Eberl. 2007. How dynamic can organizational capabilities be? Towards a dual-process model of capability dynamization. Strategic Management J. 28(9) 913-933.
90. Schreyögg, G., C. Noss. 2000. Reframing change in organizations: The equilibrium logic and beyond. Acad. Management Best Paper Proc., Toronto, Academy of Management, Briarcliff Manor, NY, B1-B6.
91. Schumpeter, J. A. 1934. Theory of Economic Development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
92. Seidl, D. 2005. Organisational Identity and Self-Transformation: An Autopoietic Perspective. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, UK.
93. Siggelkow, N., J. W. Rivkin. 2005. Speed and search: Designing organizations for turbulence and complexity. Organ. Sci. 16(2) 101-122.
94. Simsek, Z. 2009. Organizational ambidexterity: Towards a multilevel understanding. J. Management Stud. 46(4) 597-624.
95. Smith, W. K., M. L. Tushman. 2005. Managing strategic contradictions: A top management model for managing innovation streams. Organ. Sci. 16(5) 522-536.
96. Staber, U., J. Sydow. 2002. Organizational adaptive capacity: A structuration perspective. J. Management Inquiry 11(4) 408-424.
97. Starkey, K., C. Barnatt, S. Tempest. 2000. Beyond networks and hierarchies: Latent organizations in the U.K. television industry. Organ. Sci. 11(3) 299-305.
98. Sydow, J., G. Schreyögg, J. Koch. 2009. Organizational path dependence: Opening the black box. Acad. Management Rev. 34(4) 689-709.
99. Teece, D. J. 2007. Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature of microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise advantage. Strategic Management J. 28(13) 1319-1350.
100. Teece, D. J., G. Pisano, A. Shuen. 1997. Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management J. 18(7) 509-533.
101. Tolbert, P. S., L. G. Zucker. 1996. The institutionalization of institutional theory. S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy, W. R. Nord, eds. Handbook of Organization Studies. Sage Publications, London, 175-190.
102. Tsoukas, H., R. Chia. 2002. On organizational becoming: Rethinking organizational change. Organ. Sci. 13(5) 567-582.
103. Vaill, P. B. 1996. Learning as a Way of Being: Strategies for Survival in a World of Permanent White Water. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
104. Weick, K. E. 1977. Organization design: Organizations as self-designing systems. Organ. Dynam. 6(2) 31-46.
105. Weick, K. E. 1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
106. Weick, K. E. 2000. Making Sense of the Organization. Blackwell Publishers, Malden, MA.
107. Wiggins, R. R., T. W. Ruefli. 2005. Schumpeter's ghost: Is hyper-competition making the best of times shorter? Strategic Management J. 26(10) 887-911.
108. Wildavsky, A. 1983. Information as an organizational problem. J. Management Stud. 20(1) 29-40.
109. Williamson, O. E. 1985. The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. Free Press, New York.
110. Winter, S. G. 2000. The satisficing principle in capability learning. Strategic Management J. 21(10-11) 981-996.
111. Winter, S. G. 2003. Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management J. 24(10) 991-995.
112. Zollo, M., S. G. Winter. 2002. Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organ. Sci. 13(3) 339-351.
113. Zollo, M., J. J. Reuer, H. Singh. 2002. Interorganizational routines and performance in strategic alliances. Organ. Sci. 13(6) 701-713.