Management Workshop

主题：Keeping it together: A process perspective of forming and sustaining meta-organizations without a central architect

主讲人：Ann-Kristin Zobel（University of St. Gallen）

时间：2022/3/25    16:00 pm- 17:30 pm

会议方式： 会议号：948 7381 7175；密码：539990

ZOOM链接: https://zoom.us/j/94873817175?pwd=VFRTMitubW1IUmY2Nm05ekk5c1ZPZz09

Abstract:

Meta-organizations are diffusing rapidly as a form of distributed organizing. Constituent firms face dual embeddedness as they are subject to both system-level goals within the meta-organizational context and individual corporate-level goals. Extant research has so far focused on meta-organizations that are orchestrated by a central architect that sets and enforces system-level goals and coordinates hierarchically. However, alternative forms of meta-organizations exist consisting of members that share similar horizontal positions. This begs the question of how and why meta-organizations form, organize, and sustain if goals and rules are not centrally enforced. Through an in-depth longitudinal case study of a meta-organization formed to address the global transformation of the energy industry, we examine this question and find the following results. First, during the formation phase, the meta-organization established ‘purpose multiplicity’ - a set of loosely defined intentions. Second, we identify a set of (re)purposing strategies: transformational-, strategic-, relational-, and intertemporal repurposing, via which the meta-organization vacillated between emphasizing system- vs. corporate-level goals and was thus, able to sustain. Third, we identify a set of organizing principles that differ in the degree to which they draw more from hierarchical vs. heterarchical dimensions. These organizing principles help to explain how meta-organizational repurposing and vacillation across system- and corporate-level goals was achieved. Combining these findings, we propose a process model that sheds light on the formation, evolution, and organization of meta-organizations that lack a central architect. The result is a preliminary theory on distributed organizing and inter-firm collaboration in meta-organizations with no central authority.

Biography:

Ann-Kristin Zobel is Associate Professor of Management at the University of St.Gallen. She received her B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. from the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University. Prior to her appointment at the University of St.Gallen, she held a postdoctoral position at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley and a senior researcher position at ETH Zurich. Ann-Kristin Zobel’s research focuses on how firms strategically manage collaborative forms of innovation (e.g. open innovation, innovation ecosystems, meta-organizations). In particular, she investigates how firms search for and absorb knowledge residing outside their boundaries, how they coordinate and govern more complex multi-party collaborations, and how they capture value in a collaborative innovation setting. In these fields, she has published numerous articles in leading academic journals (e.g. Journal of Management Studies, Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of Product Innovation Management). In her current work, she focuses on the energy sector as an ideal setting for empirically investigating collaborative strategies in a technologically complex and turbulent environment. In a recently acquired project from the National Research Program “Digital Transformation” (NRP 77), she extends her analysis of collaborative strategies to the digital transformation of energy and mobility solutions in the context of smart cities.

Reference：

Zobel, A. K., & Comello, S. (2021). Keeping it together: A process perspective of forming and sustaining meta-organizations without a central architect.

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