Organizational Design for New Organizational Forms

We propose to study if - and where - extant theories of organizational design require elaborations in order to explain the emergence and effectiveness of so-called new organizational forms such as open source software or new business models. We suggest that classic theories of organizational design - among them Carnegie school and its derivatives (e.g. contingency theory), while capturing important features of even novel forms of organizing, may benefit from elaborations regarding three distinct sub-questions, namely: how relevant are authority and hierarchy, traditional solutions to the design challenge of dividing labor and integrating effort, to new organizations? Second, under which conditions is self-selection considered to be an important solution to the organizational design challenge in new forms of organizing, truly effective? Third, how do different solutions to the design challenges of task division, task allocation, rewards distribution, and information provision complement one another?