Contributions published at Organization and Management (David Seidl)

In this paper, we review the burgeoning but dispersed literature on chief executive officer (CEO) advice seeking, which has important effects on strategic decision making, the CEO’s and the board of directors’ effectiveness, and firms’ entrepreneurial orientation, innovativeness, and financial performance. We synthesize research findings about the key features of CEO advice seeking and its antecedents and outcomes across multiple levels of analysis. On the basis of our review, we identify important research gaps and develop a future research agenda that outlines new research questions and empirical foci that extend the current scope of analysis. We also highlight promising new theories and underutilized methods suitable for this area of research. With an integrative review and research agenda, we hope to stimulate cross-fertilization of different lines of inquiry and encourage new research that shines a spotlight on the remaining puzzles of CEO advice-seeking research.

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In this review essay, we explore how Luhmann’s radical communication approach, which conceptualizes communication without recourse to human beings’ intentions, can reorient existing research on organizational communication. We show how Luhmann’s perspective puts decisions back into organizational communication studies, how it changes our perspective on organizational continuity and on organizational boundaries, and how it redirects our understanding of human agency in organizations. We also discuss three areas in which Luhmann’s theory could draw inspiration from other research on organizational communication. Keywords: autopoiesis, communication, Niklas Luhmann, organization studies, systems theory.

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Participation in strategy formulation has become increasingly popular in practice and theory as it is associated with the pooling of knowledge and interests as well as higher commitment and more coherent action in strategy implementation. Research on this important phenomenon has grown rapidly over the last decade, focusing particularly on extreme forms of participation such as the involvement of bigger crowds through digital platforms. Yet, previous work on participation (e.g. middle management involvement, inter-organizational strategizing) remains in separate literature streams and is lacking integration. Therefore, there is a need for a systematic review and evaluation of existing work. Adopting central sensemaking concepts, we review the literature in terms of how participants’ interests, frame repertoires and power affect their selection of cues and frames during collective strategy formulation. We develop a framework that shows how both sensemaking dynamics as well as possible design options result in a (shared or fragmented) strategic agenda and understanding. On this basis, a concrete research agenda is developed in terms of topics, methodologies, and theories.

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Participation in strategy formulation has become increasingly popular in practice and theory as it is associated with the pooling of knowledge and interests as well as higher commitment and more coherent action in strategy implementation. Research on this important phenomenon has grown rapidly over the last decade, focusing particularly on extreme forms of participation such as the involvement of bigger crowds through digital platforms. Yet, previous work on participation (e.g. middle management involvement, inter-organizational strategizing) remains in separate literature streams and is lacking integration. Therefore, there is a need for a systematic review and evaluation of existing work. Adopting central sensemaking concepts, we review the literature in terms of how participants’ interests, frame repertoires and power affect their selection of cues and frames during collective strategy formulation. We develop a framework that shows how both sensemaking dynamics as well as possible design options result in a (shared or fragmented) strategic agenda and understanding. On this basis, a concrete research agenda is developed in terms of topics, methodologies, and theories.

Participation in strategy formulation has become increasingly popular in practice and theory as it is associated with the pooling of knowledge and interests as well as higher commitment and more coherent action in strategy implementation. Research on this important phenomenon has grown rapidly over the last decade, focusing particularly on extreme forms of participation such as the involvement of bigger crowds through digital platforms. Yet, previous work on participation (e.g. middle management involvement, inter-organizational strategizing) remains in separate literature streams and is lacking integration. Therefore, there is a need for a systematic review and evaluation of existing work. Adopting central sensemaking concepts, we review the literature in terms of how participants’ interests, frame repertoires and power affect their selection of cues and frames during collective strategy formulation. We develop a framework that shows how both sensemaking dynamics as well as possible design options result in a (shared or fragmented) strategic agenda and understanding. On this basis, a concrete research agenda is developed in terms of topics, methodologies, and theories.

Although the notion of space has gained considerable attention in organisation studies, it remains vague, and the respective literature is fragmented. In this paper, we review the empirical literature on organisational space with the aim of synthesising the findings of existing research and thereby facilitating the development of cumulative knowledge in this field. We highlight three dominant concepts that define space: boundaries, distance and movement. Furthermore, we identify four major spatial themes: the distribution of positions in space, the isolation of space, the differentiation of spaces and the intersection of distinct spaces. On that basis, we develop a comprehensive research framework and propose an agenda for future research on organisations from a spatial perspective.

In this study, we examine how strategy making takes place across different types of interaction spaces. Based on a one-year ethnographic field study of a strategy development process in a division of a large information technology company, we found that strategists use different kinds of spaces for different purposes. We show that planned and ad-hoc process-driven spaces and planned and ad-hoc issue-driven spaces fulfil complementary roles (such as content advancement, content redirection, scope extension, scope reduction) that are all necessary for the development of strategic issues.

Franchisees play an important role when inter-organizational change, initiated by franchisors, is to be implemented. The objective of this thesis is to gain insights into franchisees’ sensemaking activities. Drawing on sensemaking theories and franchising literature, a case study on franchisees in the automotive industry reveals how social processes of interaction, within and across their organizational boundaries, influence their interpretations of change initiatives. It contributes to the sensemaking literature through expanding research to inter-organizational change. It also contributes to the franchising literature through analyzing the franchisees’ role during franchisor-initiated change from a sensemaking perspective.

Family-controlled firms are the most widespread form of business organization, but they have so far attracted limited attention from organizational scholars. The present work suggests that coupling research on family business organizations with organization studies will substantially benefit both areas of scholarly research. We explore how the five core defining features of family firms – ownership, management and governance, transgenerational intention, generational involvement and perceived identity – may be illuminated by extant research in organization studies, and how, in turn, organizational studies may be extended by investigating its key themes in the empirical context of family firms.

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For decades companies have developed strategies behind closed doors. Today, more and more organizations decide to pursue “Open Strategy”. AXA UKI is a leading example by giving their employees more visibility in the strategy process and letting them contribute their own ideas.

This chapter introduces the practice theory developed by Theodore Schatzki and highlights its implications for organization studies. In particular, it shows how his theory contributes to our understanding of the micro-foundations of organizations, the embeddedness of organizations in their wider social context, and the temporal and spatial dimensions of organizations. It also discusses how Schatzki’s theory can be applied in empirical research on organizations.