Self-organizing Systems - Publications - Faculty & Research

Research Summary

Self-Management & Self-Organizing Systems

Self-management serves as a foundational theme for much of my research; many of my interests were forged while working to enable self-management in organizational settings. Self-managing systems rely heavily on interpersonal relationships, peer regulation and... View Details

Keywords: Self-Managed Organizations; Self-organizing Systems; Hierarchy; Control

2017
Article

Self-Managing Organizations: Exploring the Limits of Less-Hierarchical Organizing

By: Michael Y. Lee and Amy C. Edmondson

Fascination with organizations that eschew the conventional managerial hierarchy and instead radically decentralize authority has been longstanding, albeit at the margins of scholarly and practitioner attention. Recently, however, organizational experiments in radical... View Details

Keywords: Self-Managed Organizations; Self-Managed Teams; Self-organizing Systems; Self-managing Organizations; Flat Organization; Decentralization; Organization Design; Non-hierarchical Organizations; Less-hierarchical Organizing; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Research

Citation

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July–August 2016
Article

Beyond the Holacracy Hype: The Overwrought Claims—and Actual Promise—of the Next Generation of Self-Managed Teams

By: Ethan Bernstein, John Bunch, Niko Canner and Michael Lee

Holacracy and other forms of self-organization have been getting a lot of press. Proponents hail them as "flat" environments that foster flexibility, engagement, productivity, and efficiency. Critics say they're naive, unrealistic experiments. We argue, using evidence... View Details

Citation

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11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

PublicationsBlock-by-Blockbuster Innovation Author:Rosabeth Moss Kanter Publication:Harvard Business Review 88, no. 5 (May 2010) An abstract is unavailable at this time. Preview the Article: http://hbr.org/2010/05/column-block-by-blockbuster-innovation/ar/1/ Between... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Karim R. Lakhani

Karim R. Lakhani is the Dorothy & Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He specializes in technology management, innovation, digital transformation and artificial... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; communications; computer; health care; high technology; information technology industry; internet; pharmaceuticals; software; video games

Nitin Nohria

Nitin Nohria served as the tenth dean of Harvard Business School from 2010-2020. He previously served as co-chair of the Leadership Initiative, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development, and Head of the Organizational Behavior unit.

As Dean, building on... View Details

Dutch Leonard

Herman B. ("Dutch") Leonard is Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and the George F. Baker, Jr. Professor of Public Sector Management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In... View Details

Keywords: education industry; federal government; health care; nonprofit industry; state government

06 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Strategic Intelligence: Adapt or Die

behavior. There is interesting research that humans are able to self-organize and become very effective without formal bureaucracy in units of up to 100 to 150 people. If you can create components and then effectively create bridges... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

23 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative

this kind of flexibility. And some of those self-selected, self-organized projects might even result in a blockbuster product or line of business. For 3M, it was the Post-it note. Recognize innovation in every part of the company. To... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons, Julia Hanna & Roger Thompson

01 Mar 2012
News

Get Creative

high-tech companies know that they can’t get the best talent without providing this kind of flexibility. And some of those self-selected, self-organized projects might even result in a blockbuster product or line of business. For 3M, it... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons;Julia Hanna;Roger Thompson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

22 Feb 2022
News

Case Study: Welcome Aboard

clusters due to population densities. Enable them to congregate with part-time access to coworking offices. They will self-organize according to project necessity or their own desires for face time. Remote-first will not be without... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

05 Jul 2016
First Look

July 5, 2016

July–August 2016 Harvard Business Review Beyond the Holacracy Hype: The Overwrought Claims—and Actual Promise—of the Next Generation of Self-Managed Teams By: Bernstein, Ethan, John Bunch, Niko Canner, and Michael Lee Abstract—Holacracy and other forms of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 2

change. Encouraging self-organizing networks to let them investigate whatever they want to through company channels can produce new business ideas, as IBM found in the early days of virtualization. When talented employees leave to start... View Details