212
Increasing Permeability of Organizational Boundaries?

Monday, 11 July 2016: 10:45-12:15
Location: Hörsaal 17 (Juridicum)
RC17 Sociology of Organization (host committee)

Language: English

We plan a regular session in which we would like to discuss the implications of recent trends regarding the permeability of organizational boundaries. By permability we mean two things: 
On the one hand, established organizational forms break up. Their fragments only partially exhibit their properties (Ahrne and Brunsson, 2010) and often embed single organizations in networks which make their boundaries more permeable. We also witness the rise of hybrid organizations that combine societal logics from previously unconnected parts of society.
On the other hand, organizations face increasing demands for transparency (Hood, 2006). They are urged to make information – for example on their decision-making processes – accessible for external audiences.

Our session aims to discuss these trends focusing on developments in three parts of society: industry, higher education and public administration. Our session will be open to theoretical and empirical contributions that address, among others, the following questions:

  • How do firms/universities and colleges/public organizations structure the expansion of their boundaries? How do these new organizational forms look like? 
  • Are there differences with respect to organizational forms and practices between firms/universities and colleges/public organizations across countries? 
  • How do informal organizational aspects such as culture or social relationships influence the way firms/universities and colleges/public organizations implement the expansion of their boundaries? 
  • Are there unintended or even dysfunctional side-effects of these developments at the organizational or societal level?
Session Organizers:
Leopold RINGEL, University of Bonn, Germany, Georg REISCHAUER, Hertie School of Governance, Germany and Petra HILLER, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Posters:
Organization Among Organizations
Nils BRUNSSON, Uppsala University, Sweden
Hybridization of University and Its Societal Environment: Reflections on the Triple Helix Model and Ways Forward
Juha TUUNAINEN, University of Oulu, Finland; Kari KANTASALMI, University of Helsinki, Finland
Organizational Boundaries Revisited
Renate E. MEYER, WU Wien, Austria
Dynamic and Regulated: About the Permeability of University Boundaries Via the Governance of Studying and Teaching
Janosch BAUMANN, University of Kassel, Germany; Christian SCHNEIJDERBERG, University of Kassel, Germany; Georg KRUCKEN, University of Kassel, Germany; Isabel STEINHARDT, INCHER Kassel, Germany
Religious Universities Between Gaining Legitimacy and Maintaining Identity
Andre ARMBRUSTER, Helmut Schmidt University, Germany; Cristina BESIO, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany; Uli MEYER, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
The Non-Addressable Meta-Organization and Its Contribution to High Reliability
Michael GROTHE-HAMMER, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany