Bright, excellent, ignored: the contribution of Luhmann's system theory and its problem of non-connectivity to academic management research

"Niklas Luhmann's theory has been largely ignored in organization studies, compared to other sociological approaches like Weick's sensemaking, Giddens' structuration theory, or Latour's Actor-Network Theory. While having being applied on a number of fields, such as philosophy, sociology, theology, law and political sciences, application of Luhmann's theory is still limited in organization studies (e.g. Munro 2010). In this paper, the authors attempt to explain the reasons of this ignorance and limited use, focusing on Luhmann's writing style, but also on the theoretical and empirical limitations his theory poses. Believing that Luhmann's theory holds great potential to be applied to organizational studies and explain organizational phenomena, they then discuss how it could contribute to radically changing the conventional ways of studying and analyzing organizational phenomena, fostering at the same time, the debate about the value of his theory. The authors analyze organizations as communicative processes that continuously produce and reproduce themselves to create knowledge, make decisions, structure expectations, and redefine organizational boundaries. Finally, they address the empirical challenges of applying Luhmann's theory on organization studies." (author's abstract

Routine dynamics in virtual teams: the role of technological artifacts

Purpose In this paper, the authors extend their understanding of the internal dynamics of routines in contexts characterized by increased levels of virtuality. In particular, the authors focus on the role of routine artifacts in the internal dynamics of routines to answer the question: How does extensive reliance on information and communication technologies (ICTs) due to physical distance influence the internal dynamics of the new product development (NPD) routine (i.e. interactions between performative, ostensive and artifacts of routines) enacted by a virtual team? Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on an 18-month ethnographic study of the NPD routine performed by a virtual team. The authors relied predominantly on qualitative, ethnographic data collection and analysis methods, using semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, and the collection of archival data and company documents (formal procedures, guidelines, application designs etc). Qualitative research offers a valuable means to investigate dynamic processes in organizations due to its sensitivity to the organizational context and potential to focus on activities as they unfold. Findings The findings highlight the central role of routine artifacts (ICTs) in the routine dynamics of the NPD routine performed by virtual team. In particular, the authors show that the use of the particular types of ICTs enabled team members to confidently and meaningfully relate to the overall routine activity and coordinate their actions in a context characterized by physical distance and extensive reliance on communication and collaboration technologies. Originality/value The paper sheds light into role of routine artifacts in the routine dynamics in a context characterized by a high degree of virtuality. This work contributes to the literature on routine dynamics by theorizing about the processes through which routine artifacts (ICTs) afforded routine participants the ability to act confidently and meaningfully to the present and dynamically coordinate their actions with their fellow routine participants

Leading the creative process: the case of virtual product design

Motivated by an acknowledged need to study creativity in the context of virtual project teams (VPTs), in this article, we contribute to theory by analysing the role that leadership plays for creativity in the different phases of the creative process in VPTs. We draw on a qualitative case study with 49 members who worked in six VPTs as part of an Industry-Academia collaboration. Using the longitudinal approach, we study each phase of the virtual product design process using interviews, observations and other materials (e.g. project documentation). We find that, in the virtual design context, creativity is best understood as a process and comes in different shapes as this process evolves. We also pinpoint that different, though complementary, leadership skills are necessary in order for VPTs’ creative potential to be unleashed. These findings highlight the heterogeneous character of leadership at the different phases of the creative process in VPTs

How is knowledge created in virtual teams?

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Emotions and the spatialization of social relations in text-based computer-mediated communication

This paper advances our knowledge of emotions in virtual teams using text-based computer mediated communication (TB-CMC). The literature’s preoccupation with the absence of physical cues of emotion has meant we lack both an understanding of how emotions are co-constructed through interaction, and an explanation of their role in the social relations of virtual teams. Adopting a communicative view of emotion, we present the findings of a longitudinal study of a virtual team within a trans-national collaborative project. We present three aspects of interaction that demonstrate how team members’ experience and understanding of the emotions expressed through, and suppressed from, text-based messages are influenced by the styles and patterns of interaction enabled by technology. Where our three aspects tend towards stasis, we argue that emotion provides a temporal dimension to a process of ‘spatializing’ social relations by connoting what should change, or what should endure, between people

Methods for qualitative management research in the context of social systems thinking.

The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with an introduction into the FQS special issue "Methods for qualitative management research in the context of social systems thinking." While reviewing papers of this special issue, the editors recognized three thematic threads that seem to be of particular importance to qualitative management research from the stance of systems theory. The first of these themes relates to observation, i.e. the observable, in management research, the second to methods and the design of studies for application in empirical research using systems theory, and the third to the implications of those studies on what was studied, i.e. management in organizations. The positions of the authors of this Special Issue regarding these three themes are reflected and discussed in this article. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs10033