Management as a Symbolizing Construction?

In this article, we outline the concept of management as a symbolizing construction. According to Niklas LUHMANN, organizations process by referring to decisions. But decisions are not simply "given" and in principle invisible. This is the reason why organizations institute formalities like protocols, signatures or other insignia of the official that symbolize the decision—without actually being a decision. These symbols allow for making decisions "process-able." And just like a protocol or a signature, management symbolizes decisions as well. Management provides an organizational practice with symbols of decision making without being the "unity" of the decisions, as decisions perpetually have to be reconstructed, redefined and rearranged in the communication of all organizational units. Therefore management symbolizes on the one hand more than it can achieve. On the other hand the importance of management as a symbolizing construction lies in allowing the reconstruction, redefining and rearrangement of decisions by making them visible and recognizable. Heroic managers, meetings, management tools and procedures are solutions to the paradox of decision making. By symbolizing decidedness they create credibilities that conceal the self-referential construction of organizational communication and the paradox of its decision praxis

Positions-Rochaden: Machtverteilungen in partizipativen Forschungsprojekten am Beispiel der Sicherheitsforschung

Series: Discussion Paper Series / Center for Empirical Research Method

Trading Places: Power Distributions in participatory research projects as exemplified by security research

Series: Discussion Paper Series / Center for Empirical Research Method

Management as a symbolizing construction? Re-arranging the understanding of management

"In diesem Artikel stellen die Autoren eine soziologische Beobachtung von Management als Symbolkonstruktion vor. Nach Niklas Luhmann ist das Prozessieren von Organisationen gekennzeichnet durch die Bezugnahme auf Entscheidungen. Entscheidungen sind aber nicht einfach 'vorhanden' und zunächst prinzipiell unsichtbar. Darum installieren Organisationen Formalia wie Protokolle, Unterschriften oder andere Insignien des Offiziellen, welche die Darstellung der Entscheidung ermöglichen, ohne selbst die Entscheidung zu sein. Erst die Symbole machen Entscheidungen also als solche prozessierbar. Wie ein Protokoll oder eine Unterschrift symbolisiert auch Management organisationale Entscheidungen. Management versorgt die organisationale Praxis mit Symbolen des Entscheidens, ohne selbst die 'Einheit' der Entscheidung zu sein, da Entscheidungen kontinuierlich rekonstruiert, redefiniert und in der Kommunikation der organisationalen Einheiten umgedeutet werden müssen. Deshalb steht Management einerseits symbolisch für mehr, als es eigentlich leisten kann. Andererseits liegt die Bedeutung von Management als Symbolkonstruktion gerade in ihrem Potenzial, die Rekonstruktion und Bezugnahme auf Entscheidungen möglich zu machen, indem Entscheidungen sichtbar werden. Heroische Manager/innen, Meetings und 'Management Tools' bearbeiten letztlich die Paradoxie der Entscheidung. Indem Entschiedenheit symbolisch dargestellt wird, entstehen Eindeutigkeiten, welche die selbsttragende Konstruktion von organisationaler Kommunikation und die Paradoxie ihrer Entscheidungspraxis verdecken." (Autorenreferat)"In this article, the authors outline the concept of management as a symbolizing construction. According to Niklas Luhmann, organizations process by referring to decisions. But decisions are not simply 'given' and in principle invisible. This is the reason why organizations institute formalities like protocols, signatures or other insignia of the official that symbolize the decision - without actually being a decision. These symbols allow for making decisions 'process-able'. And just like a protocol or a signature, management symbolizes decisions as well. Management provides an organizational practice with symbols of decision making without being the 'unity' of the decisions, as decisions perpetually have to be reconstructed, redefined and rearranged in the communication of all organizational units. Therefore management symbolizes on the one hand more than it can achieve. On the other hand the importance of management as a symbolizing construction lies in allowing the reconstruction, redefining and rearrangement of decisions by making them visible and recognizable. Heroic managers, meetings, management tools and procedures are solutions to the paradox of decision making. By symbolizing decidedness they create credibilities that conceal the self-referential construction of organizational communication and the paradox of its decision praxis." (author's abstract

Management as a symbolizing construction? Re-arranging the understanding of management

"In diesem Artikel stellen die Autoren eine soziologische Beobachtung von Management als Symbolkonstruktion vor. Nach Niklas Luhmann ist das Prozessieren von Organisationen gekennzeichnet durch die Bezugnahme auf Entscheidungen. Entscheidungen sind aber nicht einfach 'vorhanden' und zunächst prinzipiell unsichtbar. Darum installieren Organisationen Formalia wie Protokolle, Unterschriften oder andere Insignien des Offiziellen, welche die Darstellung der Entscheidung ermöglichen, ohne selbst die Entscheidung zu sein. Erst die Symbole machen Entscheidungen also als solche prozessierbar. Wie ein Protokoll oder eine Unterschrift symbolisiert auch Management organisationale Entscheidungen. Management versorgt die organisationale Praxis mit Symbolen des Entscheidens, ohne selbst die 'Einheit' der Entscheidung zu sein, da Entscheidungen kontinuierlich rekonstruiert, redefiniert und in der Kommunikation der organisationalen Einheiten umgedeutet werden müssen. Deshalb steht Management einerseits symbolisch für mehr, als es eigentlich leisten kann. Andererseits liegt die Bedeutung von Management als Symbolkonstruktion gerade in ihrem Potenzial, die Rekonstruktion und Bezugnahme auf Entscheidungen möglich zu machen, indem Entscheidungen sichtbar werden. Heroische Manager/innen, Meetings und 'Management Tools' bearbeiten letztlich die Paradoxie der Entscheidung. Indem Entschiedenheit symbolisch dargestellt wird, entstehen Eindeutigkeiten, welche die selbsttragende Konstruktion von organisationaler Kommunikation und die Paradoxie ihrer Entscheidungspraxis verdecken." (Autorenreferat)"In this article, the authors outline the concept of management as a symbolizing construction. According to Niklas Luhmann, organizations process by referring to decisions. But decisions are not simply 'given' and in principle invisible. This is the reason why organizations institute formalities like protocols, signatures or other insignia of the official that symbolize the decision - without actually being a decision. These symbols allow for making decisions 'process-able'. And just like a protocol or a signature, management symbolizes decisions as well. Management provides an organizational practice with symbols of decision making without being the 'unity' of the decisions, as decisions perpetually have to be reconstructed, redefined and rearranged in the communication of all organizational units. Therefore management symbolizes on the one hand more than it can achieve. On the other hand the importance of management as a symbolizing construction lies in allowing the reconstruction, redefining and rearrangement of decisions by making them visible and recognizable. Heroic managers, meetings, management tools and procedures are solutions to the paradox of decision making. By symbolizing decidedness they create credibilities that conceal the self-referential construction of organizational communication and the paradox of its decision praxis." (author's abstract

Programing stimuli-responsiveness of gelatin with electron beams: Basic effects and development of a hydration-controlled biocompatible demonstrator

Biomimetic materials with programmable stimuli responsiveness constitute a highly attractive material class for building bioactuators, sensors and active control elements in future biomedical applications. With this background, we demonstrate how energetic electron beams can be utilized to construct tailored stimuli responsive actuators for biomedical applications. Composed of collagen-derived gelatin, they reveal a mechanical response to hydration and changes in pH-value and ion concentration, while maintaining their excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. While this is explicitly demonstrated by systematic characterizing an electron-beam synthesized gelatin-based actuator of cantilever geometry, the underlying materials processes are also discussed, based on the fundamental physical and chemical principles. When applied within classical electron beam lithography systems, these findings pave the way for a novel class of highly versatile integrated bioactuators from micro-to macroscales

MiR-200c-3p modulates cisplatin resistance in biliary tract cancer by ZEB1-independent mechanisms

Biliary tract cancer is a major global health issue in cancer-related mortality. Therapeutic options are limited, and cisplatin-based treatment schedules represent the mainstay of first-line therapeutic strategies. Although the gain of survival by the addition of cisplatin to gemcitabine is moderate, acquired cisplatin resistance frequently leads to treatment failures with mechanisms that are still poorly understood. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a dynamic process that changes the shape, function, and gene expression pattern of biliary tract cancer cells. In this study, we explored the influence of the EMT-regulating miR-200c-3p on cisplatin sensitivity in biliary tract cancer cells. Using gain of function experiments, we demonstrated that miR-200c-3p regulates epithelial cell markers through the downregulation of the transcription factor ZEB1. MiR-200c-3p upregulation led to a decreased sensitivity against cisplatin, as observed in transient overexpression models as well as in cell lines stably overexpressing miR-200c-3p. The underlying mechanism seems to be independent of miR-200c-3p’s influence on ZEB1 expression, as ZEB1 knockdown resulted in the opposite effect on cisplatin resistance, which was abolished when ZEB1 knockdown and miR-200c-3p overexpression occurred in parallel. Using a gene panel of 40 genes that were previously associated with cisplatin resistance, two (Dual Specificity Phosphatase 16 (DUSP16) and Stratifin (SFN)) were identified as significantly (>2 fold, p-value < 0.05) up-regulated in miR-200c-3p overexpressing cells. In conclusion, miR-200c-3p might be an important contributor to cisplatin resistance in biliary tract cancer, independently of its interaction with ZEB1