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Deflating the rhetoric around “flat firms”

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  • Phanish Puranam

    (INSEAD)

Abstract

Today we know a fair amount about how to flatten hierarchies of authority but not as much about when and why the attempt is worthwhile. Both designers and inhabitants of organizations may have preferences for specific ways of non-hierarchical organizing. Measuring these and designing accordingly may be an important development for the theory and practice of organization design.

Suggested Citation

  • Phanish Puranam, 2022. "Deflating the rhetoric around “flat firms”," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(1), pages 15-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:11:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s41469-022-00114-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s41469-022-00114-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stephan Billinger & Maciej Workiewicz, 2019. "Fading hierarchies and the emergence of new forms of organization," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, December.
    2. Wilson, David Sloan & Ostrom, Elinor & Cox, Michael E., 2013. "Generalizing the core design principles for the efficacy of groups," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(S), pages 21-32.
    3. Ying-Ying Hsieh & Jean-Philippe Vergne & Philip Anderson & Karim Lakhani & Markus Reitzig, 2018. "Bitcoin and the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 7(1), pages 1-16, December.
    4. Prithwiraj Choudhury & Kevin Crowston & Linus Dahlander & Marco S. Minervini & Sumita Raghuram, 2020. "GitLab: work where you want, when you want," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, December.
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