IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jorgde/v14y2025i2d10.1007_s41469-024-00182-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

(Not) by chance? An application of Assembly Theory to infer non-randomness in organizational design

Author

Listed:
  • Ekin Ilseven

    (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)

  • Phanish Puranam

    (INSEAD)

Abstract

Assembly theory (AT) (Sharma et al., Nature 622:321–328, 2023) is a novel and ambitious perspective on the emergence of larger structures from smaller structures in the physical realm. It offers formal tools to infer the development trajectories of observed structures under some theory-driven assumptions. By mapping it onto the micro-structural perspective of organizations, we show how AT can also help us model organizational development and estimate the extent to which an observed organizational structure is (un)likely to have arisen by chance. We apply these to illustrate how we can infer the extent of non-randomness in the development history of an organization based on its current structure. We note theoretical and empirical implications for the study of organization design.

Suggested Citation

  • Ekin Ilseven & Phanish Puranam, 2025. "(Not) by chance? An application of Assembly Theory to infer non-randomness in organizational design," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 14(2), pages 155-166, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:14:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s41469-024-00182-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s41469-024-00182-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41469-024-00182-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41469-024-00182-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geoffrey Hodgson & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2004. "The firm as an interactor: firms as vehicles for habits and routines," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 281-307, July.
    2. Eucman Lee & Ekin Ilseven & Phanish Puranam, 2023. "Scaling nonhierarchically: A theory of conflict‐free organizational growth with limited hierarchical growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(12), pages 3042-3064, December.
    3. Sah, Raaj Kumar & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1986. "The Architecture of Economic Systems: Hierarchies and Polyarchies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 716-727, September.
    4. Felipe A. Csaszar, 2013. "An Efficient Frontier in Organization Design: Organizational Structure as a Determinant of Exploration and Exploitation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 1083-1101, August.
    5. Nicolaj Siggelkow & Jan W. Rivkin, 2005. "Speed and Search: Designing Organizations for Turbulence and Complexity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 101-122, April.
    6. Julien Clement & Phanish Puranam, 2018. "Searching for Structure: Formal Organization Design as a Guide to Network Evolution," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(8), pages 3879-3895, August.
    7. Abhishek Sharma & Dániel Czégel & Michael Lachmann & Christopher P. Kempes & Sara I. Walker & Leroy Cronin, 2023. "Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution," Nature, Nature, vol. 622(7982), pages 321-328, October.
    8. Max Boisot & John Child, 1999. "Organizations as Adaptive Systems in Complex Environments: The Case of China," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 237-252, June.
    9. Richard M. Burton & Dorthe Døjbak Håkonsson & Jackson Nickerson & Phanish Puranam & Maciej Workiewicz & Todd Zenger, 2017. "GitHub: exploring the space between boss-less and hierarchical forms of organizing," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 6(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Fleming, Lee & Sorenson, Olav, 2001. "Technology as a complex adaptive system: evidence from patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1019-1039, August.
    11. Nils Stieglitz & Thorbjørn Knudsen & Markus C. Becker, 2016. "Adaptation and inertia in dynamic environments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(9), pages 1854-1864, September.
    12. Stuart M. Marshall & Cole Mathis & Emma Carrick & Graham Keenan & Geoffrey J. T. Cooper & Heather Graham & Matthew Craven & Piotr S. Gromski & Douglas G. Moore & Sara. I. Walker & Leroy Cronin, 2021. "Identifying molecules as biosignatures with assembly theory and mass spectrometry," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    13. Frédéric C. Godart & Charles Galunic, 2019. "Explaining the Popularity of Cultural Elements: Networks, Culture, and the Structural Embeddedness of High Fashion Trends," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 151-168, February.
    14. Michael Christensen & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2010. "Design of Decision-Making Organizations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(1), pages 71-89, January.
    15. Daniel Albert, 2024. "What do you mean by organizational structure? Acknowledging and harmonizing differences and commonalities in three prominent perspectives," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, March.
    16. Ranjay Gulati & Phanish Puranam, 2009. "Renewal Through Reorganization: The Value of Inconsistencies Between Formal and Informal Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 422-440, April.
    17. Jan W. Rivkin & Nicolaj Siggelkow, 2007. "Patterned Interactions in Complex Systems: Implications for Exploration," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(7), pages 1068-1085, July.
    18. Mihnea C. Moldoveanu & Robert M. Bauer, 2004. "On the Relationship Between Organizational Complexity and Organizational Structuration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 98-118, February.
    19. Daniel A. Levinthal, 1997. "Adaptation on Rugged Landscapes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(7), pages 934-950, July.
    20. Manuel E. Sosa & Martin Gargiulo & Craig Rowles, 2015. "Can Informal Communication Networks Disrupt Coordination in New Product Development Projects?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1059-1078, August.
    21. Natalie Burford & Andrew V. Shipilov & Nathan R. Furr, 2022. "How ecosystem structure affects firm performance in response to a negative shock to interdependencies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 30-57, January.
    22. Jerker Denrell & Christina Fang & Chengwei Liu, 2015. "Perspective—Chance Explanations in the Management Sciences," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 923-940, June.
    23. Yue Maggie Zhou, 2013. "Designing for Complexity: Using Divisions and Hierarchy to Manage Complex Tasks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 339-355, April.
    24. Saerom (Ronnie) Lee, 2022. "The myth of the flat start‐up: Reconsidering the organizational structure of start‐ups," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 58-92, January.
    25. John Seely Brown & Paul Duguid, 1991. "Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 40-57, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brice Dattée & James Barlow, 2017. "Multilevel Organizational Adaptation: Scale Invariance in the Scottish Healthcare System," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 301-319, April.
    2. Jose P. Arrieta & Yash R. Shrestha, 2022. "On the strategic value of equifinal choice," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(2), pages 37-45, June.
    3. Oliver Baumann, 2015. "Models of complex adaptive systems in strategy and organization research," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 14(2), pages 169-183, November.
    4. Friederike Wall, 2016. "Agent-based modeling in managerial science: an illustrative survey and study," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 135-193, January.
    5. Eucman Lee & Ekin Ilseven & Phanish Puranam, 2023. "Scaling nonhierarchically: A theory of conflict‐free organizational growth with limited hierarchical growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(12), pages 3042-3064, December.
    6. Sai Yayavaram & Wei-Ru Chen, 2015. "Changes in firm knowledge couplings and firm innovation performance: The moderating role of technological complexity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 377-396, March.
    7. Yue M. Zhou & Xiang Wan, 2017. "Product variety, sourcing complexity, and the bottleneck of coordination," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(8), pages 1569-1587, August.
    8. Christina Fang & Jeho Lee & Melissa A. Schilling, 2010. "Balancing Exploration and Exploitation Through Structural Design: The Isolation of Subgroups and Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 625-642, June.
    9. Dirk Martignoni & Thomas Keil & Markus Lang, 2020. "Focus in Searching Core–Periphery Structures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 266-286, March.
    10. Gatti, Corrado & Volpe, Loredana & Vagnani, Gianluca, 2015. "Interdependence among productive activities: Implications for exploration and exploitation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 711-722.
    11. John C. Butler & Jovan Grahovac, 2012. "Learning, Imitation, and the Use of Knowledge: A Comparison of Markets, Hierarchies, and Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1249-1263, October.
    12. Celo, Sokol & Nebus, James & Wang, I. Kim, 2018. "The Role of Internal and External Complexity in Global Factory Performance: An NKC Application," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 65-83.
    13. Hart E. Posen & Sangyoon Yi & Jeho Lee, 2020. "A contingency perspective on imitation strategies: When is “benchmarking” ineffective?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 198-221, February.
    14. Jürgen Mihm & Christoph H. Loch & Dennis Wilkinson & Bernardo A. Huberman, 2010. "Hierarchical Structure and Search in Complex Organizations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(5), pages 831-848, May.
    15. John Joseph & Alex J. Wilson, 2018. "The growth of the firm: An attention‐based view," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1779-1800, June.
    16. Felipe A. Csaszar & J. P. Eggers, 2013. "Organizational Decision Making: An Information Aggregation View," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(10), pages 2257-2277, October.
    17. Julien Clement & Phanish Puranam, 2018. "Searching for Structure: Formal Organization Design as a Guide to Network Evolution," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(8), pages 3879-3895, August.
    18. David Gaddis Ross, 2014. "An Agency Theory of the Division of Managerial Labor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 494-508, April.
    19. Helmut M. Dietl & Markus Lang & Eric Lucas & Dirk Martignoni, 2012. "Learning Through Inaccurate Replication," Working Papers 312, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    20. Dingyu Zhang & Nadia Bhuiyan & Linghua Kong, 2018. "An Analysis of Organizational Structure in Process Variation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 722-738, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:14:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s41469-024-00182-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.