ORGDESIGN · The Foundation of Organization Design

Organization design refers to choices about the formal structure of organizations. While the study of organization design is not new, it is not current either. This proposal describes a series of theory development projects I aim to undertake over the next three years towards strengthening the foundations of organization design as an area of academic enquiry. The projects focus on a) interactions between incentive and coordination mechanisms b) an improved representation and framework for studying interdependence within and between organizations and c) the role of structure as a substitute for shared understanding. I draw on state of the art methodologies, which include computer simulation, statistical analysis, analytical modelling and lab experiments. Each project describes an overall theme rather than a specific study- I expect each project to eventually generate multiple publishable papers, and possibly provide a dissertation context for one or more PhD students. Given the emphasis on theory development in these projects, the primary support I need from ERC is for bought-out time and research assistance.