Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2015
Abstract
Wide ranges of organizations are explicitly rejecting the norms of rational bureaucracy in designing and running their organizations. Grounded in a qualitative study of those organizations, this paper seeks first to identify some common structural commonalities, and differentiate them from the traditional hierarchies, and second to develop a theoretical framework for understanding them and assess the way they foster internal commitment for desired purpose. We interviewed 61 individuals from 12 organizations in diverse sectors and different geographic locations. We discovered emergent novel forms and practices. We developed a conceptual framework to capture the main discoveries, not as models of perfection, but as efforts of radical change to realize wholly different values and challenge the dogma that sees organizations as competitive machines. They are serious initiatives to break from the traditional institutional grip of the hierarchical commanding structures and move towards unique libertarian forms that are based on guiding principles and purposive inquiry. It is in the conceptualization of alternative (a) forms of organization; (b) governing systems; and (c) practices that organizational theory has been the weakest. This paper is important to both academicians and practitioners who seek to understand alternative forms and practices to organize and design sustainable organizations.
Keywords
organizational change, management, Weatherhead School of Management, management innovation, organizational innovation, self-organization, self- management, organizational commitment, organizational forms, network organization
Rights
© The Author(s). This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Boulos, Hani N., "The 'Free Purposing' Organization: Beyond Empowerment...Towards 'Engaged Commitment'" (2015). Student Scholarship. 448.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/448