The Construction of Organizational Structure : Connections with Autopoietic Systems Theory

Abstract

This study aimed to conceptualize the formation of organizational structures from the constructionist perspective. Avoiding the extremisms in equilibrium- and processbased theories, it adopts a recursivity-based approach, and draws most of its theoretical foundation from autopoietic systems theory. This study finds that organizations possess a "system organization,” formed through the shared sense of their actors and a “structural configuration,” which is founded on this shared sense. Based on the shared sense, this structural configuration is shaped by both formal organizational architecture and the temporal and contextual interactive processes of organizational actors. It suggests that organizational structures are unique constructions, subject to temporal and contextual variation.