Flexibility out of standardization

Abstract

PurposeThis article aims to provide a theoretical unifying framework for flexible organizational forms, such as so-called adhocracies and network organizations.Design/methodology/approachIn this article, organization practices that are typical of the software industry are analyzed and re-interpreted by means of foundational concepts of organization science. It is shown that one and the same logic is at work in all flexible organizations.FindingsCoordination modes can be fruitfully employed to characterize flexible organizations. In particular, standardization is key in order to obtain flexibility, provided that a novel sort of coordination by standardization is added to those that have been conceptualized hitherto.Research limitations/implicationsThis article highlights one necessary condition for organizations to be flexible. Further aspects, only cursorily mentioned in this paper, need to be addressed in order to obtain a complete picture.Practical implicationsA theory of organizational flexibility constitutes a guide for organizational design. This article suggests the non-obvious prescription that the boundary conditions of individual behavior must be standardized in order to achieve operational flexibility.Social implicationsThis theoretical framework can be profitably employed in management classes.Originality/valueCurrently, flexible organizations are only understood in terms of lists of instances. This article shows that apparently heterogeneous case-studies share common features in fact.