Pragmatically Reconceptualizing Organization Design Through Inquiry

Abstract

In this paper I draw on pragmatist philosophy to critique conceptualizations of organization design, which tend to adopt “scientific” perspectives of design. These perspectives highlight design as artefacts, planned change, and representation. Building on a growing pragmatist stream within both organization studies and design studies, I instead argue for a pragmatist approach to organization design, building on ideas of emergence, imagination, co-inquiry, and performativity in pragmatism. I examine how a pragmatic philosophical lens can contribute to reconceptualize organization design by problematizing existing paradigmatic assumptions. My starting point is an exploration of the existing paradigmatic assumptions underlying key texts on organization design, problematizing these through design studies and pragmatism, before outlining novel paradigmatic assumptions and associated research questions for organizational design—in doing so, I combine pragmatist perspectives on organizing, designing and organization design. I conclude by proposing a future research agenda for pragmatist organization design.