Self -organization (business administration) – Wikipedia

self-organisation In business administration, the general phenomenon of self -organization specifies for use in companies and organizations.

With the application of self -organization as a paradigm for organizing a company, the following goals are often pursued:

Self -organization is a suitable form of organization in the company. However, it places additional requirements for those involved and to the superordinate hierarchy as well as to the secondary organizational units.

Self -organization can only be effective and be successful if certain rules are observed. A self -organized cooperation may not allow insulation compared to other parts of a company.

The prerequisite for the success of such forms for the cooperation is the consideration of rules, as described by Elinor Ostrom, for example, for cooperation.

Regulatory principles [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

The order prevailing in self -organizing systems cannot simply be understood as a result of a designing part. Rather, it arises holistically, i.e. neither exclusively as a result of individual properties, nor through activities of individuals, but through the interactions of all system parts. Order means law that allows us to recognize or guess and complement us, define incorrect, etc. Order allows people to find meaning, ensures security and allows the tasks, competencies and responsibilities to be classified. Self -organization creates a grown, no planned or consciously designed order. It results as a result of human behavior, but without special organizational intention to design.

Spontaneous order [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Friedrich A. von Hayek also describes a grown order as a spontaneous order. Spontaneous order is viewed as an informal phenomenon and was more considered a source of interference, since it can deviate from the formal organization, which is specified by the corporate management, and can develop its own dynamic. The resulting is not determined by the “basic idea of ​​organization” by the company structures planned by management, but by those structures that constantly form and change depending on the behavior of many employees.

Process orientation [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

An important feature of self -organization is your procedural character. Processes are in the foreground, not structures. Order is in permanent development, but structures are only snapshots. Self -organization causes organizational long -term change triggered by “interactive self -structuring”. Self -organizational systems form a “closed whole”. The participants basically draw their eyes inside the system. Self -organization does not arise from an individual or other constraints, but represents “generally a property of systems”.

It is not sensible and largely excluded to set up a detailed control concept or a closed model for processes in self -organization. In contrast, procedural models are useful that described the processing of tasks in processes and refer to rules. The procedural models initially designed by Erwin Grochla must be further developed in the sense of an agile system approach.

Design [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

According to E. Göbel ^[first] Can be between autonomous and autogener Self -organization are distinguished.

• Autonomous self -organization exists when order is self -determined in the company. Order is considered as a result of deliberate and planned design acts. The prerequisite is that the members or groups receive enough scope for maneuver in order to be able to participate in the order relating to them.
• Autogenic self -organization means that order arises itself due to the own dynamics of complex dynamic systems. The autogenic self -organization is therefore not based on a conscious act of design.

Positive effects in self -organization [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Motivation

An increased self -organization has a positive effect on the motivation, since your own interests are more important. The work itself is experienced more meaningfully and sensibly because the tasks are more holistic and more varied and the potential of the employees are better developed.

flexibility

The adaptability to different conditions is becoming increasingly important. An expansion of the self -determination potential can improve the knowledge of adaptation needs, since the employees have more overview and maintain the reference to the environment more.

Steerability

The more complex a company is, the more the manager wishes that the employees who are supposed to cooperate make use of their skills and direct and organize themselves to the best of our knowledge and belief.

Resource conservation

Resources used in personal responsibility and self -organization are charged more gentle than if they are apparently provided by unlimited.

Time required and costs

The motto “Time is money” benefits the self -organization because a faster and more smooth and therefore cheaper adaptation to changed circumstances is possible.

Sanctions

In self -organization, the group can define and enforce its own sanctions in the event of violations of rules without the leadership. This includes, for example, exclusion from the option of your own decision. According to Elinor Ostrom, sanctions are a prerequisite for effectively acknowledging an undesirable benefit.

Negative effects in self -organization [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Benefit

It is quite conceivable that employees with strong leisure orientation prefer to do a prescribed workload in order to have to deal with the “necessary evil” work as little as possible. As soon as such attitudes violate the equal and divided access to resources (free -range problem) described by Elinor Ostrom, the group’s efficiency drops.

Excessive demand

The unusual freedom triggers fear and feelings of overwhelming in the beginning of inexperienced participants. As soon as such fears lead to blockages, self -organization fails.

Conflicts

The potential for conflict is generally higher if the distribution and competence regulations are missing. Such rules must also be negotiated yourself.

escalation

If self -organization fails, a rule of escalation must work so that the group can find a way out with the help of another instance.

High requirement for the leadership

The self -organization can change the official rules and autogenic rules that increase uncertainty about the actual applicable order, this leads to a dilemma of managers.

Time required and costs

Structural changes, which are also conflict, require time. Therefore, the solution and decision-making in self-organized systems can take longer than with clear specifications from above if they require a structural change.

1. ↑ E. Göbel: Theory and design of self -organization . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, 1998.