Inside Out: Organizations as Service Systems Equipped with Relational Boundaries
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Background
2.1. Boundaries of Organizations
Identification Criteria of Organizational Boundaries
2.2. Systemic Conception of Organizational Boundaries
Viable System Approach as a Lens for Interpreting Boundaries
3. Redesigning Boundaries in a Systemic-Relational Service Perspective
3.1. Systemic Conception of Organizational Boundaries
3.2. The Relational Criterion: From Self-Interest to Synergic Relationships
4. Implications and Conclusions
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Concept | Assumption |
---|---|
Society | Society can be understood as a network of more or less extensive and structured relations |
Social structure is taken as a persistent pattern of relationships among all social positions | |
Social structure is configured through networks, that is, sets of nodes and links that indicate their interconnections | |
Social structure can be conceptualized in terms of durable patterns of relationship among multiple social actors | |
Actors | Each actor interacts with others influencing their behaviour |
Actors move among the social spaces generated by the intersection of different relational fields, in which every person plays a different social role and assumes a different position | |
Actors and their actions are autonomous and interdependent (but not independent) units | |
Network | Network models are structural environments that provide opportunities or constraints to individual actions |
The pattern of social ties in which actors are inserted produces consequences determinant for them | |
Relational links among actors allow for the transfer or the flow of material and immaterial resources |
Criterion | Description | Limits |
---|---|---|
Transaction costs | Organizational boundaries depend on the level of transactions and the responsiveness of performed transactions | Static orientation due to the idea according to which transactions depend on lots of complex dynamics, often difficult to predict |
Contractual-legal | Organizational boundaries are influenced by the type and entity of formal agreements reached with other parties | No consideration of the circumstances in which an organization engages relationships based on informal characteristics |
Ownership | A resource is understood as internal only whether it is owned by organization or is linked to it by a legal relationship comparable to the property right | Interpretive distortions in evaluating human resources |
Space-time barriers | A resource is internal whether it is within the spatial (e.g., in stock) or time (e.g., at a certain hour) scope of organization | Not adequate with intangible resources (services) |
Interest sharing | Resources having interests in common or pursuing shared objectives are considerable as internal | Organization is a syncretic system in which there are many different interests and goals |
Job sharing | Organizational boundaries depend on the type of the undertaken activities and on how these ones fit together | The progressive trend towards the dematerialization of activities complicates to establish whether they are essential or marginal for organization’s existence and development |
Specific competences | The specific competences (direct knowledge) of an organization allow defining its size | Although the organization’s know-how spins mainly around distinctive skills, it includes not only them, but also indirect competences |
Communication | Only the resources capable of communicating with each other should be understood as internal | Distinct entities could be able to communicate with each other through the use of the same language without necessarily belonging to the same system |
Governance action and autonomy | Boundaries are understood as a transition zone between inside and outside, which circumscribes resources and activities on which organization is able to exercise its discretionary power and extend its influence and control | Excessive discretion in the identification of boundaries |
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Crespo Garrido, M.J.; Grimaldi, M.; Maione, G.; Vesci, M. Inside Out: Organizations as Service Systems Equipped with Relational Boundaries. Systems 2017, 5, 36. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems5020036
Crespo Garrido MJ, Grimaldi M, Maione G, Vesci M. Inside Out: Organizations as Service Systems Equipped with Relational Boundaries. Systems. 2017; 5(2):36. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems5020036
Chicago/Turabian StyleCrespo Garrido, María Jimena, Mara Grimaldi, Gennaro Maione, and Massimiliano Vesci. 2017. "Inside Out: Organizations as Service Systems Equipped with Relational Boundaries" Systems 5, no. 2: 36. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems5020036