Towards Self-Managing Organizations: a Multiple Case Study on the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Self-Managing Work Practices

Development of technology, market disruptions, and demographic shifts are radically shaping societies as well as organizations. Today, many organizations are seeing flexibility as a central requirement of organizing but this requirement can be hindered by traditional, hierarchical means of organizing. Recently, many firms have experimented with less-hierarchical means of organizing to increase their flexibility and agility. One culmination of these trends is a management system called self-managing organization. According to the definition by Lee and Edmondson (2017), self-managing organizations can be described as firms that radically decentralize authority in a formal and systematic way throughout the organization. While there is an increasing interest amongst practitioners to adopt such practices, the scholarly research on self-managing organizations is still limited. The aim of this thesis is to build on the existing knowledge base of less-hierarchical means of organizing. In efforts to do so, the existing literature is categorized into two streams: (1) post-bureaucratic organizing and (2) humanistic management. Building on these theoretical underpinnings, the objective of this research is to understand what factors influence the adoption of self-managing work practices within organizations. The empirical part of this research was conducted as a qualitative multiple case study in four Finnish organizations representing varying levels of decentralization. In these four case companies, data was primarily collected in eight semi-structured interviews. Additionally, company documentation was used as secondary data source. The research data was analyzed in an iterative process consisting of transcription, coding, and synthesis of data. The findings of the research suggest that self-management is perceived as a multi-level construct: individual, manager, and organization. Individual capability to behave in a self-managing manner is a key factor influencing practice adoption. The development of individuals’ capability is supported by personal experience by also by managerial practices as well as organizational processes and culture, which together facilitate the organizational change required by the adoption process. Instead of complete decentralization of authority, managers role is shaped in the transition process to be more coaching and enabling. These behavioral aspects are furthermore supported by organizational processes regarding decision-making, goal-setting, and feedback as well as a trusting, communal, and transparent organizational culture. The findings suggest that these factors give individuals boundaries within which they can practice self-managing work practices and feel empowered