Agentic misfit: an empirical demonstration of non-matching human agency amid complexity
Article
Poulis, K., Poulis, E. and Jackson, P. 2021. Agentic misfit: an empirical demonstration of non-matching human agency amid complexity. Organization Studies. 42 (10), pp. 1603-1627. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840620944552
| Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Title | Agentic misfit: an empirical demonstration of non-matching human agency amid complexity |
| Authors | Poulis, K., Poulis, E. and Jackson, P. |
| Abstract | Alignment of organizations with external imperatives is seen as a sine qua non of proper organizing and strategizing by many fit and complexity scholars. Any deviation from this management mantra engenders organizational decline and, ultimately, mortality. We put this axiomatic principle under empirical scrutiny and use the law of requisite variety as our organizing principle to do so. The law is an iconic cornerstone of this matching contingency logic and it has served to legitimize a wide range of fit decisions in e.g., leadership, organizational learning or corporate governance. Inspired by organizational vignettes inhabiting antithetical complexity regimes, we introduce a novel concept, which we label as ‘agentic misfit’. In this way, we deconstruct deterministic assumptions related to environmental fittingness, we challenge teleological orientations in the fit literature and, we flesh out the viability of non-matching human agency amid complexity. |
| Keywords | agentic misfit; complexity theory; fit; human agency; identity; organizational design; requisite variety |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications |
| Journal | Organization Studies |
| ISSN | 0170-8406 |
| Electronic | 1741-3044 |
| Publication dates | |
| Online | 13 Aug 2020 |
| 01 Oct 2021 | |
| Publication process dates | |
| Deposited | 05 Jun 2020 |
| Accepted | 26 Jun 2020 |
| Output status | Published |
| Accepted author manuscript | |
| Copyright Statement | Poulis, Konstantinos, Poulis, Efthimios and Jackson, Paul (2020) Agentic misfit: an empirical demonstration of non-matching human agency amid complexity. Organization Studies Volume: 42 issue: 10, page(s): 1603-1627. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). DOI: 10.1177/0170840620944552. |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840620944552 |
| Web of Science identifier | WOS:000560934100001 |
| Language | English |
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