INVITATION FOR PHD DEFENCE - Anna Stöber

In order to obtain the PhD degree, Anna Stöber has submitted her thesis entitled:
Embedded Self-Managing Modes of Organizing
Empirical Inquiries into Boundaries, Momentum, and Collectivity

This dissertation explores self-managing modes of organizing (SMOs) within established organizational hierarchies. Despite extensive research and practical experimentation, realizing the potential of SMOs remains challenging. This is because of the tensions inherent in introducing such modes of organizing within existing hierarchical contexts. Adopting a constitutive approach that emphasizes how organizational phenomena are continuously renegotiated through communication, the three empirical papers of this dissertation delve into three interrelated aspects of embedded SMOs. The thesis shows how employees may come to view self-managing and participatory modes of organizing as an opportunity to claim more participation and decision-making authority, thereby revealing how efforts to introduce and sustain SMOs hold potential for engendering forms of democratic participation not initially intended or envisaged by those responsible for their inception. Moreover, the project’s constitutive view contributes a new understanding of how embedded SMOs can endure in spite of their inherently tension-laden setup.

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk

Primary Supervisor:
Professor Dennis Schoeneborn
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School

Secondary Supervisors:
Professor Markus Reihlen
Institute for Management & Organization Leuphana
University Lüneburg

Assessment Committee:
Professor Silviya Svejenova (Chair)
Department of Organization
Copenhagen Business School

Professor Linda L. Putnam
Department of Communication
University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Professor Gazi Islam
Department of People, Organizations and Society
Grenoble Ecole de Management

Date: 28 February 2024
Time: 16:00-18:00
Online: Zoom
Location: Dalgas Have
Room: DH.Ø.089
Reception: Faculty Club

*Please note that the microphone and camera of all spectators must be turned off.
*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence.