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Signe Vikkelsø

Professor

Subjects
Organisation Centralisation Decentralisation Change management Technology Sociology History

Primary research areas

Form­al or­gan­iz­a­tion
I'm in­ter­ested in the role of form­al or­gan­iz­a­tion in so­ci­ety and the con­sequences of in­ad­equate form­al­iz­a­tion. I define form­al or­gan­iz­a­tion as ex­pli­cit and agreed prin­ciples of or­gan­iz­a­tion (in con­trast to the pop­u­lar un­der­stand­ing of form­al or­gan­iz­a­tion as ri­gid or mech­an­ist­ic ele­ments).
His­tory of or­gan­iz­a­tion the­ory
How or­gan­iz­a­tion the­ory has evolved over time as a body of know­ledge and prac­tice, and what the im­plic­a­tions are.
Sci­ence, tech­no­logy and or­gan­iz­a­tion
I study how sci­ence, tech­no­logy, and or­gan­iz­a­tion are en­tangled with one an­oth­er - for in­stance, the or­gan­iz­a­tion­al con­sequences of new tech­no­lo­gies, the or­gan­iz­a­tion­al di­lem­mas posed by sci­ence and tech­no­logy policies, and how or­gan­iz­a­tion and man­age­ment the­ory have evolved as sci­entif­ic dis­cip­lines.
Or­gan­iz­a­tion­al tools and prin­ciples
I am in­terest in the key tools and prin­ciples of or­gan­iz­ing, and how they change over time. In par­tic­u­lar, I fo­cus on the role of the or­gan­iz­a­tion chart in con­vey­ing or­gan­iz­a­tion­al prin­ciples and sup­port­ing or­gan­iz­a­tion­al nav­ig­a­tion.

I am in­ter­ested in un­der­stand­ing what makes good or­gan­iz­a­tion, and why that un­der­stand­ing of­ten fails

Signe Vikkelsø is Professor of Science, Technology, and Organization. She holds a background in social psychology from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD in organizational studies from Copenhagen Business School. Her research explores topics at the intersection of organization theory, science and technology studies, and the sociology of work. Her interests include formal organization, organizational tools and principles, the history of organization theory, and the organization of change and innovation. Her work primarily relies on qualitative data and methods such as ethnography, interviews, archival research, and digital approaches. Signe has served as research leader or core member of four externally funded collaborative research projects and has supervised 18 PhD students. She has extensive leadership experience, having served seven years as Head of Department and currently serving as Head of Studies, as well as holding membership on national research councils.

Publications

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2025

From Practical Wholes to Parts and Processes in Organizational Design

Three Roads Away from Practical Formal Organization

Tri­ne Pal­le­sen, Associate Professor

Kirsti­ne Zin­ck Pe­der­sen, Associate Professor

Sig­ne Vik­kel­sø, Professor

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2025

The Contested Display of Formal Organization

Exploring the Multiple Roles of Corporate Charts in Organizational and Regulatory Action

Sig­ne Vik­kel­sø, Professor

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Recent research projects

“See­ing Or­gan­iz­a­tion: The So­cio-Ma­ter­i­al His­tory of the Or­gan­iz­a­tion­al Chart”

The pro­ject ad­dresses the role of the or­gan­iz­a­tion­al chart in so­ci­ety and ex­plores the chart’s en­tan­gle­ment with chan­ging modes of rep­res­ent­a­tion­al prac­tices, shifts in or­gan­iz­a­tion and man­age­ment the­ory, and trans­form­a­tions in work, pro­duc­tion, cap­it­al, and reg­u­la­tion.

“Form­al Or­gan­iz­a­tion – Past, Present, and Fu­ture”

The pro­ject ad­dresses form­al or­gan­iz­a­tion as a con­tested top­ic in or­gan­iz­a­tion and man­age­ment the­ory, or­gan­iz­a­tion­al so­ci­ology, and psy­cho­logy and dis­cusses the im­plic­a­tions of this dis­agree­ment.

Outside activities

CBS Ex­ec­ut­ive – Teach­ing the “Re­search Man­age­ment Course” (7 full days) , 2025 -