PhD Defence Jun Xiao
In her dissertation ‘Coordination & Control in Contemporary Organizations' Jun Xiao explored how power hierarchies and organizational routines are changing, arguing for a grounded approach to understand their implications on people and work. As a result, in her dissertation she provided three accounts of contemporary work for individuals and organizations seeking to understand why new forms of organizing matter and contributes to bridging the extant divide between the practice and study of organizing. Jun has defended her dissertation on Thursday, 10 June at 10:30h. Her supervisors were Prof. Joep Cornelissen (RSM) and Prof. Daan Stam (RSM). The members of the Doctoral Committee were Prof. Pursey Heugens (RSM), Prof. Steffen Giessner (RSM), Dr. Fleur Deken (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Prof. Claus Rerup (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management) and Dr. Merieke Stevens (RSM).
About Jun Xiao
Jun received her master’s degree in Agricultural Economics at McGill University, and her M.B.A. from Université Laval, Canada. After working in environmental policy and applied research, Jun pursued doctoral studies at the Rotterdam School of Management. In 2016, she became a PhD candidate in Innovation Management under the supervision of Prof. Daan Stam and Prof. Joep Cornelissen. In 2019, she was a visiting scholar at INSEAD, France. Jun’s research is motivated by her interest in investigating the novel ways by which people organize, innovate and collaborate — in organizations both traditional (farms, government organizations) and new (digital businesses, startup accelerators). Currently Jun is an assistant professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at NEOMA Business School, France.
Thesis Abstract
Achieving coordination and cooperation are universal challenges to organizing. In modern organizations, the problems are the same, but solutions have changed. Hierarchies and routines operate differently as means of coordination and control in contemporary forms of organizing than in bureaucracies. This dissertation explores how power hierarchies and organizational routines are changing, arguing for a grounded approach to understand their implications on people and work. By theorizing the effects of flattening and stretching hierarchies from a social identity perspective, the first study offers a multilevel framework for understanding and addressing the intra and interpersonal dynamics that arise from such mandated organizational change. In examining the accomplishment of self-governing routines, the second study contributes to our understanding of the ongoing nature of conflict and control in organizational routines. From reviewing empirical findings and theoretical intuitions on the unique dynamics at play in self-managed organizations, the third study explains concrete ways scholars can leverage self-managed organizations as a novel empirical setting to advance routine dynamics theorizing. As a result, this dissertation provides three accounts of contemporary work for individuals and organizations seeking to understand why new forms of organizing matter, and contributes to bridging the extant divide between the practice and study of organizing.
