Research
Emergence, establishment, and change of meaning structures
From the perspective of institutional organization theory, I study meaning structures in and around organizations, as well as their dynamics. This part of my research programme encompasses questions such as how new management ideas emerge, diffuse, and change during their “travels”, how societal expectations influence the emergence of new organizational forms with distinct purposes, or how broader cultural discourses challenge existing institutions and forms of governance. Methodologically, I am also interested in new ways of studying culture and meaning, such as mixed-methods designs.
Visual and multimodal approaches to organization(s)
Organizations and organizing are inherently multimodal phenomena, meaning that they encompass and combine a variety of communicative forms and modes, such as written and spoken text, visualizations, physical objects and architecture, different forms of aural expression, and even olfactory cues. This part of my research programme aims at developing novel insights that acknowledge organizational and broader societal structures and processes as multimodal achievements. I am also interested in further developing the toolbox of multimodal methodologies, and in pushing organization research towards becoming more multimodal in both knowledge generation and dissemination.
Collaboration and coordination across differences
In differentiated societies, tackling grand challenges and wicked problems requires capacities to coordinate action across communities with different stocks of knowledge, interests, and ideologies. The recent increase in polarization and fragmentation of experienced social realities further exacerbates these challenges. Nevertheless, the multifaceted and dynamic nature of current challenges requires organizations to develop robust capacities for inter-organizational and cross-sectoral collaboration while remaining legitimate in the eyes of their societal constituencies. In this part of my research programme, I study how organizations and other societal actors can overcome salient barriers to collaboration and coordination, particularly in the face of (poly)crises, polarization, and an increasing erosion of core societal institutions.