Some Suggestions about the Transitory-Permanence Dimension of Organizations

doi:10.2307/588408

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Some Suggestions about the Transitory-Permanence Dimension of Organizations

Journal Article•DOI•

Some Suggestions about the Transitory-Permanence Dimension of Organizations

01 Jun 1970-British Journal of Sociology-Vol. 21, Iss: 2, pp 200

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the concept of "transitory organizations" and suggest some differences between transitory and more permanent organizations, based on observations made by the author while participating in a conference on race relations.

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Abstract: The literature about organizations focuses on those of the permanent variety and tends to ignore temporary or transitory associations of either the voluntary or non-voluntary type. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of 'transitory organizations' and to suggest some differences between transitory and more permanent organizations.' The ideas presented were engendered by some observations made by the author while participating in a conference on race relations. A subsequent review of the literature uncovered very few attempts to deal with transitoriness of organizations. However, the ideas presented are based upon the available literature as well as personal observations.

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Journal Article•DOI•

A theory of the temporary organization

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Rolf A. Lundin¹, Anders Söderholm¹•Institutions (1)

Umeå University¹

01 Dec 1995-Scandinavian Journal of Management

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the need for a theory of temporary organizations, thus seeking to supplement traditional project management wisdom, and suggest some components of such a theory by elaborating on certain ideas about projects.

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1,370 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

The Incident Command System: High-Reliability Organizing for Complex and Volatile Task Environments

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Gregory A. Bigley¹, Karlene H. Roberts²•Institutions (2)

University of Washington¹, University of California²

01 Dec 2001-Academy of Management Journal

TL;DR: The incident command system (ICS) is a particular approach to assembly and control of the highly reliable temporary organizations employed by many public safety professionals to manage diverse reso...

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Abstract: The incident command system (ICS) is a particular approach to assembly and control of the highly reliable temporary organizations employed by many public safety professionals to manage diverse reso...

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767 citations

Cites background from "Some Suggestions about the Transito..."

...Such organizational forms often consist of diversely skilled or knowledgeable individuals working on complex tasks (frequently across functional, group or organizational boundaries) to achieve specific objectives over a limited time period (cf. Goodman, 1981; Goodman & Goodman, 1972, 1976; Palisi, 1970), frequently in high-risk or high-stake situations (Meyerson, Weick, & Kramer, 1995)....
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...…working on complex tasks (frequently across functional, group or organizational boundaries) to achieve specific objectives over a limited time period (cf. Goodman, 1981; Goodman & Goodman, 1972, 1976; Palisi, 1970), frequently in high-risk or high-stake situations (Meyerson, Weick, & Kramer, 1995)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Inquiring into the temporary organization: new directions for project management research

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Johann Packendorff¹•Institutions (1)

Umeå University¹

01 Dec 1995-Scandinavian Journal of Management

TL;DR: A diversity of theoretical perspectives should be employed in field research on "temporary organizations" in order to construct middle-range theories on different types of projects.

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755 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Taking Stock of Temporary Organizational Forms: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

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Rene M. Bakker¹•Institutions (1)

Tilburg University¹

01 Dec 2010-International Journal of Management Reviews

TL;DR: An integrative framework is proposed around four central themes: time, team, task and context, which offers an overview of the literature, the gaps in what the authors know, and what future directions might be taken by scholars hoping to contribute to this important and rapidly growing field.

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Abstract: This paper brings together the research on temporary organizational forms. Despite a recent surge in publications on this topic, there have been few attempts to integrate knowledge on what we know of such temporary forms of organization. In order to correct this, an integrative framework is proposed around four central themes: time, team, task and context. Within each of these themes, the paper offers an overview of the literature, the gaps in what we know, and what future directions might be taken by scholars hoping to contribute to this important and rapidly growing field.

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535 citations

Cites background from "Some Suggestions about the Transito..."

...However, there has been work on the importance of interpersonal relations (e.g. Miles 1964; Palisi 1970) because these can endure beyond the temporary organizational form (e.g. Bechky 2006; Engwall 2003; Grabher 2002a, 2004a)....
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...…a number of different labels, such as ephemeral organizations (Lanzara 1983), temporary teams (Saunders and Ahuja 2006), transitory organizations (Palisi 1970), short-term projects (Faulkner and Anderson 1987) and disposable organizations (March 1995), which relate to slightly different…...
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...…aspects such as interpersonal liking, fostering an esprit de corps, and democratic participation (Bennis 1965; Miles 1964; Morley and Silver 1977; Palisi 1970) or, conversely, more with ‘hard’ aspects such as task focus because leaders face severe sanctions for time or budget slippage (Bryman…...
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...structure (Palisi 1970), and the kind of co-ordination techniques that are used to manage...
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...These concern, for instance, issues such as time use by participants, communication, norms, role definition, leadership, decision-making, organization structure, co-ordination techniques and focus (e.g. Bryman et al. 1987a; Jones and Lichtenstein 2008; Miles 1964; Palisi 1970; Saunders and Table 2....
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Journal Article•DOI•

On temporary organizations: A review, synthesis and research agenda

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Catriona M. Burke¹, Michael J. Morley¹•Institutions (1)

University of Limerick¹

08 Mar 2016-Human Relations

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define and delineate the concept of the temporary organization and develop an inductively derived framework for organizing the literature comprising individual/team attributes and interior processes, task attributes, tensions between the temporary organisation and the permanent organization, networks and organizational fields and performance/outcomes of temporary organizations.

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Abstract: Despite the ascendency of temporary organizations to common practice in many industries, and their expansion as an area of academic inquiry, research evidence on their genesis, development and impact remains fragmented across diverse fields, many of which fail to engage with each other. Our purpose in this article is to bring greater systematics to the scholarship on temporary organizations through documenting their evolution and assembling their bricolage. To this end, we first define and delineate the concept of the temporary organization and we develop an inductively derived framework for organizing the literature comprising individual/team attributes and interior processes, task attributes, tensions between the temporary organization and the permanent organization, networks and organizational fields and performance/outcomes of temporary organizations. Following an explication of these attributes and the dominant relationships between them, we suggest how this nascent area of inquiry might advance thro...

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174 citations