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Project‐based company's vital condition: structural coupling. An autopoietic view
Author(s) -
Koskinen Kaj U.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
knowledge and process management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.341
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-1441
pISSN - 1092-4604
DOI - 10.1002/kpm.321
Subject(s) - autopoiesis , knowledge management , computer science , epistemology , phenomenon , determinism , sociology , management , artificial intelligence , philosophy , economics
This conceptual paper describes, with the help of autopoietic epistemology, the phenomenon of structural coupling in project‐based companies. First the concept of project‐based company is described. Then the discussion deals with the epistemological assumptions with the goal of getting a better understanding of the nature of knowledge and how it develops. This is followed by a brief illustrations of autopoietic and allopoietic systems. After that the concepts of structural determinism and coupling are highlighted. Then follow descriptions of the knowledge creation at both the individual and organizational levels. Also three factors (i.e. absorptive capacity, creative tension and resistance to change) that either foster or weaken possibilities to achieve structural coupling are illustrated. The paper's end concludes with a discussion concerning why structural coupling is necessary for project‐based companies, since because without it the company—in other words, an autopoietic system—disintegrates and the company's activities come to an end. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.