Bakken T., Hernes T. & Wiik E. (2009) An autopoietic understanding of “innovative organization”. In: Magalhães R. & Sanchez R. (eds.) Autopoiesis in organizations and information systems. Emerald, Bingley: 169–182.
Excerpt: We would argue that an autopoietic theory of organization is in fact also a theory of innovation. Without the possibility of novelty, autopoietic organization is hardly possible. A second argument we make in this chapter is that, contrary to much of the literature on organization and innovation, an autopoietic view does not consider the degree to which innovation takes place. Instead it considers how the nature of communication shapes expectations, thus influencing the search for novelty. If we assume that different functions within an organization operate according to different modes of communication, we may come to a different understanding of how the organization engages with novelty. Key to this understanding is that different organizational functions operate with different degrees of redundancy in their communication.
Bakken T., Hernes T. & Wiik E. (2009) Innovation and organization: An overview from the perspective of Luhmann’s autopoiesis. In: Magalhães R. & Sanchez R. (eds.) Autopoiesis in organization theory and practice. Emerald, Bingley UK: 69–88. https://cepa.info/7958
Excerpt: Can autopoietic systems not be creative and innovative? Or does the biological roots of the concept and notions such as “structural determinism” and “structural states” make it impossible to capture “the new” in the system’s dynamics’? The aim of the following discussion is to outline the theory of autopoietic systems, as it pertains to action theory and the understanding of the phenomenon of innovation. This will be elucidated by examining how systems theory combines concepts of (1) the old and the new, (2) the real and the possible, and (3) the redundant and the variable.
Hernes T. & Bakken T. (2003) Implications of self-reference: Niklas Luhmann’s autopoiesis and organization theory. Organization Studies 24(9): 1511–1535. https://cepa.info/3762
This article reviews the potential of Niklas Luhmann’s autopoiesis as a contribution to organization theory. We consider organization theory to consist of three epistemological foundations, which we label equilibrium-based theory, process-based theory and recursivity-based theory. We review critically Luhmann’s autopoietic theory in relation to each of these three foundations. We suggest that whereas it deviates radically from equilibrium-based theory and deviates significantly from process-based theory, it holds potential in its complementarity with Giddens’s structuration theory in providing a promising basis for recursivity-based organization theory.