Polymorphous organization: A nested-structurationist study of an organizational form in the it services outsourcing industry.

摘要

In an in-depth field study of the work practices among the teams engaged in the delivery of outsourced IT services in a large IT services company in India, I discovered the organizational form that I call 'Polymorphous Organization'. It is the phenomenon where each team was embedded in a unique work context constituted by both the parent organization and the client organization it served, and as a result, had evolved into a 'customized organization' that possessed the unmistakable traits of the parent organization, yet was very different from the other teams. Using a nested-structurationist approach, I show how each team relied on their own combinations of work practices to negotiate their own unique context, and yet among them existed common structural principles existed among those work practices that were operationally different. I identify the characteristic structural principles practiced in these teams as own morphology and operational level practices, clear boundaries with the other entities in both parent and the client environments, mutual buffering of the technical and managerial roles, continuous internal reconfigurations, independent economic viability and dual identity. I discuss how the team level structuration influences the organizational level macro-structure and strategizing practices. I present an empirical model for 'Polymorphous Organizing' and a general model for a 'Polymorphous Organization'. This study contributes organization theory by adding to the understanding of the organizational boundaries and organizing across boundaries, and the organizational actors and their strategic capabilities.