Membership and contributorship in organizations: An update of modern systems theory

Abstract

This article argues for an update of modern systems theory, in particular of the systems theory of organizations. Recent works have pointed out that existing understandings of membership fall short when it comes to accounting for the modern variety of organizational phenomena. This is also true for modern systems theory, which still relies on a rather conventional understanding of membership. Against this backdrop, I propose to draw on recent developments in related fields of communication‐centred organization research and to adopt the notion of ‘contributorship'. Following such works, contributorship can be defined as the decision on the distribution of rights to participate in the internal decision processes of an organization. By contrast, I propose to reformulate the notion of membership and define it as the decision that establishes whether a certain person belongs to the organization or not, that is, is a member of it or not. In addition, I propose to drop the existing systems‐theoretical assertion that membership is the core‐defining premise for the constitution of an organization. Instead, I argue that contributorship, not membership, is the basic premise needed by every organization to be constituted. Building on these insights, I will conclude the article by discussing the three possibilities of affiliating persons to an organization, that is, as mere members, mere contributors or both.

Decisional organization theory: towards an integrated framework of organization

“…Modern systems theory (see Luhmann, 2018) on the other hand offers an elaborated theory of organizations as processual entities, one that is embedded in a complex grand theory with a multi-level perspective. Nevertheless, this theory tends to remain silent when it comes to understanding new forms of organization that, for instance, do not rely on membership (Grothe-Hammer, 2020). Despite this fragmentation, the four perspectives share the common ground that decision-making is not just something that happens in the context of organization.…”

From play to pay: a multifunctional approach to the role of culture in post-merger integration

“…In recent years, Niklas Luhmann's (1994Luhmann's ( , 2012Luhmann's ( , 2013Luhmann's ( , 2018 theory of social systems has gained considerable attention in organization and management research (Cooren and Seidl, 2020;Czarniawska, 2017;Deroy and Clegg, 2015;Roth, 2021;Schneider et al, 2017;Schoeneborn et al, 2014;Becker, 2006, Sundgren andStyhre, 2006;Valentinov, 2021;Valentinov and Pérez-Valls, 2021). In this paper, we draw in particular on contributions to organization theory founded on Luhmann's integration of theories of communication, functional differentiation, and organizational decision-making (see Ahrne et al, 2016;Apelt et al, 2017;Besio and Pronzini, 2014;Gregory, 2006;, 2020Martens, 2006;Schoeneborn et al, 2014;Seidl and Becker, 2016;Thompson and Valentinov, 2017;Valentinov and Thompson, 2019;Valentinov et al, 2020;Will et al, 2018). In line with many other sociologists (e.g.…”

“…, 2016; Apelt et al. , 2017; Besio and Pronzini, 2014; Gregory, 2006; Grothe-Hammer, 2017, 2019, 2020; Martens, 2006; Schoeneborn et al. , 2014; Roth and Valentinov, 2020; Thompson and Valentinov, 2017; Valentinov and Thompson, 2019; Valentinov et al, 2020; Will et al.…”

The demoralization of society and the proliferation of organization

“…5. Based on Luhmann (2020), but also criticizing him, Grothe-Hammer (2020) has recently proposed an update to the systems theory of organization, arguing that contributorship (instead of membership) is the basic premise for the constitution of organizations.…”