Coordination and Experimentation in M-Form and U-Form Organizations
Posted: 17 May 2006
Abstract
We compare the performance of organizational forms (M-form and U-form) in experimenting with uncertain projects. In our framework, organizational forms affect the information structure of an organization and thus the way to coordinate changes. Compared to the U-form, the M-form organization achieves better coordination in "attribute matching" but suffers from coordination in "attribute compatibility" and less gains in specialization. The distinctive advantage of the M-form is its flexibility in choosing between small-scale and full-scale experimentation.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Qian, Yingyi and Roland, Gérard and Xu, Chenggang, Coordination and Experimentation in M-Form and U-Form Organizations. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 114, pp. 366-402, April 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=901850
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