Release | Organisation and Function: Reclaiming the Third Mandate in the Age of Grand Challenges

Abstract: Calls for organizations to address grand societal challenges increasingly emphasise performance-oriented adaptation and organisational repurposing through new initiatives, metrics, and governance mechanisms. Yet this focus often neglects the more fundamental macro-structural role organisations play in society. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory, this paper reclaims the long-neglected “third mandate” of organization theory by […]

CFP | EURAM 2026 | T12.03 Management History, Theory, and Philosophy

Proponents Track description The ‘Management History, Theory, and Philosophy’ track addresses the historical and philosophical foundations and challenges of management and organization theory and practice, as well as the application and evolution of historical research methods. Knowledge of these foundations and challenges is vital for interpreting trends, developing creative management solutions to persistent organizational problems, […]

CFP | JOCM | Reprogramming. Observed with social systems theory

Special Issue of the Journal of Organizational Change Management (SSCI 2.7, Scopus Q2, CABS**, FNEGE**, VHB***) on Reprogramming. Observed with social systems theory Guest Editors: Steffen Roth, Excelia Business School, France; University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Vladislav Valentinov, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies, Halle, Germany; Next Society Institute, Kazimieras Simonavičius University, Lithuania […]

CFP | MD | Programmes in management and organisation. Observed with social systems theory

Special Issue of Management Decision (SSCI 5.1, Scopus Q1, CABS**, FNEGE**, VHB***) on Programmes in management and organisation. Observed with social systems theory Guest Editors: Steffen Roth, Excelia Business School, France; University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, roths@excelia-group.com Augusto Sales, Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Brazil; Yale University, United States of America, augusto.sales@fgv.br Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31/01/2026 The issue […]

Release | Multifunctional organisation. A systems-theoretical concept and its practical implications

Abstract: Purpose: This Theory Transfer and Impact Article addresses a paradox in how organisations are observed and theorised: while governments are assumed to be political, schools educational, and firms economic, these same organisations often act across multiple functional domains—accumulating capital, performing research, or exercising power. The article proposes the concept of the multifunctional organisation to […]

Release | What is in Organisation? Contents of a Self-Contained Container

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to resolve the apparent opposition between the container metaphor of organisation and the idea that organisations are constituted by communication. Drawing on works by Niklas Luhmann, George Spencer Brown, and Louis Kaufman, I develop a dynamic, communicative concept of containment, or “continence”. Using this concept, I demonstrate how […]

Release | Virtual special Issue on “Guiding Distinctions of Management and Organisation Research”

Virtual special Luhmann Conference 2024 issue of Management Revue on the theme of “The Guiding Distinctions of Management and Organisation Research” Introduction Steffen Roth, Lars Clausen, Margit Neisig, and Augusto Sales: Guiding Distinctions of Management and Organisation Research. An Introduction, Management Revue, Vol. 36 No. 1, 39357. Contributions This virtual special issue of Management Revue […]

Release | Value Plurality and Multifunctional Commensuration in Organisation: A Systems-Theoretical Approach

Abstract: This article aims to challenge the prevailing economic bias in studies of organised valuation and commensuration by exploring the broader plurality of values that organisations must manage. The article draws on social systems theory in the tradition of German sociologist Niklas Luhmann to conceptualise organisations as multifunctional systems of decisions that pertain to and […]

CFP | Luhmann Conference 2025 in Cambridge

Call for papers to the Luhmann Conference 2025 Topic: Programmes. Observed with social systems theory Venue: University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Submission deadline (abstracts): 15 May 2025Conference dates: 09-12 September 2025Pre-conference dinner: 08 September 2025 Supported by the Next Society Institute at Kazimieras Simonavicius University, European Sociological Association and the Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik. To download this Call for Papers, please click […]