Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • June 2012
  • Article
  • Strategic Management Journal

Meta-Organizational Design: Rethinking Design in Inter-Organizational and Community Contexts

By: Ranjay Gulati, Phanish Puranam and Michael Tushman
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

This paper provides conceptual foundations for analyzing organizations comprising multiple legally autonomous entities, which we call meta-organizations. We assess the antecedents of the emergence of such collectives and the design choices they entail. The paper identifies key parameters on which such meta-organizations' designs differ from each other. It also presents a taxonomy that elucidates how such forms of collective action vary and the constraints they must address to be successful. We conclude with implications for research on meta-organizational design.

Keywords

Design; Organizations; Civil Society or Community; Relationships

Citation

Gulati, Ranjay, Phanish Puranam, and Michael Tushman. "Meta-Organizational Design: Rethinking Design in Inter-Organizational and Community Contexts." Special Issue on Strategy and the Design of Organizational Architecture edited by R. Gulati, P. Puranam, M. Tushman. Strategic Management Journal 33, no. 6 (June 2012): 571–586.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Authors

Ranjay Gulati

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

Michael L. Tushman

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2025
    • Strategic Management Journal

    Outcome and Process Frames: Strategic Renewal and Capability Reprioritization at the Federal Bureau of Investigation

    By: Ryan Raffaelli, Tiona Zuzul, Ranjay Gulati and Jan Rivkin
    • May–June 2025
    • Harvard Business Review

    Sustainability as a Business-Model Transformation

    By: Ivanka Visnjic, Felipe Monteiro and Michael L. Tushman
    • March 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Sarojini Naidu: Courage of the Nightingale

    By: Ranjay Gulati, Malini Sen and Anjali Raina
More from the Authors
  • Outcome and Process Frames: Strategic Renewal and Capability Reprioritization at the Federal Bureau of Investigation By: Ryan Raffaelli, Tiona Zuzul, Ranjay Gulati and Jan Rivkin
  • Sustainability as a Business-Model Transformation By: Ivanka Visnjic, Felipe Monteiro and Michael L. Tushman
  • Sarojini Naidu: Courage of the Nightingale By: Ranjay Gulati, Malini Sen and Anjali Raina
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.