Coordination in Fast-Response Organizations

Abstract

Organizational coordination has traditionally been viewed from an organizational-design perspective where rules, modalities, and structures are used to meet the information-processing demands of the environment. Fast-response organizations face unique coordination challenges as they operate under conditions of high uncertainty and fast decision making, where mistakes can be catastrophic. Based on an in-depth investigation of the coordination practices of a medical trauma center where fast-response and error-free activities are essential requirements, we develop a coordination-practice perspective that emphasizes expertise coordination and dialogic coordination. We argue that expertise coordination practices (reliance on protocols, community of practice structuring, plug-and-play teaming, and knowledge sharing) are essential to manage distributed expertise and ensure the timely application of necessary expertise. We suggest that dialogic coordination practices (epistemic contestation, joint sensemaking, cross-boundary intervention, and protocol breaking) are time-critical responses to novel events and ensure error-free operation. However, dialogic coordination practices are highly contested because of epistemic differences, reputation stakes, and possible blame apportionment.

Cite this

Samer A Faraj, Yan Xiao (2006). Coordination in Fast-Response Organizations. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1060.0526

@article{a2006coordination,
  title  = {Coordination in Fast-Response Organizations},
  author = {Faraj, Samer A and Xiao, Yan},
  year   = {2006},
  journal = {Management Science},
  doi    = {10.1287/mnsc.1060.0526}
}

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