Decision Making in an Organization without Managers

Abstract: This paper discusses the phenomena of an organization that has chosen to structure their firm without hierarchical layers and management positions, and how decision making unfolds in an organization as such. The research is conducted on a Gothenburg-based “app” firm, through an in-depth case study. Due to the lack of managers, the company has chosen to distribute the leadership among all organizational actors. The aim of this paper is therefore to answer how organizational activities such as decision making plays out in a firm structured without managers. Our findings show that an organization who tries to break out of the institution by not having managers, makes decisions through four different constellations; individual, small teams, big team and combined. Thereby, decision making appears to be a social process. Furthermore, the study shows that these four processes are impacted by the institutional pressure the organization experiences, but also adapted to the characteristics of the decisions that are to be made.