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Organizational complexity in big science: strategies and practices
Martina Merz1, Helene Sorgner1
1University of Klagenfurt, Sterneckstrasse 15, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria.
Synthese
|May 11, 2022
Summary
Managing complexity in Big Science involves segmenting infrastructure, bureaucratic governance, and standardization. These strategies displace, rather than reduce, complexity, creating new organizational challenges in large-scale research.
Area of Science:
- Sociotechnical studies of Big Science
- Organizational complexity in research
Background:
- Big Science research shifts focus to sociotechnical arrangements.
- Limited understanding of how scientists manage complexity for knowledge production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how scientists manage organizational complexity in large-scale research.
- To identify strategies for facilitating knowledge production amidst complexity.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of organizational complexity in organizing practices.
- Empirical case study of experimental particle physics at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
- Literature review on large-scale research and organizational strategies.
Main Results:
- Identified three strategies: segmenting research infrastructure, bureaucratic governance, and standardization.
- These strategies manage specific tasks by dividing, ordering, or mediating logics.
- Organizational complexity is displaced, not reduced, leading to novel complexities.
Conclusions:
- Managing organizational complexity is a dynamic, ongoing process.
- Strategies for coping with complexity inevitably generate new forms of complexity.
- Understanding these dynamics is crucial for effective large-scale research endeavors.
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