# Organizational design `kaal:entity:organizational-design` **Status.** derived This node is assembled mechanically from the 13 claims that carry the concept tag `organizational-design`. It is a roster of what the corpus says under this term. It is **not** an adjudicated definition: no single statement here has been ruled canonical, and no first-appearance call has been made. Read the claims and judge for yourself. ## Every claim under this term 13 claims across 8 works, 2018 to 2024. **2018** - [3227933-008](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3227933-008) [definitional/argued] -- What distinguishes a platform style organization is not its technology but its internal organization: it uses stakeholder input and feedback to continuously improve user experience and engagement with its products and services. > What makes a platform-style of organization distinctive is that it uses stakeholders' input and feedback to improve the user experience and engagement with the platform and its products, services, and other solutions. Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Why 'Blockchain' Will Disrupt Corporate Organizations (2018). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3227933 - [3227933-029](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3227933-029) [design/asserted] -- The design premise of the DAO was that because people do not always follow rules even when the rules are well designed, it is better to use computer code to manage an organization. > The DAO intended to automate governance and was based on the idea that since "people" don't always follow the rules (even if the rules are well-designed), it is better to use computer code to manage an organization. Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Why 'Blockchain' Will Disrupt Corporate Organizations (2018). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3227933 - [3227967-017](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3227967-017) [failure/asserted] *(failure mode)* -- Many new innovation driven firms that replaced hierarchy with a best-idea-wins culture have struggled to maintain that governance model and to fulfill their initial promise. > Significantly, however, many such "new" firms have often struggled to maintain this new governance model and fulfill their initial promise. Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in a Digital Age Why 'Coding for Lawyers' Matters (2018). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3227967 - [3227967-031](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3227967-031) [predictive/argued] -- DAOs will eventually overtake any organization that lacks their incentives and efficiencies, and because DAOs are cheap and straightforward to clone this will potentially lead to more competition. > we also concluded (as we did in class) that DAOs will eventually overtake any organization which lacks these incentives and efficiencies. Moreover, DAOs are cheap and straightforward to "clone," which will potentially lead to more competition. Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in a Digital Age Why 'Coding for Lawyers' Matters (2018). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3227967 **2019** - [3406323-007](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3406323-007) [mechanism/argued] -- Decentralized Autonomous Organizations challenge the core belief that governance necessitates agency, because a DAO can operate a governance structure built entirely on software, code, and smart contracts. > Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have started to challenge the core believe that governance necessitates agency. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - A Primer on the New Economy (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3406323 - [3411897-008](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3411897-008) [mechanism/argued] -- Decentralized Autonomous Organizations challenge the core belief that governance necessitates agency, attacking organizational design at a fundamental level rather than merely reforming it. > While it is still difficult to imagine a world without governance structures facilitated by agency constructs, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have started to challenge the core believe that governance necessitates agency. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - Past, Present, and Future (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3411897 **2021** - [3782191-028](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782191-028) [condition/argued] -- Decentralized organizations outperform centralized ones precisely in the two circumstances where centralization fails: when choices multiply without bound and when novel crises arise. > Decentralized organizations thrive in both of these circumstances, when choices multiply without bound and when novel crises arise. Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Preface to (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782191 - [3782191-029](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782191-029) [definitional/argued] -- There is no clear-cut discrete difference between centralized and decentralized; organizations fall along a spectrum whose essential differentiator is the freedom of each member in the network. > There is no clear-cut, discrete difference between centralized and decentralized. There is a spectrum between the two that any organization will fall along. The essen- tial differentiator is the freedom of each member in the network. Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Preface to (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782191 - [3782191-030](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782191-030) [design/asserted] -- The most successful organizations choose a hybrid of centralization and decentralization that maximizes the strengths of each rather than occupying either extreme. > The most successful organizations choose a hybrid of centralization and decentraliza- tion which maximizes the strengths of each. Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Preface to (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782191 - [3782193-016](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782193-016) [mechanism/argued] -- Centralization is a powerful mechanism for rapidly building an efficient organization aimed at solving one specific problem, such as war in pre-unified China. > Centralization is a powerful mechanism for rapidly building an effi- cient organization for solving a specific problem (e.g., war in pre-unified China). Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Historical Sketches of Centralization vs. Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782193 - [3782193-017](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782193-017) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- The more effective a centralized architecture becomes at solving its target problem, the more rigid and unforgiving it becomes; rigid architectures are unstable and fail when met with novel challenges, so more decentralized organizations are more stable. > But rigid architectures are unstable and fail when met with novel challenges. More de- centralized organizations are more stable. Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Historical Sketches of Centralization vs. Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782193 - [3782198-026](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3782198-026) [mechanism/argued] -- Decentralization is most valuable in chaotic times because the most talented members for a task are not blocked by a rigid hierarchy, unlike bureaucracies that respond to new problems with an outdated structure. > Second, decentralization is ideal in chaotic times, when technology and business arrangements are continually changing. The most talented members for any task are not blocked by a rigid hierarchy. Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Contemporary Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782198 **2024** - [4900880-034](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/4900880-034) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Traditional hierarchical organizational structures are too slow to adapt to rapid technological change and stifle innovation through rigid control mechanisms, which is why they are unsuited to governing the quantum economy. > Traditional hierarchical structures are often slow to adapt to rapid technological changes and can stifle innovation through rigid control mechanisms. Wulf A. Kaal, Quantum Economy and the Future of Work (2024). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4900880 ## Verify Every claim above resolves to a record carrying a verbatim source quote, the sha256 of the source PDF, and a preformatted citation. Nothing here asks to be taken on trust. curl -s https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/organizational-design.md | sha256sum **Canonical form.** This markdown file is the canonical hashed representation of this entity node. Its sha256 is the content hash.