DOKTORISEMINAR
Esmaspäeval, 16. mail 2022 kell 11.20-12.30 MS Teams
VEIKO VALKIAINEN (Tartu Ülikool)
Leadership under Holacracy: Investigating Holacracy through the Self-Determination Theory Framework
I am personally deeply driven by the prospects to discover new ways of leading and organising ourselves so that there would be more supportive organisational environments for us to develop and grow both personally and professionally together with our organisations. The purpose of this paper is to draw on the self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017) and its three basic human needs in order to better understand the psycho-social workings of Holacracy (Robertson, 2015), the novel self-management practice for organisations based on the radical distribution of authority. The self-determination theory provides the current paper with the framework to investigate Holacracy as a practice that purportedly creates a social environment where the satisfaction of our basic psychological needs, as argued, is better facilitated compared to the more conventional hierarchical management structure. More specifically, the paper argues that it is plausible to infer that specific Holacracy practices – (1) radical distribution of authority and the purpose-driven decision-making; (2) sensing, expressing and processing of tensions through the tactical and governance meetings; and (3) an introduction of relationships based on an equal partnership between autonomous self-managing adults – can be associated with higher basic needs’ satisfaction. The developed conceptual model sheds light on the possible conditions under which Holacracy practices may lead to favourable psycho-social environments in organisations. Indeed, I sincerely hope that the current paper contributes to the management studies literature by integrating Holacracy and the self-determination theory into one explanatory model.