From Added Values to Augmented Realities. Introducing the Special Issue of Management and Functional Differentiation

Abstract

In this reintroduction to the concept of functional differentiation, we present historical evidence that the perceived proliferation of moral communication in management and organization research and practice is at odds with the principles of management and organization. We show that there is neither direct need nor direct way to derive decision premises from values as decisions and values cancel each other if they are not moderated by functional differentiation. We conclude that the future of management and organization be in decision‐making without values and introduce a broad scope of tools and domains for value‐free management by functional differentiation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The contribution of systems theory to sustainability in degrowth contexts: The role of subsystems

“…Luhmann (, , ) made large contributions to the theory of functional differentiation, widely recognized due to the significance to modern society';; description, by mainly developing the theory of social differentiation (Jönhill, ; Luhmann, ; Roth, ; Valentinov, , ; Wetzel & van Gorp, ). According to his idea of social systems, functional differentiation refers to the decomposition of society into 10 function systems: economy, law, politics, art, education, science, medicine, religion, sports, and mass media (Roth & Schütz, ).…”

“…According to his idea of social systems, functional differentiation refers to the decomposition of society into 10 function systems: economy, law, politics, art, education, science, medicine, religion, sports, and mass media (Roth & Schütz, ). These function systems cannot be compared with each other; hence, none is more important than any other—they are “unrankable” (Roth, ; Valentinov, ). Economic markets, for example, cannot be observed without differentiation of the economy from other function systems.…”

“…In his guest editorial to the special issue of Management and Functional Differentiation , Roth () reintroduced the concept of functional differentiation as a moderator between values and decisions inside a firm. This is because decision‐making processes imply the absence of moral values as “values clearly are poison for decision‐makers” (Roth, , p. 131), resulting in a preference and preventing decision making from the beginning.…”

From Complexity Reduction to Moral Character: A Deweyian Reading of Luhmann's Social Systems Theory

“…This makes the systems‐theoretic concept of moral character radically different from the premodern traditional values that precluded the existence of any behavioural alternatives (cf. Roth, ).…”

Multiplying the Division of Labour: Functional Differentiation of the Next Key Variables in Management Research

“…To this end, we show that functional differentiation is a special case of social differentiation. In drawing on theories of social differentiation, we further show that functional differentiation is actually not about the division of work or organization, but rather about a multiplication of horizons for decision‐making (see also Roth, ). We conclude that a systematic management of functional differentiation makes organizations more versatile and agile, a claim that we corroborate by demonstrations of how a functional lens on functional differentiation facilitates the development of new management tools and research agendas in fields such as entrepreneurship, strategy, and human resource management.…”