Abstract

This paper explores the emergence of organization from individuals' interactions in a collective. Its focus is on small collectives like teams. Organization is explained as an outcome of both self-organization and design. Self-organization requires stretching environments and also commitment of individuals to the interests of the collective. As interactions produce organization individuals are constituted as autonomous and non-autonomous roles participating in processes of constitution and production. The interest in these processes is that they help understanding the embodiment of knowledge to produce organizations with desirable properties. This understanding triggers a reflection about research and design. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.