Organisational Identity and Self-Transformation

David Seidl is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Business Policy and Strategic Management, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Germany.

• Contents: General Introduction; Autopoiesis, Luhmann, Spencer Brown; Organisation as autopoietic system; Organisational identity; The logic of self-transformation; An evolutionary model of self-transformation; General conclusion: the distinctions of the study; Bibliography; Index.

'David Seidl's book is to be welcomed. He takes organizations as his focus and explores in great detail how Luhmann conceptualises them as autopoietic systems. This book provides an excellent resource for those interested in new perspectives on organization theory and also for those interested more widely in Luhmann's social theory.' Professor John Mingers, University of Kent, UK 'There are two sides to any organizational identity, a determinate one and an indeterminate one. David Seidl succeeds in showing that any entrepreneurial function necessarily assumes that both are working together. This alone is turning classical organization theory into a postclassical one, places evolutionary sensitivity and undecidability where it belongs, and puts an end to the idea of seeking identity in definite purpose.' Professor Dirk Baecker, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany 'David Seidl's book can be read as a systematic and meticulous analysis of the work of human systems in the continuous work of saving the structures and appearances of the human world. He places autopoiesis in its social context through the work of Niklas Luhmann. Luhmann's comprehensive and probing analysis invites us to re-interpret contemporary views of organization by opening up radically new vistas for re-thinking organization as a profound and existential theme.' Professor Robert Cooper, Keele University, UK