Journal Articles

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Rachlitz, K. (2025). Multi-organizational couplings of societal domains: a typology of meta-organizations in a functionally differentiated society. Theory and Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-025-09627-1

Grothe-Hammer, M. & Hammer, S. (2025). Niklas Luhmann's Unknown Class Theory and Its Explanatory Potential for the Clustering of Inequalities. British Journal of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13195
Open Access to Author Accepted Manuscript here: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3188342 

Clegg, S., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Velarde, K. S. (2024). Sociological thinking in contemporary organizational scholarship. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 90, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20240000090001

Berkowitz, H., Berthod, O., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2024). Vers une théorie décisionnelle des organisations—Revue narrative des apports francophones à l’école européenne des organisations. Revue Française de Gestion, 50(317), 91–110. https://doi.org/10.1684/rfg.2024.33

Jungmann, R., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Andersen, N. Å. (2024). (Re-)Vitalizing the Concept of Organization: Inspirations From Recent Social Theory. Critical Sociology, 50(7-8), 1305-1318. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241263450

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2024), Tingles and Society: The Emotional Experience of ASMR as a Social Phenomenon. Sociological Inquiry, 0(0). Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12618

Besio, C., Fedtke, C., Grothe-Hammer, M., Karafillidis, A., & Pronzini, A. (2024). Algorithmic responsibility without accountability: Understanding data-intensive algorithms and decisions in organisations. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 0(0). Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.3028

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Berkowitz, H. (2024). Unpacking Social Order: Toward a Novel Framework That Goes Beyond Organizations, Institutions, and Networks. Critical Sociology, 50(7-8), 1399-1420. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241232411

Berkowitz, H., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2022). From a clash of social orders to a loss of decidability in meta-organizations tackling grand challenges: The case of Japan leaving the International Whaling Commission. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 79, 115-138. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20220000079010

Sales, A., Roth, S., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Azambuja, R. (2022). From play to pay: A multifunctional approach to the role of culture in post-merger integration. Management Decision, 60(7), 1922-1946. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-01-2021-0136  
You can access the author accepted version here.

Besio, C., Fedtke, C., Grothe-Hammer, M., Karafillidis, A. & Pronzini, A. (2022). Verantwortungsvolle Maschinen ohne Verantwortlichkeit? Datenintensive Algorithmen in Organisationen. [Responsible machines without accountability? Data-intensive algorithms in organizations.] Soziale Systeme, 26(1-2), 129-159. https://doi.org/10.1515/sosys-2021-0005

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Roth, S. (2021). Dying is Normal, Dying with the Coronavirus is not: A Sociological Analysis of the Implicit Norms Behind the Criticism of Swedish “Exceptionalism”. European Societies, 23(sup1), S332-S347. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1826555

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Kohl, S. (2020). The Decline of Organizational Sociology? An empirical analysis of research trends in leading journals across half a century. Current Sociology, 68(4), 419-442. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392120907627

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2020). Membership and contributorship in organizations: An update of modern systems theory. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 37(3), 482-495. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2683

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., Hagen, R., Sydow, J. (2020). Managing resource transposition in the face of extreme events: Fieldwork at two public networks in Germany and the U.S.. Public Administration. Early View: https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12660

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2019). Organization without actorhood: Exploring a neglected phenomenon. European Management Journal, 37(3), 325-338. doi:10.1016/j.emj.2018.07.009 . You can access the final postprint version here.

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Berthod, O. (2017). The programming of decisions for disaster and emergency response: A Luhmannian approach. Current Sociology, 65(5), 735-755. doi:10.1177/0011392116640592

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Sydow, J. (2017). Network Ethnography: A Mixed-Method Approach for the Study of Practices in Interorganizational Settings. Organizational Research Methods, 20(2), 299-323. doi:10.1177/1094428116633872

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., Müller-Seitz, G., Raab, J., Sydow, J. (2017). From High-Reliability Organizations to High-Reliability Networks: The Dynamics of Network Governance in the Face of Emergency. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 27(2), 352-371. doi: 10.1093/jopart/muw05

Apelt, M., Besio, C., Corsi, G., von Groddeck, V., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Tacke, V. (2017). Resurrecting organization without renouncing society: A response to Ahrne, Brunsson and Seidl. European Management Journal, 35(1), 8-14. doi:10.1016/j.emj.2017.01.002

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2017). Preparing for the Field by Topics: A Systems Theory inspired Strategy for Improving Social Access. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 34(1), 41-50. doi:10.1002/sres.2393

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Sydow, J. (2015). Some Characteristics of High-Reliability Networks. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 23(1), 24–28. doi:10.1111/1468-5973.12069

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2015). “You watch that the maniac finishes in time.” On the balance of power between the director and production manager in film projects. Studies in Communication & Media, 4(3), p.189-247. doi: 10.5771/2192-4007-2015-3-189 . Open Access: http://www.scm.nomos.de/fileadmin/scm/doc/SCM_15_03_00.pdf

Articles in Edited Volumes

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Hammer, S. (2025). Niklas Luhmann. In Øversveen, E. M., Leiulfsrud, H., Stuvøy, I., & Tjora, A. H. (Eds.), Sosiologisk teori (pp. 239-256). Fagbokforlaget. ISBN: 9788245044157.

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2023). Rettungsorganisationen. In M. Apelt & V. Tacke (Eds.), Handbuch Organisationstypen (pp. 299-315). Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-39559-9_14 
Free Access to Author Accepted Manuscript here: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3156552

Grothe-Hammer, M., Berkowitz, H., & Berthod, O. (2022). Decisional Organization Theory: Towards an Integrated Framework of Organization. In M. Godwyn (Ed.), Research Handbook on the Sociology of Organizations (pp. 30-53). Edward Elgar. (Peer reviewed.) Open Access: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839103261.00011  

Grothe-Hammer, M.  (2022). The Communicative Constitution of the World: A Luhmannian View on Communication, Organizations, and Society. In J. Basque, N. Bencherki, & T. Kuhn (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of the Communicative Constitution of Organizations (pp. 88-103). Routledge. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003224914-7 

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2021). Covid-19 als Gefahr oder Risiko. Warum interessieren uns Infektionstote plötzlich so sehr? In S. Lenz & M. Hasenfratz, Gesellschaft als Risiko: Soziologische Situationsanalysen zur Coronapandemie (pp. 35-47). Frankfurt am Main: Campus

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2019). Die De-Organisation von Organisation? Zu den Konsequenzen des Ersetzens menschlicher Entscheiderinnen und Entscheider durch Algorithmen in Organisationen. [The de-organization of organization? On the consequences of replacing human decision-makers by algorithms in organizations.] In Nicole Burzan (Ed.), Komplexe Dynamiken globaler und lokaler Entwicklungen: Verhandlungen des 39. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Göttingen 2018. You can access the paper here: https://publikationen.soziologie.de/index.php/kongressband_2018/article/view/1183

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2019). Membership or Contributorship? Managing the inclusion of individuals into organizations. In G. Ahrne & N. Brunsson (eds.), Organization outside organizations: The Abundance of Partial Organization in Social Life (pp. 84-112). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Grothe-Hammer, M. & Schoeneborn, D. (2019). The queen bee outlives her own children: A Luhmannian perspective on project-based organizations (PBOs). In: C. Vásquez & T. R. Kuhn (eds.), Dis/organization as communication: Exploring the disordering, disruptive and chaotic properties of communication (pp. 60-79). New York: Routledge.

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Sydow J. (2018). Inter-organizational ethnography. In A. Bryman, & D.A. Buchanan (eds.), Unconventional Methodology in Organization and Management Research (pp. 212-230). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Sydow, J. (2016). Einige Charakeristika von Hochzuverlässigkeitsnetzwerken. In P. Zoche, S. Kaufmann, & H. Arnold (eds.), Grenzenlose Sicherheit? Gesellschaftliche Dimensionen der Sicherheitsforschung (pp. 289–300). Berlin: Lit Verlag.
German translation of: Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Sydow, J. (2015). Some Characteristics of High-Reliability Networks. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 23(1), 24–28. doi:10.1111/1468-5973.12069

Special Issues

Jungmann, R., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Andersen, N. Å. (2024). Special Issue/Symposium: (Re-)Vitalizing the Concept of Organization: Inspirations From Recent Social Theory. Critical Sociology, 50(7-8). https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/crsb/50/7-8#d48340e1021 

Clegg, S., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Velarde, K. S. (2024). Volume: Sociological thinking in contemporary organizational scholarship. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 90. https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/S0733-558X202490 

Berkowitz, H., Brunsson, N., Grothe-Hammer, M., Sundberg, M., Valiorgue B. (2022). Special Issue: Meta-Organization. M@n@gement, 25(2). https://management-aims.com/index.php/mgmt/issue/view/530

Pimentel, T. D., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2022). Ação coletiva, movimentos sociais e organização: Trabalhos Selecionados do Fórum ISA 2021.  Teoria e Cultura, 17(2). https://periodicos.ufjf.br/index.php/TeoriaeCultura/issue/view/1638

Grothe-Hammer, M., & la Cour, A. (Eds.). (2020). Special Issue: Organization and Membership. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 37(3), 417–527. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/10991743a/2020/37/3

Book Reviews

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2015). Book review (in German): Etzioni, Amitai (1975): A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations. On Power, Involvement, and Their Correlates. 2. Edition. New York: The Free Press. In S. Kühl (ed.), Schlüsselwerke der Organisationsforschung (pp. 257–260). Wiesbaden: Springer.

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2015). Book Review (in German): Weick, Karl E.; Sutcliffe, Kathleen M. (2007): Managing the Unexpected. Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty. 2. Edition. San Francisco: Wiley. In S. Kühl (ed.), Schlüsselwerke der Organisationsforschung (pp. 734–738). Wiesbaden: Springer.

Other Contributions

Berkowitz, H., Brunsson, N., Grothe-Hammer, M., Sundberg, M., Valiorgue B. (2022). Meta-Organizations: A Clarification and a Way Forward. M@n@gement, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.v25.8728

Grothe-Hammer, M., & la Cour, Anders (2020). Organization and membership: Introduction to the Special Issue. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 37(3), 419-424. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2682

Conference Contributions

Rachlitz, K., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Bailey, J. (2023, July). How Do Knowing Meta-Organizations “Enact” Grand Challenges? The Case of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). 39th EGOS Colloquium, Cagliari.

Berkowitz, H., Grothe-Hammer, M. , & Rachlitz, K. (2023, June). The Value of Meta-Organizations for Solving Complex Ecological Problems. XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne.

Grothe-Hammer, M. , & Berkowitz, H. (2022, December). Re-visiting the issue of social order: Contesting the binary between spontaneous and organized order.  International Conference on Organizational Sociology (ICOS): Organizations in a Plural Society, Trondheim.

Grothe-Hammer, M. , & Berkowitz, H. (2022, October). Re-visiting the issue of social order: Contesting the binary between spontaneous and organized order. Organizing the World 2.0: A Score Conference, Stockholm.

Grothe-Hammer, M. , & Berkowitz, H. (2022, September). Re-visiting the issue of social order: Contesting the binary between spontaneous and organized order.  41. Congress of the German Sociological Association, Bielefeld.

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2021, June) Organisation als Entscheidung: Von der Theoretisierung partieller Organisation zur Erneuerung der Organisationstheorie. Annual conference (virtual) of the German section on organizational sociology of the German Sociological Association. 

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2021, February). The Social Construction of Climate Change: Are We Stuck between Risk and Danger?  International Sociological Association. 4th ISA Forum of Sociology (virtual), Porto Alegre.

Berkowitz, H., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2021, February). Meta-Organizing for Climate Change.  International Sociological Association. 4th ISA Forum of Sociology (virtual), Porto Alegre.

Berkowitz, H., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2020, July). How can meta-organizations tackle grand challenges? The relevance of decidability and non-decidability in the meta-organizational space in the case of IWC. European Group for Organizational Studies. 36th EGOS Colloquium (virtual), Hamburg.

Grothe-Hammer, M. , & Berkowitz, H. (2019, December). Tackling Societal Grand Challenges: The Relevance of Decidability of Social Orders in a Meta-Organizational Space. Autumn Conference of the Section on Organizational Sociology of the German Sociological Association, Lucerne.

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Berkowitz, H. (2019, July). A theory of organization as decision. European Group for Organizational Studies. 35th EGOS Colloquium, Edinburgh.

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Berkowitz, H. (2019, May). Organization as decision. Workshop “Meta-, Macro-, and Partial Organization: Advances in Research and Theory”, Toulouse.

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Berkowitz, H. (2019, April). A theory of organization as decision. Spring Conference of the Section on Organizational Sociology of the German Sociological Association, Hamburg.

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2018, October). Die De-Organisation von Organisation? Zu den Konsequenzen des Ersetzens menschlicher Entscheider durch Algorithmen in Organisationen. [The de-organization of organization? On the consequences of replacing human decision-makers by algorithms in organizations.] German Sociological Association, Ad-hoc Group „Macht Digitalisierung Organisationen überflüssig?“ [Does digitalization render organizations expandable?]. 39th Congress of the German Sociological Association, Göttingen.

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Schoeneborn, D. (2018, July). The Project-Based Organization (PBO) as the “honeybee queen”: A Luhmannian perspective on the enduring and fading away of organization. European Group for Organizational Studies. 34th EGOS Colloquium, Tallinn.

Besio, C., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Fedtke, C. (2018, July). Big Data and Decision-Making in Insurance Organizations. International Sociological Association. XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Toronto.

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Kohl, S. (2018, July). The Decline of Organizational Sociology? An Empirical Analysis of Research Trends in Leading Journals across Half a Century. International Sociological Association. XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Toronto.

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2018, May). The consequences of replacing decision-makers by algorithms: On shifts in responsibilities and the de-organization of organizations. Workshop of the Working Group “Digitalization & Organization” of the Section on Organizational Sociology of the German Sociological Association, Berlin.

Muster, J., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Berthod, O. (2018, March). Fear and Loathing at the Workplace: Nature and Effects of Loophole Decoupling. 14th Workshop on New Institutionalism in Organization Theory, Milan.

Besio, C., Fedtke, C., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2017, December). Big Data und Entscheidungsprozesse: Wandel in der Versicherungsbranche. [Big Data and decision processes: Changes in the insurance sector.] Sections on Organizational Sociology and on Science and Technology Studies of the German Sociological Association. Joint Autumn Conference “Digitalisierung und Reorganisation”, Stuttgart.

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2017, July). From membership to contributorship: Managing the inclusion of individuals into organizations. European Group for Organizational Studies. 33rd EGOS Colloquium, Copenhagen.

Berthod, O., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2017, July). Cascading Doubt into Individual Responsibilities: How Emergency Responders Harness Profession and Organizational Structure for Continuous Adaptive Sensemaking. European Group for Organizational Studies. 33rd EGOS Colloquium, Copenhagen.

Sydow, J., Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Müller-Seitz, G. (2016, August). Interorganizational Coordinating for Reliability: An Ethnography of a High-Reliability Network. Academy of Management. Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim.

Besio, C., & Grothe-Hammer, M. (2016, July). From Micro to Meso to Macro and Back: A Systems-Theoretical Framework for Understanding the Relation Between New Organizational Forms (NOFs) and Society. International Sociological Association. 3rd ISA Forum of Sociology, Vienna.

Grothe-Hammer, M. (2016, July). The Non-Addressable Meta-Organization and Its Contribution to High Reliability. International Sociological Association. 3rd ISA Forum of Sociology, Vienna.

Sydow, J., Berthod, O., Grothe, M., & Hagen, R. (2016, July). Does network design matter?: How interorganizational networks balance mandated structures and situatedness in crisis situations. European Group for Organizational Studies. 32nd EGOS Colloquium, Naples.

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., Müller-Seitz, G., & Sydow, J. (2015, August). From HRO to HRN: Dynamics of Network Governance in the Face of Emergency. Academy of Management. Academy of Management Meeting, Vancouver. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2015.11138a

Sydow, J., Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., & Müller-Seitz, G. (2015, July). Coordinating for reliability? A practice-based perspective on high-reliability networks. European Group for Organizational Studies. 31th EGOS Colloquium, Athens.

Berthod, O., Grothe-Hammer, M., Müller-Seitz, G., & Sydow, J. (2014, July). From high-reliability organizations to high-reliability networks? Collective organizing in the face of emergency. European Group for Organizational Studies. 30th EGOS Colloquium, Rotterdam.

Grothe-Hammer, M., & Sydow, J. (2014, May). Network Ethnography? – Analysing a Multi-organisational Emergency Response Network using a Mixed Method Approach. Social Network Analysis Study Group (SNAG) of the British Sociological Association (BSA), Middlesex University, & University of Greenwich. Conference: Mixed-method approaches to social network analysis, London.