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DESCRIPTION:Hanieh Mohammadi\, a doctoral student at 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ in t
 he Strategy and Organization area will be presenting her thesis defense en
 titled:\n\nHow Dynamics Between Organizations and Teams Shape Innovation\n
 \nTuesday\, March 10\, 2026: 1:00 p.m.\n	(The defense will be conducted in 
 hybrid mode)\n\nStudent Committee Co-chairs: Professor Henry Mintzberg and
  Professor Paola Perez-Alemanh\n\n\nAbstract\n\nExisting research illumina
 tes a great deal about which team compositions\, processes\, and leadershi
 p styles foster innovation. Many organizations implement these best practi
 ces effectively\, investing in teams\, setting clear goals\, and securing 
 leadership support. They establish agile routines\, systems\, and structur
 es to encourage collaboration and creativity. Yet even with these elements
  in place\, organizations may still experience periods when innovation slo
 ws. Perhaps the problem lies in looking beyond the internal dynamics of te
 ams or the formal design of organizations toward the space where they inte
 rsect—where the daily interactions between teams and their parent organiza
 tions shape how innovation unfolds. How these interactions evolve may infl
 uence whether new ideas gain traction\, adapt\, and endure—or quietly fade
  before they take form. This raises a central question: how does the inter
 play between teams and the organization influence the emergence and endura
 nce of innovation\, particularly its unintentional forms?\n\nTo answer thi
 s question\, this dissertation draws on two ethnographies with separate an
 alyses. Both settings provide clear visibility into how team-organization 
 interactions shape innovation. One setting moved from a pattern of frequen
 t spontaneous innovation to a fully planned one\, while the other experien
 ced the reverse—shifting from no innovation to a mix of intentional and se
 rendipitous advances. Study 1 is an 18-month ethnography of a mid-size tec
 h firm (~50 employees) whose temporary\, cross-occupational teams (5–6 peo
 ple\, drawn from a stable pool) shifted to remote and then hybrid (in-pers
 on/remote) work. Previously\, innovation emerged both from day-to-day impr
 ovisations and from planned initiatives\; after the shift to hybrid work\,
  these efforts were channelled into a tightly scheduled two-week sprint cy
 cle that structured when new ideas could be developed. Study 2 is a three-
 year ethnography of an innovative policy project spanning five organizatio
 ns and three professions\, with rotating 5–6-person teams drawn from a ~40
 -person pool. After two failed pushes (each ~8–9 months)\, a third attempt
  succeeded: the work moved from no innovation to a mixture of intentional 
 and small\, serendipitous innovations that carried the project forward and
  prevented breakdown.\n\nBased on this comparison\, I develop the concept 
 of structural serendipity: a system’s capacity to convert unexpected cues 
 encountered during work into outcomes that emerge and take hold because fo
 rmal mechanisms and adaptive flexibility co-exist in productive tension. I
 t captures how organizations can remain both disciplined and responsive—ab
 le to exploit formal structures while adapting in real time to emergent op
 portunities. Structural serendipity is visible when (a) decisions are made
  at the appropriate level and time\; (b) identities and roles are temporar
 ily reframed to surface otherwise silenced expertise\; and (c) structures 
 and routines are selectively activated\, bent\, or bypassed to keep moment
 um without losing credibility of the actions.\n\nI reframe serendipity as 
 a structural and relational capacity—something that can be cultivated thro
 ugh the way organizational and team boundaries are managed\, rather than o
 ccurring by chance. The findings reveal that innovation depends less on ha
 ving the right conditions in place and more on how formal and informal str
 uctures interact in real time to create flexibility without disorder. Toge
 ther\, these insights reposition serendipity as a governable property of o
 rganizing\, offering a new lens on how organizations can remain adaptive w
 hile preserving legitimacy. Conclusions are drawn for each of the studies 
 as well as together. Study 1 theorizes coordination as coupled with recogn
 ition and shows how transitioning to hybrid work reshapes recognition—and\
 , by extension\, coordination. Study 2 elaborates on the mechanisms for ov
 ercoming rigid power structures in multi-organizational settings to facili
 tate coordination.\n\nPlease note: Thesis Defences are only open to member
 s of the 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ community (Students\, Professors and Staff) and not the ge
 neral public.\n
DTSTART:20260310T170000Z
DTEND:20260310T190000Z
SUMMARY:PhD Thesis Defense Presentation: Hanieh Mohammadi
URL:/dobson/channels/event/phd-thesis-defense-presenta
 tion-hanieh-mohammadi-371554
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