The weberian ideal of the “liberated company”: a response to the concept’s epistemological ambiguity
Type de matériel :
35
The liberated company (LC) is still an emerging concept. Academic research has increased in recent years to clarify its conceptual framework, uncover its characteristics, and distinguish it from related concepts (such as Holacracy and Teal organizations). The empirical-statistical approach adopted by most of this research contributes to the characterization of an “average” type, in the Weberian sense, reflecting real-world experimentation with the concept rather than its conceptualization as a “pure” type. This article demonstrates how the absence of a shared, unequivocal reference framework creates two types of problems: the justification of case studies and the interpretation of results. To address this impasse and resolve this epistemological ambiguity, we propose adopting a Weberian ideal type of approach to LC. Indeed, the sociological “pure” type offers a relevant heuristic tool for researchers. Based on the “value-rationality” of the concept and its “intended meaning,” as described by pioneering authors, and drawing on a selection of significant academic works, its essential features are identified. The ideal type of LC is thus composed of eight traits, rationally and coherently linked by their meaning. Its humanistic philosophy and radicality (in abolishing hierarchy), resulting from an accentuation process, are central to its univocality, and therefore to its theoretical usefulness in the field. This ideal type is then confronted with several cases and the most common empirical pitfalls of liberation to demonstrate how this methodological tool strengthens researchers’ contributions to the subject.
Réseaux sociaux