Lilla Hortoványi

Strategy Without Templates

Adaptation in Digital Environments

8.2 From Integration Logic to Assemblage Logic

To understand organizational structure in digital environments, it is necessary to move from logic of integration to logic of assemblage. This shift is not merely terminological. It changes the underlying image of what an organization is and how it holds together.

Assemblage logic, as developed in recent organizational scholarship, treats organizations not as unified entities but as provisional configurations of heterogeneous elements, including technologies, routines, data flows, interfaces, and actors, that come together without requiring full internal coherence (Aryal et al., 2023; Sesay et al., 2024). These elements are connected functionally but not necessarily harmonized structurally. The organization is no longer a deliberately designed whole but an evolving, reconfigurable configuration of partially aligned components.

This shift has four important implications. First, it replaces an entity-centered view with a relational ontology. Rather than treating organizations and technologies as separate objects that can later be aligned, assemblage logic focuses on the relations through which they are constituted. Bailey et al. (2022) argue that technologies are not stable objects to be integrated, but evolving relations that shape and are shaped by organizing practices. This perspective shows that what is often described as integration is, in practice, an ongoing process of mutual adjustment in which the boundary between technology and organization is continuously negotiated.

Second, assemblage logic shifts attention from fit to emergence. Classical integration theories emphasize ex ante design: managers identify complementarities and configure activities to exploit them. Assemblage logic emphasizes ex post emergence: coherence arises through interaction among components rather than being fully specified in advance. Sesay et al. (2024) illustrate this through their three-phase model of emergence, consisting of individuation, composition, and actualization. This processual view shows that organizational coherence is not a fixed state to be achieved once and for all, but an ongoing accomplishment that depends on continued interaction.

Third, assemblage logic reconceptualizes the relationship between parts and wholes. Classical integration theories assume that wholes derive their value from the alignment of parts under an overarching design. Assemblage logic instead understands wholes as nested configurations in which larger assemblages incorporate smaller ones without fully determining their properties. Sesay et al. (2024) show that IT implementation produces nested assemblages at successively larger scales, which weakens the sharp distinction between micro and macro levels. Components retain partial autonomy even when incorporated into larger configurations, thereby enabling local adaptation without requiring total system redesign.

Fourth, assemblage logic reframes the relationship between coherence and diversity. Classical integration theories generally treat diversity as something that must be reduced through alignment mechanisms. Assemblage logic treats diversity as a condition that can support adaptation. Aryal et al. (2023) demonstrate this in their study of enterprise systems competency centers, which function as assemblages that broker connections among heterogeneous people, technologies, and processes. These centers maintain operational viability not by imposing total standardization, but by tolerating partial fit and enabling ongoing reconfiguration.

Digital infrastructures actively support this logic. Modular architectures, APIs, and cloud-based services allow firms to combine components rapidly without fully integrating them (Yoo et al., 2010). This accelerates adaptation, but often at the cost of system-wide coherence. Piccoli et al. (2022) argue that digital resources are defined by modular design, encapsulation of value, and programmatic interfaces. These characteristics enable orchestration, meaning the coordination of digital resources to create value without requiring their unification into a single system.

Therefore, the move from integration logic to assemblage logic does not reject the question of coherence. It relocates it. Coherence is no longer treated as the outcome of full internal alignment, but as the provisional achievement of maintaining sufficient compatibility across heterogeneous, evolving, and only partially connected elements. This is the conceptual basis on which the rest of the chapter proceeds. Assemblage logic is not itself a mechanism, but the conceptual framework within which the following mechanisms operate and become analytically visible.

Tartalomjegyzék

Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó

Online megjelenés éve: 2026

ISBN: 978 963 664 204 4

Gazdaság

What happens when understanding comes only after action has already begun?

Traditional strategy rests on the assumption that organizations can understand their environment before deciding how to act. Yet the conditions that once allowed organizations to rely on benchmarking, best practices, and proven strategic templates can no longer be taken for granted. Today, organizations increasingly face situations for which no clear roadmap exists. Established assumptions become less reliable, familiar reference points lose their clarity, and strategic decisions must be made before their consequences can be fully understood.

Strategy Without Templates explores how organizations learn, adapt, and navigate environments in which uncertainty is pervasive and established templates are absent or no longer sufficient. Instead of treating strategy as a process of prediction and planning, the book explores how strategic paths take shape through action, experimentation, adjustment, and learning.

A central insight in the book is that temporary solutions are often necessary. What begins as a practical response to an immediate challenge may gradually shape future possibilities in unexpected ways. Some solutions create new opportunities and sources of advantage. Others become constraints that are difficult to overcome.

Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/hortovanyi-strategy-without-templates//

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