Structure as Process: Organization and Role

The paradox of action and order is the foundation of a developmental theory of organization and role. Organization is interpreted as a structural code composed of four elements: domains (D), tasks (T), resources (R), and activities (A). The four elements are individually necessary and collectively sufficient for organization to exist. Their emergence in time and space depicts four stages of organizing (1-4 elements present). A derived taxonomy offorms of association includes 64 possible combinations and permutations of elements culminating in 24 organizational forms. A structural dialectic is captured in a normally distributed metric of these 24 types of organizing. Six midpoint forms imply balance or tension between the forces of action and order. Detailed analyses of role-making and role-playing for these midpoint forms follow (38 cases of an original sample of 423 instances of organization from 15 disaster events). Four criteria are developed to distinguish between role-making and role-playing. Marginal distributions of role variables point to an increase in role-playing as each additional element of organization is enacted. However, the progressive character of role-playing is conditioned by emergent improvisations. These improvisations are indicative of role-making. Role dynamics are analyzed on their own terms and also as they relate to properties of organizational elements, enacting units, and disaster events.