Organizing Failure: Coupling Social (Infra)Structures and Personal Experiences

In this book, the authors offer a unique perspective on failure, treating it as an intentional and routine result of organizational activity rather than an event to be avoided.
Through case studies in different organizational domains-including start-up entrepreneurship, platform work, and public policy-contributors analyze the social processes and mechanisms through which failure is organizationally produced as a reality for the actors involved. Based on conceptual reflection and empirical research, the authors argue that the organization of failure takes place in the interaction of actors who take on the roles of sponsors, contractors, and evaluators of a particular activity. Sponsoring and evaluation rely on evaluative infrastructures (procedures and narratives) that are often made invisible or opaque to the contractors carrying out the activities and the research reveals the critical role of sponsors’ subjective involvement in organizing failure. The book ultimately demonstrates that focusing on the organization of failure rather than its causes can contribute to a deeper understanding of organized activities in contemporary society.

Martin Hájek is associate professor of sociology.