A meta-organization is defined as an organization that is formed of other organizations, rather than by individuals. This concept was developed in the scope of

management studies Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administr ...

in 2005 by

Göran Ahrne Göran or Jöran (both pronounced ) is a Swedish form of George, not to be confused with the Slavic Goran. Notable people with the name include: * Göran Andersson (sailor, born 1939) (1939–2020), Swedish sailor in the 1960 Olympics * Gör ...

and

Nils Brunsson Nils Gustav Magnus Brunsson (born 1946) is a Swedish organizational theorist and Professor in Management at Uppsala University. He is most known for his works in the field of new institutionalism, such as "The organization of hypocrisy" (1989), " ...

. Meta-organization design is suggested to differ from

organization design Organizational architecture, also known as organizational design, is a field concerned with the creation of roles, processes, and formal reporting relationships in an organization. It refers to architecture metaphorically, as a structure which ...

in that intra-firm design may have less of an authority in the former. While the scope and reach of meta-organisations can be wide and effective (the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

being a key example), the contrasting values and interests of members, combined with high levels of independence, can complicate decision-making and hinder innovation.

References

Organizational structure Organizational theory {{org-stub