Buurtzorg: scaling up an organization with hundreds of self-managing teams but no middle managers

Frank Martela () and Sharda Nandram ()
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Frank Martela: Aalto University, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Sharda Nandram: Nyenrode Business Universiteit

Journal of Organization Design, 2025, vol. 14, issue 4, 227-237

Abstract: Abstract In this contribution to the Organization Zoo series, we examine Buurtzorg, a highly successful Dutch home care organization with over 14 thousand employees that operates without any supervisors or middle management. Given its size, it is a rare example of a self-managing organization that has radically decentralized decision-making to empower autonomous teams to operate highly independently while growing to thousands of employees. Buurtzorg’s case sheds light on the role of supportive structures, including purpose-built information and communication technology and a small team of internal coaches, that the firm uses to scale up a self-managing organization of over 900 independent teams.

Keywords: Self-managing organizations; Decentralization; Middle managers; Self-managing teams; Autonomy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s41469-024-00184-y

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