The “Magic Recipe”: self-managed teams and CEOs in longstanding flat organizations

Kathryn Coll, Bryan L. Bonner, Brenda Freeman and Diane Barone

Chapter 20 in Research Handbook on Group Decision Making, 2026, pp 391-413 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The qualitative study presented in this chapter explores the lived experiences of CEOs and employees within three longstanding, financially successful flat organizations across different industries and countries. Given that many growing organizations that start flat tend to eventually transition to taller, more traditional hierarchies, we focused our investigation on how some unique organizations successfully maintain their flat structure over time. A central focus of this study was understanding the dynamics and processes within the self-managed teams nested in these organizations. The themes we uncover in this study contribute to a deeper understanding of how CEOs and teams successfully begin, maintain, and thrive within this unique, non-hierarchical structure, offering insights for organizations aiming to sustain decentralized authority and self-managed teams.

Keywords: Self-managed teams; CEOs; Flat organizations; Qualitative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035331239
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