The What, Why, and How of Organizational Intelligence: Beyond Individuals, Networks, and Technology

What does it mean for organizations to act intelligently? The concept of organizational intelligence has been of a topic of research since the early days of the field, yet there is a surprising paucity of theory around it. Organizational intelligence is an ability that is essential in helping organizations adapt to changing environments and find new avenues for growth. At the same time, how firms develop the consistent ability to make intelligent decisions and adapt is unclear. This symposium brings together a diverse group of scholars to consider organizational intelligent from multiple perspectives and levels of analysis. We ground our initial perspective in the later work of Jim March, who argued that achieving intelligence means maintaining openness to non-obvious paths of action and goals, which requires organizations to embrace both rationality as well as alternatives, such as sensible foolishness. We suggest in particular that while individuals are essential to creating organizational intelligence, we also must consider how the emergent properties of organizations – such as routines, technologies, and distributed attention – can foster and sustain intelligence. The aim is for each panelist to provide their perspective, engage in discussion about critical questions for future research directions, and then participate in audience Q&A.