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Journal of Management Inquiry
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The Dynamics of a Variably Coupled Social System

The Case of Les Compagnons du Devoir

Birgit Kleymann

IÉSEG School of Management, Université Catholique de Lille, France

Hedley Malloch

IÉSEG School of Management, Université Catholique de Lille, France

Tom Redman

Durham Business School, Durham University, United Kingdom

Jacques Angot

IÉSEG School of Management, Université Catholique de Lille, France

This article aims to expand the use of the coupling metaphor in organizational analysis by introducing a conceptual link between coupling and systems closure. The authors present a case study of Les Compagnons du Devoir (CdD), an ancient French Compagnonnage, or workers' brotherhood. This organization has managed to survive for at least 700 years; it is believed to be the oldest extant form of labor organization. The authors analyze the CdD as a highly institutionalized system displaying variable couplings and facing significant changes in its sociocultural environment. These features have been highlighted by recent attempts to internationalize the CdD. The authors distinguish between induced change and change by erosion and discuss how, given certain coupling configurations, an organization has persisted in an almost unchanged state while the world around it evolves.

Key Words: coupling • internationalization • institutional change • Les Compagnons du Devoir • social systems

This version was published on December 1, 2008

Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 17, No. 4, 381-396 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1056492607311647
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