A Set Theoretic Approach To Organizational Configurations

I argue that research on organizational configurations has been limited by a mismatch between theory and methods. While configurational theory stresses nonlinearity, synergistic effects, and equifinality, empirical research has largely drawn on methods that assume linearity, additive effects, and unifinality. I introduce set-theoretic methods as a viable alternative for overcoming this mismatch. Set-theoretic methods conceptualize cases as combinations of attributes and use Boolean algebra to derive simplified expressions of combinations that lead to a specific outcome. I demonstrate the value of such methods for studying organizational configurations and discuss their applicability for examining equifinality and limited diversity among configurations, as well as their relevance to other research fields such as complementarities theory, complexity theory, and the resource-based view.