Research
Post‑Industrial Management Science
From Knowledge Work to Autonomous Organizations
Research at the Post-Industrial Institute focuses on developing new management science and technologies, informed by an understanding of the reciprocal relationship between technology and human culture. We study how technologies evolve and reshape work, organizations, industries, and economies. Our research is grounded in economic history, the history of technology, and the history of management thought and practice.
A particular focus since the Institute's founding in 2004 has been organizational design and transformation. In our first decade, we reinvented organizational design for knowledge work, developed an organizational modeling language, and gained field experience with organizational transformation.
Since 2016 we have increasingly looked at how AI agents reshape organizations and entire industries. Current areas of work include the rise of autonomous organizations and their capacity for strategy, innovation, and product development. We also investigate how AI agents impact branding, transform commerce and supply chain management, and accelerate organizational and industry transformation.
Our research encompasses three complementary activities: studying the evolution of technologies, organizations, industries, and economies; developing new frameworks and methodologies for understanding and shaping that evolution; and building technology platforms to accelerate it.
Research Programs
Post-Industrial Organizations
The journey toward autonomous organizations: how organizations are designed, orchestrated, governed, and composed when AI agents become first-class participants
The Global Agent Economy
Mapping the standards, platforms, and strategic consequences of an economy in which AI agents transact, orchestrate, select products, and shape brands and supply chains.
Human–AI Interaction
How people are affected by working with AI, and how AI systems can adapt to individual personalities and cognitive preferences.
Technology and Management Mechanisms
How key technologies have shaped management practice, and how management thinking can be rebuilt from first principles.
Modeling Industry Transformation
Mapping the shape of industries and how they evolve, using the Institute's Value Stack and Value Graph models, with AI agents accelerating data collection and analysis.
