ODC Idea Development Workshop
Studying Organization Design with Text Data
A Panel Discussion with Oliver Baumann, Vivianna He, Sameer Srivastava, and Massimo Warglien
Facilitated by: Marco Minervini, as part of the ODC Idea Development Workshop
November 19, 2025, From 8:40am PST/ 11:40 am EST / 5:40 pm CET To 9:30am PST / 12:30 pm EST / 6:30 pm CET
Join us for an engaging panel discussion exploring how computational text analysis and natural language processing are transforming our understanding of organizational design. Our distinguished panelists will discuss cutting-edge methods for analyzing language in organizations—from emails and Slack messages to meeting transcripts and company reviews—to uncover insights and theorize about organizational culture, coordination, decision-making, and adaptation. Discover how these innovative approaches are opening new windows into how organizations actually work and revealing patterns that traditional methods could not detect.
This panel is part of the ODC Idea Development Workshop. While particularly valuable for junior scholars developing research projects using text-based methods, we welcome any ODC members interested in computational approaches to studying organizations.
Panelist Biographies
Oliver Baumann is Professor of Strategic Organization Design at the University of Southern Denmark and co-editor of the Journal of Organization Design. His research investigates how organizations learn, adapt, and innovate in complex environments, focusing on the behavioral micro-foundations of organizational decision-making. He employs computational modeling, experiments, and field studies to understand how organizational structure shapes collaborative problem-solving and knowledge management.
Vivianna He is Associate Professor at the School of Management, University College London (UCL). Her research focuses on collaborative organizing in innovation and entrepreneurship contexts, employing methods ranging from grounded theory to machine learning. She pioneered the use of algorithm-supported induction for theory building and has published influential work on analyzing multimodal data—including text, audio, and video—to understand team dynamics, leadership emergence, and human-AI collaboration.
Sameer Srivastava is the Ewald T. Grether Professor of Business Administration and Public Policy at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and co-directs the Berkeley-Stanford Computational Culture Lab. He uses computational methods and natural language processing to study organizational culture, analyzing millions of emails, Glassdoor reviews, and earnings calls to understand how language reveals cultural dynamics, cultural fit, and organizational performance. His work has fundamentally changed how scholars measure and understand workplace culture.
Massimo Warglien is Professor at the Venice School of Management, Ca' Foscari University. A pioneer in computational organization theory, his research spans organizational routines, language and coordination, and the experimental study of how communication codes emerge in organizations. He has made foundational contributions to understanding language as an organizational phenomenon, combining mathematical modeling, experiments, and field research to study how shared meanings and communication practices shape organizational behavior.
Marco Minervini is Assistant Professor of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior at IE Business School. His research investigates how the spatial and temporal distribution of employees impacts organizational dynamics, design, innovation, and performance. He employs quantitative methods combined with computational techniques, including text analysis, simulation methods, and social network analysis.
Last date for registration is November 18, 2025
If you know of junior scholars who might benefit from our mentorship sessions, please encourage them to apply to the workshop by November 1st 2025
Hope you will be able to join us!
Organizational Design Community
