Sociomaterial practices in the morphing organization: A multilayer network approach

In this position paper we propose a novel approach for the study and understanding of sociomaterial practices within the complex settings of morphing organizations, which has its theoretical foundations on Network Science and more specifically on the concept of Multilayer Network Analysis. By attending to the ontological dichotomy between the physicality of material objects and the conceptual nature of discourses, routines, and institutions, we conceptualize the social and material as separate layers of a multilayer network with intra-layer connections representing the processual dynamics emerging in organizational settings. Our work contributes to the broader organizational studies literature, and more specifically to the literature on sociomateriality by providing a positivistic methodological lens for the study of the concept. Moreover it contributes to the Network Science literature by providing a novel application setting for Multilayer Network Analysis.