Existing literature on meta‐organization is divided into two distinct streams in organizational and management studies, with different definitions and boundaries, potentially leading to inconsistencies and theoretical misalignment. Can we disambiguate the conceptualizations of meta‐organizations, and what insights can be gleaned from this clarification? Using a systematic review of the meta‐organization literature, we propose a novel classification, distinguishing between meta‐organizations as ‘meta‐level actors’, rooted in the organizational perspective, and meta‐organizations as ‘orchestrated systems’, grounded in the management perspective. While synthesizing current knowledge about meta‐organizations, we highlight the commonalities, divergences and specificities of both perspectives. We contribute to the literature on meta‐organizations by bringing greater clarity to the field, by disambiguating the uses of meta‐organization, by outlining a state of the art for both new categories and by providing a detailed research agenda. We also provide fundamental insights about two distinct ways of meta‐organizing, that is creating order among and beyond single organizations through collectively decided social orders and orchestrated social orders.

中文翻译：

---

一个名字两个概念：关于元组织的系统文献综述


在组织和管理研究中，关于元组织的现有文献分为两个不同的流派，具有不同的定义和界限，可能导致不一致和理论错位。我们能否消除元组织概念化的歧义，从这种澄清中可以收集到哪些见解？通过对元组织文献的系统评价，我们提出了一种新的分类法，将元组织区分为植根于组织视角的“元级参与者”，以及作为基于管理视角的“编排系统”的元组织。在综合当前关于元组织的知识时，我们强调了两种观点的共性、分歧和特殊性。我们通过使该领域更加清晰、消除元组织的用途歧义、概述这两个新类别的最新技术以及提供详细的研究议程，为有关元组织的文献做出了贡献。我们还提供了关于元组织的两种不同方式的基本见解，即通过集体决定的社会秩序和精心编排的社会秩序，在单个组织之间和组织之外创造秩序。