Organization Design of Big Science

The organization of Big Science or the large-scale and complex endeavor in science has become an open question to be solved due to the importance for creating breakthroughs in science and the complexity in solving the issue. In this single case study of the European Spallation Source (ESS), the state-of-the-art neutron research facility under construction in Lund, we use the organizational system perspective to study the evolution of the ESS organization through different phases of development. The organizational system perspective perceives an organization as a configuration of elements fitting together. We found how organizational elements of activity, structure, personnel, and leadership and their fit with each other over time plays a pivotal role in the functioning of ESS. In particular, we observed a misfit in the organizational elements of ESS during the early construction phase where the elements of personnel and leadership were not fit to the task of building the ESS facility. We contribute to the discourse of Big Science by using the organizational system perspective in analyzing the difficult task of organizing a Big Science endeavor and highlighting the organizational issues of transitioning from the promotion phase to the construction phase in a Big Science endeavor.