Abstract：Considering the dialectical relationship between constraints and agency, drawing on He-Xie management theory, and employing the agency concept of Giddens, this study develops a prototype theory of He-Xie coupling, which conceptualizes organizing as a dual interactive process of “organizational constraints-individual agency” and “certainty-uncertainty”. A middle-range theory of He-Xie coupling is constructed through a case study of a networked organization, which discloses three interactive mechanisms, namely assimilation, problematization, and standardization. Then a new understanding of organizational structures and adaptations based on the mechanism of problematization is provided, followed by a discussion of its practical implications.
