Mission
Organizations frequently resist transformation even when their members desire it and leadership mandates it. The Center for Clinical Organizational Science exists to explain why — and to specify, in theoretically grounded and testable form, how durable organizational change becomes possible.
Our defining characteristic is continuous access to the field of organizational intervention practice. We develop theory first, and extend it stepwise toward empirical investigation grounded in that field. The term “clinical” reflects this posture: sustained presence within the organizational systems we study, rather than diagnosis from a distance.
Research program
The Center’s research program centers on Clinical Organizational Science (COS), an integrative framework published in Frontiers in Psychology (Yamanaka & Nakamori, 2026). COS conceptualizes organizations as multilevel complex adaptive systems in which stability emerges from the recursive reinforcement of interaction patterns, and proposes a multilevel account — the emergence bridge — connecting individual behavioral habituation to organizational-level change. The framework builds on established traditions including field theory (Lewin), organizational routines (Feldman & Pentland), psychological safety (Edmondson), sensemaking (Weick), and complexity theory (Kauffman; Stacey).
The framework specifies three structural intervention techniques:
Field Gradient Theory designs triadic interaction structures that introduce asymmetric influence gradients into organizational communication. It claims to increase the probability of transition away from entrenched patterns — not to determine the direction or magnitude of change.
Loop Conversion Design converts self-amplifying positive feedback loops, in which criticism and interpersonal friction escalate, into self-correcting negative feedback structures (“positive” and “negative” in the cybernetic sense, not the evaluative one). Its operational implementation is the 3Good1More protocol.
Neural Base Design is the structural design of behavioral practices — habitualized organizational rhythms, gratitude sharing, somatic awareness check-ins — informed by neuroscientific theory on habit formation and social bonding. It involves no measurement or manipulation of neural activity; neuroscience serves as an explanatory framework. See our Ethics Charter.
History
- August 2023 — DroR Corporation is founded in Tokyo; development of the Clinical Organizational Science framework begins within its organizational intervention practice
- January 2026 — The research group (臨床組織科学研究会) is established
- April 2026 — The Clinical Organizational Science framework paper is published in Frontiers in Psychology
- 2026 — First cohort of the research fellowship program opens for applications
Relationship with DroR Corporation
The Center’s research activities are supported by the business operations of DroR Corporation, and the Center’s core researchers are engaged in DroR’s organizational intervention practice. This proximity of practice and research is the Center’s principal strength; it also creates a structural conflict of interest. That conflict is disclosed explicitly in our publications (Yamanaka & Nakamori, 2026, Conflict of Interest statement) and is managed under the principles set out in our Ethics Charter.
Programs
The Center runs a research fellowship program and a biweekly reading group for graduate students and early-career researchers (conducted in Japanese). Details are available on the Japanese site.
Contact
Inquiries: contact@cos-research.org