Organizations increasingly operate through interconnected arrangements of human judgment, digital infrastructures, algorithmic systems, and formal accountability structures. These arrangements do not merely support work execution; they shape how actors coordinate, exercise influence, interpret information, and become responsible for consequences. This Original Behavioral-Systems Theory Article develops a conceptual synthesis explaining how organizational architectures distribute behavioral possibilities across coordination mechanisms, human and technological agency, accountability arrangements, and feedback processes. Drawing on scholarship concerning digital work, algorithmic management, coordination, sociotechnical systems, delegation, and organizational learning, the article proposes Behavioral-Systems Theory as an integrative framework rather than a validated causal model. The proposed theory argues that organizational behavior emerges from interactions among coordination architecture, agency configuration, accountability configuration, and feedback–adaptation architecture. It further introduces behavioral-system drift as a proposed construct describing divergence between formally designed arrangements and repeatedly enacted practices. The article develops theoretical propositions concerning coordination fit, agency–accountability alignment, calibrated delegation, feedback retention, accountability enactment, and system drift. The contribution is bounded by the absence of direct empirical validation of the integrated framework and by the need for multilevel, longitudinal, and comparative research designs. The proposed synthesis is intended to organize future inquiry into how organizations structure action, responsibility, and adaptation under conditions of increasing technological mediation.
