You're probably right, but FWIW, there actually exists some somewhat scholarly work on this topic. Stephen Haeckel[1] - formerly at IBM Research - wrote a lot about something he called the "Adaptive Enterprise"[2] and suggested something along the lines of more autonomous operating units, bound together using a "commitment management protocol".[3]
And while I haven't explored this in any real depth (yet), my guess is that some of the research into Multi-Agent Systems[4] and Agent-Based Modeling[5] may prove relevant to this aspect of organizational design as well.
I don't know if any firms specifically identify themselves as being "Adaptive Enterprises" or not, but I think there are examples of some companies which appear to use at least some of the ideas. The firm mentioned in TFA may well be one. W.L. Gore[1] and Valve[2] are other firms that come to mind that, while they don't use the term, appear to have structures which bear at least some similarity to what Haeckel describes.
Back in 1999 when Haecke wrote "The Adaptive Enterprise" he said there were no full-fledged examples of a firm which was totally based on the idea. Whether or not there are any today, I can't say for sure.
What I will say, is that I think there is a lot of reason to think that this approach might be a good idea, and to think that it's still an emerging trend.
And while I haven't explored this in any real depth (yet), my guess is that some of the research into Multi-Agent Systems[4] and Agent-Based Modeling[5] may prove relevant to this aspect of organizational design as well.
Another interesting discussion around commitment management: http://coevolving.com/blogs/index.php/archive/conversations-...
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_H._Haeckel
[2]: http://books.google.com/books?id=pkrFugJBAn4C&printsec=f...
[3]: http://www.senseandrespond.com/downloads/Comitmn2.pdf
[4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-agent_system
[5]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent-based_model