Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop new conceptual tools for analyzing how contemporary collaborative academic work is organized on micro-level, and its social and economic impact, in broad terms. Thus it makes a contribution towards a better view on how contemporary academics organize their professional activities in light of profound changes to the framework conditions of academic work, and a better view on the productivity and potentially very wide societal impact of academia.

Design/methodology/approach: Based on previous research, the arguments are developed conceptually. The paper builds both on previous empirical findings and strong traditions in organization theory (resource dependence theory) and innovation studies.

Findings: The paper achieves a synthesized conceptual view on impact of academia, strongly related to how individual academics organize their professional activities today, given the recent profound structural changes to the academic system. The paper launches resource dependence as a key concept for understanding contemporary academic work in a collaborative context, and sequences of impact as a key tool for conceptualizing the very varied role of academia in society.

Research limitations/implications: While building strongly on previous research, the paper is conceptual in nature and thus its value lies chiefly in assisting future studies.

Practical implications: The contribution can assist in policymaking by promoting the achievement of more accurate and better balanced models and appraisal schemes. Originality/value: The paper has theoretical originality and its synthesized argument about organizing and impact is of high value for current scholarly debate on these topics. © 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited.