Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizations

The book presents the latest research and theory about evolutionary change in organizations. It brings together the work of organizational theorists who have challenged the orthodox adaptation views that prevailed until the beginning of the 1980s. It emphasizes multiple levels of change - distinguishing change at the intraorganizational level, the organizational level, the population level, and the community level. The book is organized in a way that gives order and coherence to what has been a diverse and multidisciplinary field. (The book had its inception at a conference held at the Stern School of Business, New York University, January 1992.)

Table of Contents:
Contributors 1: Joel A. C. Baum and Jitendra Singh: Organizational Hierarchies and Evolutionary Processes: Some Reflections on a Theory of Organizational Evolution Part I. Introductory Essays 2: Donald T. Campbell: How Individual and Face-to-Face-Group Selection Undermine Firm Selection in Organizational Evolution 3: James G. March: The Evolution of Evolution Part II. Intraorganizational Evolution 4: Robert A. Burgelman and Brian S. Mittman: An Intraorganizational Ecological Perspective on Managerial Risk Behavior, Performance, and Survival: Individual, Organizational, and Environmental Effects 5: Anne S. Minor: Seeking Adaptive Advantage: Evolutionary Theory and Managerial Action 6: Sidney G. Winter: Organizing for Continuous Improvement: Evolutionary Theory Meets the Quality Revolution Commentaries Part III. Organizational Evolution 7: Ari Ginsberg and Joel A. C. Baum: Evolutionary Processes and Patterns of Core Business Change 8: Heather A. Haveman: The Ecological Dynamics of Organizational Change: Density and Mass Dependence in Rates of Entry into New Markets 9: Daniel A. Levinthal: Surviving Schumpeterian Environments: An Evolutionary Perspective 10: Stephen J. Mezias and Theresa K. Lant: Mimetic Learning and the Evolution of Organizational Populations Commentaries Part IV. Population Evolution 11: Howard E. Aldrich, Catherine R. Zimmer, Udo H. Staber, and John J. Beggs: Minimalism, Mutalism, and Maturity: The Evolution of the American Trade Association Population in the 20th Century 12: Terry L. Amburgey, Tina Dacin, and Dawn Kelly: Disruptive Selection and Population Segmentation: Interpopulation Competition as a Segregation Process 13: Jacques Delacroix and Hayagreeva Rao: Externalities and Ecological Theory: Unbundling Density Dependence 14: John Freeman and Alessandro Lomi: Resource Partitioning and Foundings of Banking Cooperatives in Italy 15: Lynne G. Zucker and Ita G. G. Kreft: The Evolution of Socially Contingent Rational Action: Effects of Labor Strikes on CHange in Union Founding in the 1880s Part V. Community Evolution 16: William P. Barnett: The Liability of Collective Action: Growth and Change Among Early American Telephone Companies 17: ack W. Brittain: Density-Independent Selection and Community Evolution 18: Joel A. C. Baum and Jitendra V. Singh: Organization-Environment Coevolution 19: Lori Rosenkopf and Michael L. Tushman: The Coevolution of Technology and Organization 20: Andrew H. Van de Ven and Raghu Garud: The Coevolution of Technical and Institutional Events in the Development of an Innovation Commentaries References Index

Review :
"Organizations rise and fall. In between, they change--sometimes negligibly, sometimes gradually, sometimes radically. For the scholar who is interested in understanding the latest thinking on organizational evolution and change, this book is critically important. It presents fresh, insightful pieces from many of the leading thinkers on the topic. We can expect to find the Baum and Singh volume on a lot of desks, and represented in many reference lists, through the rest of the 90's.--Donald C. Hambrick, Columbia University "Goes a long way toward integrating much of organizational studies."--Contemporary Sociology "During the past decade, evolutionary theorizing has moved from the periphery to center stage in guiding work on organizations. This volume not only underscores this trend, but broadens and enriches it by examining the multiple, nested evolutionary systems--subunit, organization, population, organizational community--relevant to organizational change."--W. Richard Scott, Stanford University "This is an excellent volume, full of exciting and impressive contributions from a broad range of top-notch scholars."--Walter W. Powell, University of Arizona "The most intellectually vibrant and sophisticated collection of original works connecting evolution, organization theory, and change. Knowledgeable, timely, and wonderfully challenging."--Paul M. Hirsch, Northwestern University "Organizations rise and fall. In between, they change--sometimes negligibly, sometimes gradually, sometimes radically. For the scholar who is interested in understanding the latest thinking on organizational evolution and change, this book is critically important. It presents fresh, insightful pieces from many of the leading thinkers on the topic. We can expect to find the Baum and Singh volume on a lot of desks, and represented in many reference lists, through the rest of the 90's.--Donald C. Hambrick, Columbia University "Goes a long way toward integrating much of organizational studies."--Contemporary Sociology "During the past decade, evolutionary theorizing has moved from the periphery to center stage in guiding work on organizations. This volume not only underscores this trend, but broadens and enriches it by examining the multiple, nested evolutionary systems--subunit, organization, population, organizational community--relevant to organizational change."--W. Richard Scott, Stanford University "This is an excellent volume, full of exciting and impressive contributions from a broad range of top-notch scholars."--Walter W. Powell, University of Arizona "The most intellectually vibrant and sophisticated collection of original works connecting evolution, organization theory, and change. Knowledgeable, timely, and wonderfully challenging."--Paul M. Hirsch, Northwestern University "The study of evolutionary dynamics is emerging as one of the most interesting and fruitful approaches to understanding firms' strategic processes. In this book, Baum and Singh bring together works of the most talented researchers in this burgeoning field."--Garth Saloner, Stanford University "The essays in this book provide a first-rate overview of the evolving literature on the Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizations. It is must reading for those who want to know what the field is about, and also for those who seek to follow new developments. It willl be widely read, and cited."--Richard R. Nelson, Columbia University in the City of New York