The Population Ecology of Organizations M.T. Hannan and J. Freeman

Internal Factors Influencing Organizational Inertia Previous investments in equipment and specialized personnel constrain adaptation. Decision makers do not operate with perfect information. Resistance to change within the organization due to the redistribution of power between subunits. High costs associated with changing procedure or authority that are considered organizational norms.

External Factors Influencing Organizational Inertia Legal and fiscal barriers to entry and exit from markets, limit adaptation possibilities. Information about external forces is limited, costly to obtain and difficult to interpret. Adaptation can violate legitimacy claims.

Levels of Ecological Analysis 1- individual 2- population 3- community

Levels of Organizational Analysis 1- members 2- subunits 3- individual organizations 4- communities of organizations 5- communities of populations of organizations

Discontinuities in Ecological Analysis Drawing parallels between organizational adaptation and biological adaptation, is useful for creating analogues but has some limitations. Genetic information when passed on is invariant, whereas organizations can change form entirely. Individual organizations and populations of organizations can increase in size without limit.

Competition Theory Isomorphism occurs because selection or adaptive learning removes nonoptimal organizational forms from the community of organizations.

Niche Theory The principle of isomorphism implies that social organizations in a stable environment will become more specialized and organizations in an uncertain environment will become generalists.