Abstract
A population ecology perspective on organization-environment relations is proposed as an alternative to the dominant adaptation perspective. The strength of inertial pressures on organizational structure suggests the application of models that depend on competition and selection in populations of organizations. Several such models as well as issues that arise in attempts to apply them to the organization-environment problem are discussed.
Keywords
Organizational ecologyPerspective (graphical)Competition (biology)EcologyOrganizational structureAdaptation (eye)PopulationPopulation ecologySelection (genetic algorithm)SociologyBiologyEconomicsComputer scienceManagementSocial scienceArtificial intelligenceDemography
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1977
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 82
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 929-964
- Citations
- 7394
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Michael T. Hannan,
John H. Freeman
(1977).
The Population Ecology of Organizations.
American Journal of Sociology
, 82
(5)
, 929-964.
https://doi.org/10.1086/226424
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1086/226424