Transcript SOC 8311 Basic Social Statistics

ORGANIZATIONAL EVOLUTION
Roots in Biological Evolution Theory
Charles Darwin & Alfred Wallace
Explanation of continuously
emerging novel biological forms
or attributes through population
interactions with environments
Evolutionary theory describes
the historical genealogies of
species
Randomness of evolutionary paths - no progress toward an end-goal
(teleology): the blind watchmaker & man is not the “Crown of Creation”
Instead, developments are recurrent, cumulative, probabilistic patterns
with unpredictable paths (yet open to post facto understanding)
Core Bio-Evolution Concepts
Population: Organisms that share a common gene pool
(Speciesdf = actually or potentially interbreeding organisms)
Variation: Modifications of forms are produced by chance via
mutations, genetic coding errors of individual organisms
Natural Selection: Reproduction & survival of organisms
whose heritable traits are better suited to existing
environmental conditions
Retention: Persistence within a population of the selected
variation(s) over successive generations
“Descent with modification” (Darwin): parents transfer their
genetically altered & selected traits to their offspring
Inheritance involves transfer of modified genetic codes, by not of
individually acquired attributes (a.ka. Lamarckian evolution)
What are org’l evolution equivalents to biological concepts?
Species Adapt to Fit Niches
Speciation: new populations of reproducing organisms capture scarce
niche resources (“struggle for existence” within & between species)
Ecological Niche: environmental habit where a species lives and its
functions within that biotic community (e.g., predator, prey)
Niche competition: Species struggle to adapt to conditions within
local environments; but, only one species can occupy a given niche
Darwin found finches’ beaks modified to fit Galapagos Islands plants
Phenotype (outward physical traits) retained
because of adaptive advantages enjoyed by
individuals with superior survival and reproduction
• Alpha gorillas acquire more mates than others
• Faster cheetahs survive and reproduce
Genotype (internal inheritable info: the DNA code)
retained when a phenotype survives encounters
within its niche environment
Smooth or Jerky?
Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay
Gould (1972) proposed a punctuated
equilibrium theory of evolutionary
rates. Evolutionary changes occur in
relatively short bursts (millennia),
interspersed with long periods of
comparative stasis (millions of years).
They attacked phyletic gradualism, the dominant idea of continually changing
organisms, small degrees of adaptation to fit the environment. Fossil records
show few intermediate forms, implying that many species change very little
after their initial appearance. Many new species can emerge quickly after mass
extinctions, such as the Yucatan asteroid collision that killed off most of the
dinosaurs, opening diverse ecological niches for mammal species to populate.
Just horsin’ around…
Sociocultural Evolution
After Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859), social scientists tried
to apply biological principles to explain sociocultural evolution
“Social Darwinism” ideology asserted that the fittest races & cultures
inevitably dominate, thus justifying 19th c. Euro-American imperialism
Spencer’s Larmarckian evolution posited a slow, steady
progress toward equilibrium as individuals changed their
habits, eventually achieving perfect adaptation. Spencer
popularized the notorious phrase “survival of the fittest.”
Theorists depicted increasingly advanced societies &
cultures, typically because of technological innovations
• Morgan & Tylor: savagery, barbarism, civilization
Herbert Spencer
• Marx: ancient, feudal, capitalist, socialist-communist
• Lenski: hunter-gatherer, horticultural, agrarian, industrial
Continuity with sociobiology & evolutionary psychology (Wilson; Dawkins)
“Selfish genes” (DNA making DNA) determine all human behavior, culture, morality
Organizational Evolution
Can biological evolutionary principles be adapted or modified to explain
the origins and proliferation of new organizational forms (speciation)?
• Is org’l evolution a metaphor or an explanatory theory?
• Darwinian inheritance or Lackmarckian acquired traits?
• What analogies to core biological concepts: species
(org’l form), population, inheritance, generation, genes?
Org’l evolutionary theory must identify the variation-selectionretention mechanisms that create and spread new org’l forms.
• Market profit main selection mechanism for business orgs:
economic market efficiency selects which firms will survive
• Professional judgments and political processes predominate
in selecting other forms (nonprofit, public, voluntary, SMO)
Three Sources of Org’l Variation
Three sets of processes affect the emergence of new org’l forms
at the population level (Romanelli 1991; Rao 1998)
Organizational genetics: random variation in form
occurs during everyday org’l activities
Are org’l comps & routines really the equivalent of
genes?
Environmental conditioning/constrained
variation: external sociopolitical forces create new resource
spaces not occupied by current org’l forms, and constrain or
facilitate the popular legitimation of the new forms
Social systems/cultural frame: variation induced by
embedded social-organizational interactions; resourceful
actors see new org’l forms as an “opportunity to realize highly
valued interests” (Amburgey & Singh 2002:333)
Genetic Sources
Org’l genetics emphasizes transmissible & communicable
characteristic traits selected by environmental conditions
Bill McKelvey (1982; McKelvey & Aldrich 1983) proposed a schema for
classifying org’l forms according to their dominant “comps”
(competence elements). Populations are polythetic clusters of orgs
with similar dominant comps that are transferable among members.
Comps: basic knowledge and skills, carried in individual
minds, transmitted via communication & personnel
exchanges with other organizations
EX Technologies, procedural guidelines, patents, job descriptions,
premiums, determined prescriptions
Evolutionary change involves new (re)combinations of
dominant comps, selected at the population level
Comps are org’l analogs to biological genes; “Compool” = genotype
A Taxonomy of Forms
McKelvey urged application of biological taxonomic methods to
cluster multiple org’l attributes, generating “family tree” of org’l
forms revealing a Darwinian descent-with-modification.
EX Ancient Mesopatamian floods, wars, population shifts
created, selected & retained numerous new forms
Temples  Palaces  Commercials  Professionals
FIGURE HERE
Routines
Richard Nelson & Sidney Winter (1982) developed evolutionary
economics using computer simulations of industry growth.
Evolution produces monopoly: firms selected
because differing profit rates yield varied growth.
But, entry of new firms into industry restrains
monopoly, as can innovation-imitation processes
that increase productivity variation among firms.
Org’l routines a major source of genetic variation.
Routines: formal and tacit rules or capabilities internal to an org
that affect its activities & productivity
• Standard operating routines governing existing resource stocks
• Investment routines responding to changing profits, growth
• Search routines for innovative technologies (R&D)
Routine is equivalent to gene, but org is analog to species phenotype
Environmental Sources
Environmental conditioning sources of variation are diverse
external constraints on potential for new org’l forms to emerge
Technology is a major driving force creating macroeconomic growth (capital intensity, real wages).
Innovations create new niches for new org’l forms to enter
& exploit
• Technical advance fuels macroeconomic growth (Nelson)
• Business firms are technology carriers by applying scientific
ideas (patents)
Co-evolution “coupled evolution of multiple populations
or forms” (Amburgey & Singh). Orgs & environments also
co-evolve via reciprocal influence
EX: SMO protest repertoires evolve to cope with changes in state
supression technologies (Internet fundraising, protest scheduling)
Sociocultural Sources
Social systemic and cultural sources of form variation arise
by intentional design as org’l participants “actively attempt
to generate alternatives and seek solutions to problems”
(Aldrich 1999:22)
• Internal search behavior for solutions to unusual problems
• Planned transfers of personnel to diffuse practices
• Formal programs, incentives to reward innovative behavior
• Strategic alliances to acquire partner’s know-how
• Entrepreneurial outsiders enter industry to found new orgs
Identities and legitimacy maybe created by collective action
EX Professional societies, business assns, labor unions
Historical Legacies
Imprinting: org’l forms fixed by environmental
conditions during a founding era (Stinchcombe 1965)
EX: Construction companies reflect 19th c. family-based practices
Path dependence: initial random events often
constrain an org’s later options (history does matter)
• Once launched down one path, retracing or switching routes
becomes increasingly difficult due to sunk costs
• Dynamic increasing returns & cumulative technologies
reinforces commitment to stay on the initial path
Complementary interdependencies among technologies
EX: Software compatibility with hardware (Apple vs MS)
However, locked-in technologies aren’t necessarily optimal
QWERTY typewriter; Betamax VCR; MS-DOS
References
Eldredge, Niles and Stephen Jay Gould. 1971. “Speciation and Punctuated Equilibria: An
Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism.” Pp. 82-115 in Models in Paleobiology, edited by T.J.M.
Schopf. San Francisco: Freeman Cooper.
McKelvey, Bill. 1982. Organizational Systematics: Taxonomy, Evolution, Classification.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
McKelvey, Bill and Howard E. Aldrich. 1983. “Populations, Natural Selection, and Applied
Organizational Science.” Administrative Science Quarterly 28:101-128.
Nelson, Richard and Sidney Winter.1982. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Romanelli, Elaine. 1991. “The Evolution of New Organizational Forms.” Annual Review of
Sociology 17:79-103.
Stinchcombe, Arthur. 1965. “Organizations and Social Structure.” Pp. 142-193 in Handbook of
Organizations, edited by James G. March. Chicago: Rand McNally.