INERTIAL AND ADAPTIVE PATTERNS IN ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE.

1 August 1990

journal article
Published by Academy of Management in Academy of Management Proceedings

Vol. 1990 (1) , 165-169
https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.1990.4978497

Abstract

This research competitively tests the predictions of adaptive models of organizational change with three models of inertial patterns in organizations: inertia theory (Hannan and Freeman 1984), fluidity of aging (Singh, Tucker and Meinhard 1988) and liability of adolescence (Fichman and Levinthal 1988). Rates of strategic transition between specialism and generalism in a cohort of day care centers were found to display inertial and adaptive patterns. Rates of strategic change varied systematically with age, but not in a manner predicted by inertia theory, and were also sensitive to environmental change and organizational performance. Findings indicate that both selection and change among existing organizations may play important roles in the change processes of organizational populations.

Keywords

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