Inertia, Environments, and Strategic Choice: A Quasi-Experimental Design for Comparative-Longitudinal Research

Elaine Romanelli and Michael L. Tushman
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Elaine Romanelli: The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27706
Michael L. Tushman: Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027

Management Science, 1986, vol. 32, issue 5, 608-621

Abstract: This paper develops a research design for examining the relative influence of managers and environments on organizational activity over time. We outline three basic models of organization evolution: (1) an inertial model, which emphasizes constraints on evolution imposed by early patterns of exchange; (2) an external control model, which posits change in organizational activities that is guided by changes in environmental conditions over time; and (3) a strategic management model, which emphasizes the role of senior executives in choosing patterns and domains of competitive activity. Using the general logic of experimental design, we outline methods for comparing longitudinal patterns in change and persistence that will distinguish between these alternative perspectives. Specifically, we describe procedures for operationalizing two basic parameters of research design: (1) the organization population cohort, which imposes systematic restrictions on sampling; and (2) a generalized version of the product class life cycle, which helps isolate changes in environmental conditions for comparing organizational activity patterns over time. Data from an ongoing study of firms in the minicomputer product class are presented to illustrate these concepts.

Keywords: organizational design; environment; comparative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1986
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