OT
OT 2019
OT 2019
1. Variation
Trigger (e.g. new technology) → new business models → startup
2. Selection
- economic efficiency (profitability)
- societal acceptance (legitimacy)
"From an organization ecology perspective, it is the environment which optimizes."
3. Retention
"Knowledge of previously successful forms is institutionalized in the socialization apparatus of societies - schools, families, churches, public agencies - and in cultural beliefs and values defended by dominant organizations and institutions."
7.3 Empirical Studies (exemplary)
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Effect of Size on Organizational Failure
Hypothesis: Liability of Smallness
Small organizations have higher failure rates because of:
- lack of reliability and legitimacy
- difficulty of raising capital
- problems of recruiting and training a workforce
- higher interest payments
- costs of compliance with regulations
Empirical Test: consistent with the argument
Effect of Age on Organizational Failure
Hypothesis: Liability of Newness
Young organizations ahve higher failure rates because of:
- need to learn new roles and create routines
- limited resources
- lack of endorsement (legitimacy)
- costs of compliance with regulations
Empirical test: no effect when size is controlled
Resource Partitioning Model of Organizational Ecology
7.4 Critical Appraisal of Organizational Ecology
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Importance of the Theory (3)
- Explanation of change in population of organizations
- New perspective in organizational research (focus on populations)
- Empirically testable
Critique on Organizational Ecology Theory (3)
- Concept of population is unclear and thus it is difficult to distinguish between populations
- Empirically: Foundation of new companies is not the dominant mechanism of variation, elimination of companies is not the dominant mechanism of selection
- Influence of individuals (e.g. managers) is ignored
Summary: Organizational Ecology as Organization Theory
Module 8: New Institutionalism
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8.1 Core Concepts: Legitimacy and Institutions
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Definition of Institutions
Societal rules or expectations that are taken for granted or treated like "facts"
Definition of Legitimacy
Legitimacy is a generalized perception that structures or actions of an organization conform to the existing institutions
8.2 Institutional Environments and Organizational Structures
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Technical Environment
- Products and services are exchanged through markets
- Organizations strengthen their competitive advantage by effective controlling of work processes
Main Criteria: Efficiency
Institutional Environment
- Demonstrate conformism with institutionalised rules
- This way gain legitimacy and support from the environment
Main Criteria: Legitimacy
Combination of Technical and Institutional Environement
Matrix
Institutional Environment
strong weak
strong bank, hospitals industrial companies
weak psychiatric hospitals, churche restaurant, fitness centers
Technical Environment
Structure of the Argument
Survival of organizations: Organizations, which include in their formal structure social legitimated and rationalized elements, maximize their legitimacy, ensure the flow of resources and so improve their survivability.
Organization Theories
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Module 1: The Pluralism of Organization Theories
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1.1 Introduction
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Two Diffferent Meanings of the Term "Organization"
- Instrumental Meaning
- Institutional Meaning
Instrumental Meaning
something
- is being organized
- = activity
- = function
- has an organization
- = result
- = configuration
Institutional Meaning
something is an organization
example: NGOs, government, school, university, companies, state, family, military, sport club, church, hospital
Which aspects characterize an organization? (4)
- structure
- actor/agency
- environment
- change
1.2 Organization Theory vs. Organization Theories
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Reasons for the Plurality of Organization Theories
Different
- objects of research
- disciplinary approaches
- ideas of theory building (philosophy of science)
Function of Organization Theories: Truth vs. Insight
"insight seeking"
"What will matter is how much insight and understanding can be extracted from the entire constellation of theories"
many theories can be true and they are all providing insight (not the same) = it is good to have different theories
1.3 Organizational Research Paradigms
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Definition of "Paradigm"
"A general perspective or way of thinking that reflects fundamental assumptions about the nature of organizations"
Often several theories within the same paradigm
Fundamental assumptions (2)
- Nature of the society: regulation vs. radical change
- Nature of social science: subjective vs. objective
Paradigms of Organization Research by Burrell and Morgan (Matrix)
Modul 2: Max Weber and the Concept of Bureaucracy
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2.1 Biography and Historical Background
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Max Weber (1864 - 1920)
Significance of this work
- one of the founders of German Sociology (next to Simmel and Tönnies)
- First studies on organizations
Historical Context
- Expansion of capitalism
- Rationalization of the worldview
- Growth of the administrative machinery in public & private organizations
= Rationality: Objectivity, Impersonality, Predictability
2.2 The Concept of the "Ideal Type"
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What is NOT the concept of the "Ideal Type"? (2)
- seeking to be consistent with reality
- to be understood as a normative ideal
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Lernkarten
Definition of Legitimacy
Legitimacy is a generalized perception that structures or actions of an organization conform to the existing institutions
8.2 Institutional Environments and Organizational Structures
-
Technical Environment
- Products and services are exchanged through markets
- Organizations strengthen their competitive advantage by effective controlling of work processes
Main Criteria: Efficiency
Institutional Environment
- Demonstrate conformism with institutionalised rules
- This way gain legitimacy and support from the environment
Main Criteria: Legitimacy
Combination of Technical and Institutional Environement
Matrix
Institutional Environment
strong weak
strong bank, hospitals industrial companies
weak psychiatric hospitals, churche restaurant, fitness centers
Technical Environment
Structure of the Argument
Survival of organizations: Organizations, which include in their formal structure social legitimated and rationalized elements, maximize their legitimacy, ensure the flow of resources and so improve their survivability.
