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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 October 2021

Seleshi Sisaye

The purpose of this research is to provide an integrated approach of organizational ecology, population ecology and selection mechanisms within the context of the resource-based…

3216

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to provide an integrated approach of organizational ecology, population ecology and selection mechanisms within the context of the resource-based view of the firm, evolutionary economics (EC) and transaction cost economics (TCE). It applies this framework to examine the interrelationships between corporate social reporting (CSR) and global reporting initiative.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology for this paper is library-based archival research. It is qualitative and analytically descriptive of prior academic research and published literature on the subject.

Findings

CSR has the potential to provide functional credence to corporate social and environmental activities by legitimizing institutionalized corporate norms and behavior.

Originality/value

Accounting scholars have recognized the need for an integrated approach in the social sciences to examine the multifaceted aspects of sustainability development and accounting. This research highlights that sustainability is related to ecosystems, environments, natural resources, demography, population, culture, political systems and history.

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2009

Walter Bataglia and Dimária Silva E. Meirelles

The purpose of this paper is to identify complementarities between the approaches of population ecology and evolutionary economics in order to contribute to a synthesis of…

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify complementarities between the approaches of population ecology and evolutionary economics in order to contribute to a synthesis of organizational evolutionary dynamics and its implications for a strategic management research model. Using the metatriangulation technique to construct theories, we attempt to entwine these two perspectives. The proposed model is structured in two dimensions: the environmental selective system and the corporate adaptation process. The environmental selective system gathers together the complementary factors presented by evolutionary economics and ecology: technological innovation, demographic processes, environmental dynamism, population density and other institutional processes, and interpopulation dynamics. As ecology does not encompass the corporate adaptation process (generation, selection, and propagation of variations), the proposed model adopts the theoretical grounds underpinning evolutionary economics. The model offers three main contributions for future research into strategic management. First, it allows the development of descriptive and normative studies of the relationship among the environmental selection factors and the different types of enterprise strategies. Second, the proposed conceptual framework may be very beneficial for studies of interorganizational learning. Third, the model has the advantage of responding to the criticism of strategy theories in terms of their inability to generalize.

Details

Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1536-5433

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2021

Maurice Yolles

This two-part paper is concerned with the creation of a generalised cybernetic agency-based ecosystem. The purpose of the first part is to explore the basis for the creation of an…

Abstract

Purpose

This two-part paper is concerned with the creation of a generalised cybernetic agency-based ecosystem. The purpose of the first part is to explore the basis for the creation of an agentic ecology theory to provide a generalised multidisciplinary context-free manifold that can be applied to specific domains and contexts. As an element of this, it will explore the relationship between agency and its agents (at various foci) and the nature of agency ecologies and their evolution. It will also explore the relationship between viability and sustainability. In the second part of the paper, the purpose will be to formulate a general basis for agency ecology, followed by an agency model that recognises the analytical and decision-making attributes of the viability–sustainability relationship by centering on the modelling a socioeconomic ecosystem and a social disciplinary species model.

Design/methodology/approach

Agency theory will be used to model a generic agency ecology and its environment of subordinate elements – especially those subordinates that can be used as amenities to satisfy the needs to agency development. Part 1 of the paper will take a tour of concepts relevant to the representation of neo-ecosystem structures and their application. Part 2 will centre on delivering a schema capable of embracing agency neo-ecology from which applications may derive.

Findings

It is shown that agency theory as a modelling schema can be used as a methodology through which to provide diagnosis to examine the condition of, or for locating problems within, an agency in its ecosystem environment. This is illustrated within a socioeconomic context.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is conceptual in nature, and there has been no intention to diagnose any substantive issues within the socioeconomic context.

Originality/value

A generalised agency ecology approach is proposed over this two-part paper that is novel through the use of third-order cybernetics.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 50 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 October 2006

Jitendra V. Singh

One area in which strategy and organizational ecology converge is organizational change. This essay weaves together salient themes in my (and my co-authors’) various writings on…

Abstract

One area in which strategy and organizational ecology converge is organizational change. This essay weaves together salient themes in my (and my co-authors’) various writings on organizational change, and is anchored in the research literature of the last twenty years. Among other ideas developed here, I point out that there is now a convergence of agendas in strategy and ecology, with an important role being played by intraorganizational ecology. I develop the distinction between strong and weak selection approaches to organizational ecology. While the strong selection view does not find empirical support, there is stronger support for the weak selection view. I lay out some key features of an emerging evolutionary synthesis for the study of strategy and organization, and develop an evolutionary approach to organizational change.

Details

Ecology and Strategy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-435-5

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2002

Santos Alvarez Ma Valle

Traditionally, organizational evolution has been forgotten and only recently has it been analyzed by evolutionary theories: evolutionary economics and organizational ecology

2297

Abstract

Traditionally, organizational evolution has been forgotten and only recently has it been analyzed by evolutionary theories: evolutionary economics and organizational ecology. According to the evolutionary economics the evolution of the firm is drawn as a process of individual adaptation running parallel to the evolution of environment. However, population ecology suggested that organizations have not the ability to adapt themselves and the process of organizational evolution is out of the organizational field. So, the adjustment to changed environmental conditions is achieved largely by the death of old organizations and the birth of new ones. We propose a model of organizational evolution combining the adaptation perspective ‐‐ evolutionary economics ‐‐ and the selection one ‐‐ population ecology of organizations. The adaptative ability lies in the endowment resource and capabilities that managers build using organizational capabilities.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2005

Rajshekhar (Raj) G. Javalgi, Patricia R. Todd and Robert F. Scherer

A classical model of organizational ecology dynamics which is utilized to characterize an ecosystem called the internet is proposed and a parallel is drawn between the population

3239

Abstract

Purpose

A classical model of organizational ecology dynamics which is utilized to characterize an ecosystem called the internet is proposed and a parallel is drawn between the population ecology model and the current global e‐commerce environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Survivorship theory is applied to global e‐commerce. The Verhulst‐Pearl logistic equation can be used to describe the inhibition of growth within an ecosystem. The approach is to apply the Verhulst‐Pearl logistic equation to describe international growth dynamics of the internet.

Findings

When applying the Verhulst‐Pearl equation to the internet environment around the world, the number of domain names or host counts, the rate at which there is an increase or decrease in the number of domain names, and the availability of information technology infrastructure are all factors that are part of the equation. The model of population dynamics presented in our discussion lends itself to the description of the current pattern of growth within the internet environment.

Practical implications

The application of population ecology to international growth dynamics describes the long‐term survival and differentiation strategies that impact success. The next evolution of firms on the internet, which may be the ultimate survivors, should follow the path characterized as low cost producers with a focus on meeting the needs of the consumers on the internet. An ecological approach allows managers to ascertain the effectiveness of their organizations in the internet environment and accordingly devise strategies to embrace changes and challenges of the global environment.

Originality/value

The population ecology conceptual framework offers promise for a more sophisticated and methodologically rigorous approach to future investigations by both researchers and practitioners. The operationalization of the organizational ecology model for application to the internet is an extension of the literature.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2022

Xu Han

This study aims to examine how evolutionary and ecological forces shape the market strategy and performance of firms after their organizational form was changed by exogenous shock.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how evolutionary and ecological forces shape the market strategy and performance of firms after their organizational form was changed by exogenous shock.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses are developed based on both evolutionary and ecological perspectives and tested using fixed effect logistics models and a sample of 3,110 firms that were privatized during 1998–2007.

Findings

I find that once the organizational form of firms is changed, the market strategy of organizations is shaped by the population density of their old and new organizational forms in their existing market. Moreover, such a market strategy enhances the survival chance of firms.

Originality/value

This study contributes to organizational evolution literature by unpacking the evolution process when exogeneous shock to organizational form takes place. It advances both evolutionary economics and organization ecology theory through integrating them to understand the evolution process of organizations. This study also contributes to the privatization literature through examining the ecological forces that shape the restructuring strategy of firms after privatization and the performance implications of such restructuring.

Details

Journal of Asia Business Studies, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1558-7894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2011

Manjula S. Salimath and Raymond Jones

The paper has dual objectives. First, the paper aims to consolidate prior research in the area of population ecology theory and provide a review and critique of this influential…

6943

Abstract

Purpose

The paper has dual objectives. First, the paper aims to consolidate prior research in the area of population ecology theory and provide a review and critique of this influential organizational theory. The review is both broad and extensive, covering all major theoretical streams in population ecology. Second, the paper aims to highlight a new and hitherto unexplored area for future research, which lies at the intersection of population ecology and sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The extensive and broad review included all salient published scholarly work on the topic of population ecology from 1996‐2010. Findings are reported in nine separate tables, classified by primary research focus, chronology, author, etc. Additionally, a brief summary of prior research on sustainability is provided.

Findings

Population ecology continues as a valuable and influential perspective for organizational scholars. In comparison, sustainability is a relatively new entrant in the organizational literature, since 2008. Several areas of convergence between population ecology and sustainability exist (construct dimensions, levels of analysis and outcomes). An important gap in the literature allows future research agendas to be pursued.

Practical implications

The major, and most widespread, global implication is that unsustainable organizational practices and strategies may be selected by ecological pressures, and that such organizations may face a decline in population density, or mortality. Sustainable practices may allow for greater firm density and a rise in survival rates for organizational populations. Future research directions investigating population ecology links to sustainability are provided.

Originality/value

This is the first instance where the potential contribution of population ecology to sustainability in organizations is provided.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 49 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 12 no. 4/5/6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1998

Chao Li, Soucheng OuYang and Yi Lin

Based on the concept of blown‐ups of evolution, introduced by OuYang in 1995, for nonlinear models, the logistic model and its modification of population evolutions are analyzed…

Abstract

Based on the concept of blown‐ups of evolution, introduced by OuYang in 1995, for nonlinear models, the logistic model and its modification of population evolutions are analyzed analytically and numerically. Presents results that imply: (1) There does not exist successive whole evolution of time in both the logistic model and its modifications. (2) The increase or decrease of the population size, caused by unsuccessive evolution, is limited. (3) The discontinuity characteristic realizes the philosophy that “things will develop in the opposite direction when they have reached extremes”. (4) The exponential increase of the population size is a special case, where it is shown that the modified logistic model agrees more with the reality than the original model. At the end, it points out that it is necessary to reconsider the method of reducing the original model into an algebraic equation by changing Δt to a non‐dimensional nonvariable by using difference scheme.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 27 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

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