IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/stratm/v44y2023i13p3155-3184.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The growth of hierarchy in organizations: Managing knowledge scope

Author

Listed:
  • Megan Lawrence
  • Christopher Poliquin

Abstract

Research Summary Theory posits hierarchy as a response to coordination challenges and emphasizes organization size and the need to transfer knowledge as the mainspring of these challenges. This connection, however, is largely based on the quantity of knowledge to be transferred rather than its characteristics. Building on the knowledge‐based view, we propose that knowledge scope—the variety of knowledge across an organization's members—affects coordination costs and hierarchy expansion. Using an economy‐wide database from Brazil, we show that firms are more likely to expand their hierarchy when knowledge scope increases. This effect varies with firms' capacities to manage knowledge; firms whose employees perform more similar tasks or have shared experience at previous employers are less likely to expand hierarchy in response to increases in knowledge scope. Managerial Summary Growing organizations often struggle to coordinate the work of their employees within their current organizational structures. We distinguish coordination problems generated by increased size from problems generated by expanding the variety of knowledge used and argue that both spur organizations to hire additional managers. Using a database of Brazilian startups, we show that a greater variety of knowledge used is associated with the expansion of hierarchy. Additionally, we find that organizations whose employees have more shared work experience have a greater ability to coordinate and thus delay the expansion of hierarchy. Overall, our results show the importance of the characteristics of an organization's knowledge base for organizational structure and suggest building teams with shared experience can enhance an organization's ability to adapt to coordination challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Megan Lawrence & Christopher Poliquin, 2023. "The growth of hierarchy in organizations: Managing knowledge scope," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(13), pages 3155-3184, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:44:y:2023:i:13:p:3155-3184
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.3539
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3539
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/smj.3539?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tobias Kretschmer & Phanish Puranam, 2008. "Integration Through Incentives Within Differentiated Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(6), pages 860-875, December.
    2. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    3. Oliver Hart & John Moore, 2005. "On the Design of Hierarchies: Coordination versus Specialization," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(4), pages 675-702, August.
    4. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy, 1994. "The Division of Labor, Coordination Costs, and Knowledge," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 299-322, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Sendil K. Ethiraj & Daniel Levinthal, 2004. "Modularity and Innovation in Complex Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 159-173, February.
    6. Massimo G. Colombo & Luca Grilli, 2013. "The Creation of A Middle‐Management Level by Entrepreneurial Ventures: Testing Economic Theories of Organizational Design," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 390-422, June.
    7. Jacques Crémer & Luis Garicano & Andrea Prat, 2007. "Language and the Theory of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 373-407.
    8. Lorenzo Caliendo & Ferdinando Monte & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2015. "The Anatomy of French Production Hierarchies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(4), pages 809-852.
    9. Ray Reagans & Linda Argote & Daria Brooks, 2005. "Individual Experience and Experience Working Together: Predicting Learning Rates from Knowing Who Knows What and Knowing How to Work Together," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(6), pages 869-881, June.
    10. David H. Autor & Michael J. Handel, 2013. "Putting Tasks to the Test: Human Capital, Job Tasks, and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(S1), pages 59-96.
    11. Camerer, Colin & Knez, Marc, 1996. "Coordination, Organizational Boundaries and Fads in Business Practices," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 5(1), pages 89-112.
    12. Thomas Astebro & Holger Herz & Ramana Nanda & Roberto A. Weber, 2014. "Seeking the Roots of Entrepreneurship: Insights from Behavioral Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 49-70, Summer.
    13. Rainer Winkelmann, 2008. "Econometric Analysis of Count Data," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-3-540-78389-3, October.
    14. Christine M. Beckman & M. Diane Burton, 2008. "Founding the Future: Path Dependence in the Evolution of Top Management Teams from Founding to IPO," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 3-24, February.
    15. Roberto A. Weber & Colin F. Camerer, 2003. "Cultural Conflict and Merger Failure: An Experimental Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 400-415, April.
    16. Benjamin A. Campbell & Martin Ganco & April M. Franco & Rajshree Agarwal, 2012. "Who leaves, where to, and why worry? employee mobility, entrepreneurship and effects on source firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 65-87, January.
    17. David J. Teece, 2003. "Towards an Economic Theory of the Multiproduct Firm," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Essays In Technology Management And Policy Selected Papers of David J Teece, chapter 15, pages 419-446, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Scott Shane & Toby Stuart, 2002. "Organizational Endowments and the Performance of University Start-ups," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(1), pages 154-170, January.
    19. Steven W. Floyd & Bill Wooldridge, 1997. "Middle Management’s Strategic Influence and Organizational Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 465-485, May.
    20. Constance E. Helfat & Marvin B. Lieberman, 2002. "The birth of capabilities: market entry and the importance of pre-history," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 725-760, August.
    21. Christopher I. Rider & David Tan, 2015. "Labor Market Advantages of Organizational Status: A Study of Lateral Partner Hiring by Large U.S. Law Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 356-372, April.
    22. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1996. "What Firms Do? Coordination, Identity, and Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 502-518, October.
    23. Phanish Puranam & Harbir Singh & Saikat Chaudhuri, 2009. "Integrating Acquired Capabilities: When Structural Integration Is (Un)necessary," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 313-328, April.
    24. Beckman, Christine M. & Burton, M. Diane & O'Reilly, Charles, 2007. "Early teams: The impact of team demography on VC financing and going public," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 147-173, March.
    25. Sarada & Oana Tocoian, 2019. "Is It All About Who You Know? Prior Work Connections and Entrepreneurial Success," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(5), pages 1200-1224, October.
    26. Florence Honoré & Martin Ganco, 2023. "Entrepreneurial teams' acquisition of talent: Evidence from technology manufacturing industries using a two‐sided approach," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 141-170, January.
    27. Yue Maggie Zhou, 2013. "Designing for Complexity: Using Divisions and Hierarchy to Manage Complex Tasks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 339-355, April.
    28. Luis Garicano, 2000. "Hierarchies and the Organization of Knowledge in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 874-904, October.
    29. Ranjay Gulati & Paul R. Lawrence & Phanish Puranam, 2005. "Adaptation in vertical relationships: beyond incentive conflict," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 415-440, May.
    30. Steven Postrel, 2002. "Islands of Shared Knowledge: Specialization and Mutual Understanding in Problem-Solving Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 303-320, June.
    31. Baron, James N & Burton, M Diane & Hannan, Michael T, 1999. "Engineering Bureaucracy: The Genesis of Formal Policies, Positions, and Structures in High-Technology Firms," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 1-41, April.
    32. Moshe Farjoun, 1994. "Beyond Industry Boundaries: Human Expertise, Diversification and Resource-Related Industry Groups," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(2), pages 185-199, May.
    33. Edward Felten & Manav Raj & Robert Seamans, 2021. "Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(12), pages 2195-2217, December.
    34. Muendler, Marc-Andreas & Rauch, James E. & Tocoian, Oana, 2012. "Employee spinoffs and other entrants: Stylized facts from Brazil," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 447-458.
    35. Carliss Y. Baldwin & Kim B. Clark, 2000. "Design Rules, Volume 1: The Power of Modularity," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262024667, December.
    36. Tat Y. Chan & Jia Li & Lamar Pierce, 2014. "Compensation and Peer Effects in Competing Sales Teams," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(8), pages 1965-1984, August.
    37. Megan Lawrence, 2018. "Taking Stock of the Ability to Change: The Effect of Prior Experience," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 489-506, June.
    38. Kyle Lewis & Donald Lange & Lynette Gillis, 2005. "Transactive Memory Systems, Learning, and Learning Transfer," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 581-598, December.
    39. Kannan Srikanth & Phanish Puranam, 2014. "The Firm as a Coordination System: Evidence from Software Services Offshoring," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1253-1271, August.
    40. Ranjay Gulati & Phanish Puranam, 2009. "Renewal Through Reorganization: The Value of Inconsistencies Between Formal and Informal Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 422-440, April.
    41. Bruce Kogut, 2000. "The network as knowledge: generative rules and the emergence of structure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 405-425, March.
    42. Baron, James N & Burton, M Diane & Hannan, Michael T, 1996. "The Road Taken: Origins and Evolution of Employment Systems in Emerging Companies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 5(2), pages 239-275.
    43. Luis Garicano & Yanhui Wu, 2012. "Knowledge, Communication, and Organizational Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1382-1397, October.
    44. Michael S. Dahl & Steven Klepper, 2015. "Whom do new firms hire?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 819-836.
    45. Samer Faraj & Lee Sproull, 2000. "Coordinating Expertise in Software Development Teams," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(12), pages 1554-1568, December.
    46. Magdalena Dobrajska & Stephan Billinger & Samina Karim, 2015. "Delegation Within Hierarchies: How Information Processing and Knowledge Characteristics Influence the Allocation of Formal and Real Decision Authority," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 687-704, June.
    47. Steven Klepper & Kenneth L. Simons, 2000. "Dominance by birthright: entry of prior radio producers and competitive ramifications in the U.S. television receiver industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 997-1016, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Megan Lawrence, 2018. "Taking Stock of the Ability to Change: The Effect of Prior Experience," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 489-506, June.
    2. Eucman Lee & Ekin Ilseven & Phanish Puranam, 2023. "Scaling nonhierarchically: A theory of conflict‐free organizational growth with limited hierarchical growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(12), pages 3042-3064, December.
    3. Filippo Belloc & Gabriel Burdin & Fabio Landini, 2020. "Corporate Hierarchies and Labor Institutions," Department of Economics University of Siena 827, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    4. Ray Reagans & Ella Miron-Spektor & Linda Argote, 2016. "Knowledge Utilization, Coordination, and Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1108-1124, October.
    5. Chila, Vilma, 2021. "Knowledge dynamics in employee entrepreneurship : Implications for parents and offspring," Other publications TiSEM a1f5d18c-783b-4af6-8414-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Kannan Srikanth & Phanish Puranam, 2014. "The Firm as a Coordination System: Evidence from Software Services Offshoring," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1253-1271, August.
    7. Vikas A. Aggarwal & Brian Wu, 2015. "Organizational Constraints to Adaptation: Intrafirm Asymmetry in the Locus of Coordination," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 218-238, February.
    8. Tobias Kretschmer & Phanish Puranam, 2008. "Integration Through Incentives Within Differentiated Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(6), pages 860-875, December.
    9. David Gaddis Ross, 2014. "An Agency Theory of the Division of Managerial Labor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 494-508, April.
    10. Yanhui Wu, 2015. "Organizational Structure and Product Choice in Knowledge-Intensive Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(8), pages 1830-1848, August.
    11. Linda Argote & Ella Miron-Spektor, 2011. "Organizational Learning: From Experience to Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1123-1137, October.
    12. Yue Maggie Zhou, 2013. "Designing for Complexity: Using Divisions and Hierarchy to Manage Complex Tasks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 339-355, April.
    13. Davide Consoli & Pier Paolo Patrucco, 2011. "Complexity and the Coordination of Technological Knowledge: The Case of Innovation Platforms," Chapters, in: Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change, chapter 8 Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Phanish Puranam & Harbir Singh & Saikat Chaudhuri, 2009. "Integrating Acquired Capabilities: When Structural Integration Is (Un)necessary," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 313-328, April.
    15. Paola Rovelli & Vincenzo Butticè, 2020. "On the organizational design of entrepreneurial ventures: the configurations of the entrepreneurial team," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 47(2), pages 243-269, June.
    16. Paul Walker, 2010. "The (Non)Theory Of The Knowledge Firm," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 57(1), pages 1-32, February.
    17. John C. Butler & Jovan Grahovac, 2012. "Learning, Imitation, and the Use of Knowledge: A Comparison of Markets, Hierarchies, and Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1249-1263, October.
    18. David H. Hsu & Kwanghui Lim, 2014. "Knowledge Brokering and Organizational Innovation: Founder Imprinting Effects," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1134-1153, August.
    19. Filipe M. Santos & Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 2005. "Organizational Boundaries and Theories of Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 491-508, October.
    20. Gary B. Gorton & Alexander K. Zentefis, 2024. "Corporate culture as a theory of the firm," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(364), pages 1391-1423, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:44:y:2023:i:13:p:3155-3184. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/0143-2095 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.