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Mimetic Learning and the Evolution of Organizational Populations

In: Organizational Dynamics of Creative Destruction

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen J. Mezias
  • Theresa K. Lant

Abstract

The ecological (Hannan and Freeman, 1977) and institutional (Meyer and Rowan, 1977) perspectives have emerged as two dominant but distinct paradigms in organizational theory since their inceptions over a decade ago. Initially, one reason why these theories may have seemed irreconcilable, at least superficially, was the difference in the research questions that the original authors posed. Hannan and Freeman (1977) pointed to an apparent diversity of organizational forms and offered an ecological explanation for this multitude. Meyer and Rowan (1977) and especially DiMaggio and Powell (1983) stressed the lack of diversity of forms and proposed the mechanism of institutional isomorphism by which this diversity is eliminated. More recent work concerning populations of organizations has recognized the similarity of the inter organizational field (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Meyer and Scott, 1983) and the population (Hannan and Freeman, 1977; 1984; McKelvey and Aldrich, 1983) as units of analysis. For example, both institutional and ecological perspectives have been used in explaining the evolution of a population of Voluntary Social Service Organizations in the greater Toronto area (Singh, House, and Tucker, 1986; Singh, Tucker, and House, 1986; Singh, Tucker, and Meinhard, 1988; Tucker, Singh, and Meinhard, 1990).

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen J. Mezias & Theresa K. Lant, 2002. "Mimetic Learning and the Evolution of Organizational Populations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Organizational Dynamics of Creative Destruction, chapter 3, pages 53-78, Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-4039-2025-6_3
    DOI: 10.1057/9781403920256_3
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    Cited by:

    1. Chirag Kasbekar, 2020. "Adaptation of New Organizations to Legitimacy Shocks: Postbellum Firearms Firms in the U.S. South, 1866–1914," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 355-377, March.

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