Organization Science articles from November 2005

Organization Science archives from November 2005

Preadaptation, firm heterogeneity, and technological performance: a study on the evolution of fiber optics, 1970-1995.
November 1, 2005... Strategy research typically traces stable performance differences among firms to a priori heterogeneity in initial resource endowments or in expected flows of resources. The objective of this paper is to explore how this heterogeneity is...

Transactive memory systems, learning, and learning transfer.
November 1, 2005... Knowledge embedded in a group's structures and processes can be leveraged to create sustainable advantage for organizations. We propose that knowledge embedded with a transactive memory system (TMS) helps groups apply prior learning to new...

Cognition and hierarchy: rethinking the microfoundations of capabilities' development.
November 1, 2005... This article identifies gaps in the microfoundations of capabilities research, particularly in work that is based on the framework of evolutionary economics. It argues that such research has focused excessively on the quasi-automatic,...

The persistence of flexible organizational routines: the role of agency and organization context.
November 1, 2005... Once regarded as stable and inflexible, organizational routines are increasingly seen as capable of being adapted to the situation at hand and a potentially important source of endogenous change in organizations. This paper considers why...

When the market misleads: stock prices, firm behavior, and industry evolution.
November 1, 2005... This paper augments learning and institutional theories of firm behavior with an explicit focus on the idiosyncratic characteristics of learning from financial markets. Various streams of literature implicitly assume that financial markets...

Reputation, diversification, and organizational explanations of performance in professional service firms.
November 1, 2005... Growing interest in knowledge as a competitive asset suggests the benefit of studying professional service firms (PSFs). These firms are highly successful examples of organizations whose ability to manage knowledge is critical to their success....

Intrafirm competition and charter evolution in the multibusiness firm.
November 1, 2005... We develop a theoretical framework for a specific form of intrafirm competition, namely the extent of overlap between the charters of two or more units in a single organization. This phenomenon is commonly seen in large organizations, e.g.,...

As the twig is bent: how group values shape emergent task interdependence in groups.
November 1, 2005... This paper proposes that task interdependence in teams, usually treated solely as structurally driven, can arise from group members' values at the time of group formation. Findings from a longitudinal field study show that teams whose members...

A model of the effects of reputational rankings on organizational change.
November 1, 2005... Reputational rankings published by the media have emerged as important sources of institutional isomorphic pressures on organizations. However, organizations vary in the extent to which they respond to the pressures exerted by the rankings, and...