Session Summary

Session Number:720
Session ID:S207
Session Title:The Emergence of New Organizational Forms (Institutions)
Short Title:New Organizational Forms (I)
Session Type:Division Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt East
Floor:LL2
Room:Columbus I/J
Time:Monday, August 09, 1999 4:10 PM - 5:30 PM

Sponsors

OMT  (Joseph Porac)j-porac@staff.uiuc.edu (217) 244-7969 

General People

Chair Haveman, Heather A. Cornell U./Columbia U. hah6@cornell.edu (607)-255-8512 
Chair David, Robert J. Cornell U. rjd13@cornell.edu (607)-255-5517 
Discussant Aldrich, Howard E. U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill howard_aldrich@unc.edu 919-962-5044 

Submissions

Heterogeneity vs. Homogeneity in a New Organizational Form: Magazine-Publishling Companies in America 
Presenter Haveman, Heather A. Cornell U./Columbia U. hah6@cornell.edu (607)-255-8512 
The Institutionalization of the Management Consulting Industry 
Presenter David, Robert J. Cornell U. rjd13@cornell.edu (607)-255-5517 
Exploration and Firm Survival in the Early U.S. Bicycle Industry 
Presenter Swaminathan, Anand  U. of California, Davis anands@ucdavis.edu (530) 752-9916 
Presenter Dowell, Glen  U. of Michigan gdowell@umich.edu 313-763-0486 
The Instability of Organizational Forms in Institutional Context: The Evolution of Standard Forms in Global Exchange Services 
Presenter Ventresca, Marc  Northwestern U. m-ventresca@nwu.edu 847-467-4030 
Building New Forms with the Ruins of Old Order: The Rise of Financial Intermediaries in the Czech Republic 
Presenter Rao, Hayagreeva  Emory U. Hayagreeva_Rao@bus.emory.edu (404)-727-2753 
Presenter Hirsch, Paul M. Northwestern U. [paulhirsch@nwu.edu] [(847)-491-3470] 

Abstract

New organizational forms are important both theoretically and substantively. Theoretically, new forms of organization are of interest to organizational ecologists, who seek to uncover sources of increasing diversity of organizations, and to institutionalists, who seek to understand the genesis and diffusion of organizational forms that embody institutions. Substantively, new forms of organization are important because they represent new sources of products, services, and employment. In short, the emergence of new organizational forms is an important instance of innovation, fueling social and economic development. Despite their importance, however, there is relatively little empirical evidence concerning the process by which new organizational forms emerge and spread. Most previous research has either examined brief intervals of time in the history of established organizational forms (e.g., studies of the diffusion of new practices and subunits) or the entire history of a particular form (e.g., studies of density dependence in organizational evolution). In contrast, our proposed symposium investigates the early stages in the life histories of various organizational forms. Three papers study the early years of distinct organizational populations in the U.S. (the magazine industry, the management consulting industry, and the bicycle manufacturing industry), while two other papers analyze more macroscopic phenomena (the emergence of financial exchanges, and the evolution of capitalist ownership of enterprises in the Czech Republic). This symposium thus explores several related issues in the genesis and spread of new types of organizations, and in doing so promises to shed much-needed light on this important phenomenon.