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The Effect of Organizational Context on Individual Performance

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  • Robert S. Huckman
  • Gary P. Pisano

Abstract

Several observers have suggested that highly skilled workers convey little in the way of competitive advantage for firms due to their mobility. Implicit in this view is the belief that organizations are not important in determining the performance of such individuals. In this study, we address this issue by examining skilled individuals who work within multiple organizations roughly simultaneously. Specifically, we consider the performance of cardiac surgeons, many of whom perform operations at multiple hospitals during the course of a given year. Using patient mortality as an outcome measure, we find that the quality of a surgeon's performance at a given hospital improves significantly with increases in his or her annual procedure volume at that hospital but does not significantly improve with increases in his or her volume at other hospitals. Our findings suggest that surgeon performance is not fully portable across hospitals (i.e., some portion of performance is firm specific). We consider the implications of our results for settings beyond health care.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert S. Huckman & Gary P. Pisano, 2003. "The Effect of Organizational Context on Individual Performance," NBER Working Papers 10027, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10027
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Nicola Lacetera, 2003. "Incentives and spillovers in R&D activities: an agency-theoretic analysis of industry-university relations," Microeconomics 0312004, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations

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