Inkrementaler Wandel und adaptive Dynamik in Regelsystemen

It is received wisdom that organizations need to adapt to changing environments. Many scholars of adaptation traditionally focus on revolutionary change in organizations. In contrast, this study shows that incremental change is a neglected yet essential part of adaptive processes in organizations. Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and Behavioral Theory are drawn on to generate alternative views of the role of incremental changes for adaptive processes in organizations. Qualitative findings on rule change processes are presented in order to contribute to a better understanding of the alignment and adaptation that occurs in organizational rule systems. The reported findings suggest that fundamental changes in organizations, e.g. a divisionalization or a merger, are followed and supplemented by incremental internal changes, e.g. adjustments in rule systems. In the course of such adjustments, different local rationalities need to be combined in order to realign internal and environmental constraints on processes that are affected by the preceding fundamental change.