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Adaptation or Persistence? Emergence and Revision of Organization Designs in New Ventures

Author

Listed:
  • Oliver Alexy

    (TUM School of Management, Technische Universität München, 80333 München, Germany)

  • Katharina Poetz

    (Austrian Parliament, Legal, Legislative, and Research Services, 1017 Wien, Austria)

  • Phanish Puranam

    (INSEAD, Singapore 138676)

  • Markus Reitzig

    (Strategic Management, University of Vienna, 1090 Wien, Austria)

Abstract

How organization designs evolve between adaptation to changing conditions and the pressures toward persistence of the designs adopted at founding remains an understudied phenomenon. To fill this lacuna, we conducted a longitudinal, multicase study of eight young ventures. We find that, in these ventures, specific organization design solutions changed frequently, triggered by various internal and external developments, although the changes were typically incremental and myopic. However, the more abstract principles of design, captured in the founders’ logics of organizing, were less amenable to change. This explains why observations of imprinting effects in logics of organizing may be consistent with observations of dynamic change to organization designs.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver Alexy & Katharina Poetz & Phanish Puranam & Markus Reitzig, 2021. "Adaptation or Persistence? Emergence and Revision of Organization Designs in New Ventures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(6), pages 1439-1472, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:32:y:2021:i:6:p:1439-1472
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2021.1431
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