Structural Inertia and Organizational Change

Theory and research on organization-environment relations from a population ecology perspective have been based on the assumption that inertial pressures on structure are strong. This paper attempts to clarify the meaning of structural inertia and to derive propositions about structural inertia from an explicit evolutionary model. The proposed theory treats high levels of structural inertia as a consequence of a selection process rather than as a precondition for selection. It also considers how the strength of inertial forces varies with age, size, and complexity. Most prominent organization theories ex- plain variability in organizational charac- teristics, that is, diversity, through reference to the…