CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Organizational ecology - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"af899801-31ba-45b7-a4cd-d535ae821d30","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Organizational_ecology","wgTitle":"Organizational ecology","wgCurRevisionId":1161498521,"wgRevisionId":1161498521,"wgArticleId":1156815,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","Behavioural sciences","Organizational theory"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Organizational_ecology","wgRelevantArticleId":1156815,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive": false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":10000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q7102016","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={ "ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents", "ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Organizational ecology - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_ecology"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_ecology"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Organizational_ecology rootpage-Organizational_ecology skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Organizational+ecology" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Organizational+ecology" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Organizational+ecology" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Organizational+ecology" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Development" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Development"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Development</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Development-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Key_concerns" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Key_concerns"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Key concerns</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Key_concerns-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Key concerns subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Key_concerns-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Organizational_mortality" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Organizational_mortality"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Organizational mortality</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Organizational_mortality-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Inertia_and_change" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Inertia_and_change"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1.1</span> <span>Inertia and change</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Inertia_and_change-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Niche_theory" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Niche_theory"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1.2</span> <span>Niche theory</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Niche_theory-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Density_dependence" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Density_dependence"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1.3</span> <span>Density dependence</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Density_dependence-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Age_dependence" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Age_dependence"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1.4</span> <span>Age dependence</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Age_dependence-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Evolutionary_approaches_to_organizations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Evolutionary_approaches_to_organizations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Evolutionary approaches to organizations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Evolutionary_approaches_to_organizations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Organizational ecology</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 6 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-6" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">6 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A6%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9" title="البيئة التنظيمية – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="البيئة التنظيمية" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Ecology-Ansatz" title="Population Ecology-Ansatz – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Population Ecology-Ansatz" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecolog%C3%ADa_organizacional" title="Ecología organizacional – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Ecología organizacional" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%A1%B0%EC%A7%81%EC%83%9D%ED%83%9C%ED%95%99" title="조직생태학 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="조직생태학" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecologia_organizacional" title="Ecologia organizacional – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Ecologia organizacional" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_ecology" title="Organizational ecology – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="Organizational ecology" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Simple English</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q7102016#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Organizational_ecology" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Organizational_ecology" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Organizational_ecology"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Organizational_ecology"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Organizational_ecology" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Organizational_ecology" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&oldid=1161498521" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Organizational_ecology&id=1161498521&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOrganizational_ecology"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOrganizational_ecology"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Organizational_ecology&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikiquote mw-list-item"><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Organizational_ecology" hreflang="en"><span>Wikiquote</span></a></li><li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q7102016" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Academic discipline; examines how goal-driven social entities grow, survive and die</div> <p><b>Organizational ecology</b> (also <b>organizational demography</b> and the <b>population ecology of organizations</b>) is a theoretical and empirical approach in the <a href="/wiki/Social_sciences" class="mw-redirect" title="Social sciences">social sciences</a> that is considered a sub-field of <a href="/wiki/Organizational_studies" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational studies">organizational studies</a>. Organizational ecology utilizes insights from <a href="/wiki/Biology" title="Biology">biology</a>, <a href="/wiki/Economics" title="Economics">economics</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-:2_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Sociology" title="Sociology">sociology</a>, and employs statistical analysis to try to understand the conditions under which organizations emerge, grow, and die. </p><p>The ecology of organizations is divided into three levels, the community, the population, and the organization. The community level is the functionally integrated system of interacting populations. The population level is the set of organizations engaged in similar activities. The organization level focuses on the individual organizations (some research further divides organizations into individual member and sub-unit levels<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>). </p><p>What is generally referred to as organizational ecology in research is more accurately population ecology, focusing on the second level.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Development">Development</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Development"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Wharton School researcher William Evan called the population level the <i>organization-set</i>, and focused on the interrelations of individual organizations within the population as early as 1966.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, prior to the mid-1970s, the majority of organizational studies research focused on adaptive change in organizations (See also <a href="/wiki/Adaptive_management" title="Adaptive management">adaptive management</a> and <a href="/wiki/Adaptive_performance" title="Adaptive performance">adaptive performance</a>). The ecological approach moved focus to the environmental selection processes that affect organizations.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In 1976, <a href="/wiki/Eric_Trist" title="Eric Trist">Eric Trist</a> defined population ecology as "the study of the organizational field created by a number of organizations whose interrelations compose a system at the level of the whole field". He also advocated for organizational studies research to focus on populations and individual organizations as part of open rather than closed systems that have both bureaucratic (internal) regulation and ecological (community environment) regulation (see also Open and closed systems in social science).<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The first explicit formulation of a theory of population ecology, by <a href="/wiki/Michael_T._Hannan" title="Michael T. Hannan">Michael T. Hannan</a> and the late <a href="/w/index.php?title=John_H._Freeman&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="John H. Freeman (page does not exist)">John H. Freeman</a> in their 1977 <i><a href="/wiki/American_Journal_of_Sociology" title="American Journal of Sociology">American Journal of Sociology</a></i> piece "The population ecology of organizations" and later refined in their 1989 book <i><a href="/wiki/Organizational_Ecology" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational Ecology">Organizational Ecology</a></i>, examines the environment in which organizations compete and how a process like <a href="/wiki/Natural_selection" title="Natural selection">natural selection</a> occurs. This theory looks at the death of organizations (firm mortality), the birth of new organizations (organizational founding), as well as organizational growth and change. </p><p>Organizational ecology has over the years become one of the central fields in <a href="/wiki/Organizational_studies" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational studies">organizational studies</a>, and is known for its empirical, quantitative character. Ecological studies usually have a large-scale, longitudinal focus (datasets often span several decades, sometimes even centuries). The books <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Demography_of_Corporations&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="The Demography of Corporations (page does not exist)">The Demography of Corporations</a> and Industries</i> by <a href="/wiki/Glenn_Carroll" title="Glenn Carroll">Glenn Carroll</a> and <a href="/wiki/Michael_T._Hannan" title="Michael T. Hannan">Michael T. Hannan</a> (2000) and <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Logics_of_Organization_Theory:_Audiences&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences (page does not exist)">Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences</a>, Codes, and Ecologies</i> by <a href="/wiki/Michael_T._Hannan" title="Michael T. Hannan">Michael T. Hannan</a>, Laszlo Polos, and Glenn Carroll (2007), provide the most comprehensive overview of the various theories and methods in organizational ecology. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Key_concerns">Key concerns</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Key concerns"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Organizational ecology focuses on how social (community) forces affect: </p> <ul><li>rates of creation of new organizational forms</li> <li>rates of demise of organizations and organizational forms</li> <li>the rates of change in organizational forms.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Organizational_mortality">Organizational mortality</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Organizational mortality"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Organizational ecology is concerned with the capacity of the environment to support organizations and the rate of growth and decline of organizations within the environment. Each of these forces is a part of what is called <i>Organizational Mortality</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:0_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Inertia_and_change">Inertia and change</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Inertia and change"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>This factor holds that organizations that are reliable and accountable are those that can survive (favored by selection). A negative by-product, however, of the need for reliability and accountability is a high degree of inertia and a resistance to change. A key prediction of organizational ecology is that the process of change itself is so disruptive that it will result in an elevated rate of mortality. </p><p>Theories about inertia and change are fundamental to the research program of organizational ecology, which seeks a better understanding of the broader changes in the organizational landscape. Both internal and external resistance to change can result in organizational inertia, providing some resistance to <a href="/wiki/Organizational_adaptation" title="Organizational adaptation">organizational adaptation</a>. Given the limits on firm-level adaptation, most of these broader changes thus come from the entry and selective replacement of organizations. Hence organizational ecology has spent considerable effort on understanding the founding and mortality rates of organizations. </p><p>Hannan and Freeman define organizational inertia in terms of internal and external restraints. Internal restraints include investment and sunk costs; availability of information for decision makers; political restraints such as organizational culture; and organization history. External restraints include legal and fiscal barriers to market entry and exit; availability of information about the environment; external legitimacy; and collective rationality and strategy<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (See also <a href="/wiki/Bounded_rationality" title="Bounded rationality">Bounded rationality</a>). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Niche_theory">Niche theory</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Niche theory"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Niche width distinguishes broadly between two types of organizations: generalists and specialists. Generalist organizations maximize their exploitation of the environment and accept the risk of experiencing a change in that environment. On the other hand, specialist organizations accept a lower level of exploitation in return for greater security. </p><p>Niche theory shows that specialization is generally favored in stable or certain environments. However, the main contribution of the niche theory is probably the finding that "generalism is not always optimal in uncertain environments". The exception is produced by environments which "place very different demands on the organization, and the duration of environmental states is short relative to the life of the organization". </p><p>Thus, the niche theory explains variations in industrial structure in different industries. The theory shows how different structures in different industries (generalist vs specialist organizations) are shaped by relevant environments.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Density_dependence">Density dependence</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Density dependence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Organizational ecology also predicts that the rates of founding and mortality are dependent on the number of organizations (density) in the market. The two central mechanisms here are legitimization (the recognition or taken-for-grantedness of that group of organizations) and <a href="/wiki/Competition" title="Competition">competition</a>. Legitimization generally increases (at a decreasing rate) with the number of organizations, but so does competition (at an increasing rate). The result is that legitimization processes will prevail at low numbers of organizations, while competition will at high numbers. </p><p>The founding rate will therefore first increase with the number of organizations (due to an increase in legitimization) but will decrease at high numbers of organizations (due to competition). The reverse holds for mortality rates. Thus, the relationship of density to founding rates has an inverted U shape and the relationship of density to mortality rates follows a U-shaped pattern.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Age_dependence">Age dependence</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Age dependence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>How an organization's risk of mortality relates to the age of that organization has also been extensively examined. Here, organizational ecologists have found a number of patterns: </p> <ul><li><b><a href="/w/index.php?title=Liability_of_newness&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Liability of newness (page does not exist)">Liability of newness</a></b>. Here, the risk of failure is high initially but declines as the organization ages.</li> <li><b><a href="/w/index.php?title=Liability_of_adolescence&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Liability of adolescence (page does not exist)">Liability of adolescence</a></b>. The risk of mortality will be low at first as the organization is buffered from failure due to support by external constituents and initial endowments. But when these initial resources become depleted, the mortality hazard shoots up and then declines following the liability of newness pattern.</li> <li><b><a href="/w/index.php?title=Liabilities_of_aging&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Liabilities of aging (page does not exist)">Liabilities of aging</a></b>. Here, the risk of failure increases with organizational age. This could be due to a <i>liability of senescence</i> (internal inefficiencies arising from the aging of the organization) or a <i>liability of obsolescence</i> (a growing external mismatch with the environment).<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:0_3-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Evolutionary_approaches_to_organizations">Evolutionary approaches to organizations</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Evolutionary approaches to organizations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Organizational ecology can be usefully compared with evolutionary theories in economics (e.g. Nelson & Winter, 1982).<sup id="cite_ref-:2_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Hannan and Freeman also note the influences of biological ecology and economic evolution on their population ecology model (specifically Elton, 1927; Durkheim, 1947; Hawley, 1950; and Hutchison, 1959).<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Main similarities between these strands of literature are: (1) the emphasis on organizational routines and the limits to organizational adaptability, (2) the population or system level of analysis and (3) the importance of environmental selection. Organizational ecology's perspective is more Darwinistic (see Hannan & Freeman, 1989, pp 20–22), while <a href="/w/index.php?title=Nelson_%26_Winter&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Nelson & Winter (page does not exist)">Nelson & Winter</a> (1982, p. 11) provide a more Lamarckian perspective. Another important difference concerns the question: What is selected by the environment-- 'organizational forms', as in organizational ecology, or 'routines' as in the evolutionary economics literature? Authors like Joel Baum and Arjen van Witteloostuijn have argued for the potential of cross-fertilization between these two research strands. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Adaptive_management" title="Adaptive management">Adaptive management</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adaptive_performance" title="Adaptive performance">Adaptive performance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biocultural_evolution" class="mw-redirect" title="Biocultural evolution">Biocultural evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bounded_rationality" title="Bounded rationality">Bounded rationality</a></li> <li>Open and closed systems in social science</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_behavior" title="Organizational behavior">Organizational behavior</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_behavior_management" title="Organizational behavior management">Organizational behavior management</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_studies" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational studies">Organizational studies</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-:2-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:2_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:2_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Douma,_Sytse" class="mw-redirect" title="Douma, Sytse">Douma, Sytse</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hein_Schreuder" title="Hein Schreuder">Hein Schreuder</a>, 2013. "Economic Approaches to Organizations". 5th edition. London: Pearson <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://catalogue.pearsoned.co.uk/educator/product/Economic-Approaches-to-Organisations/9780273735298.page">[1]</a> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0273735292" title="Special:BookSources/0273735292">0273735292</a> • <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780273735298" title="Special:BookSources/9780273735298">9780273735298</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hannan, M., & Freeman, J. (1977). The population ecology of organizations. <i>American Journal of Sociology 82</i>(5), 929–964.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_3-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Baum, J., & Shipilov, A. (2006). Ecological approaches to organizations. In S. Clegg, C. Hardy, T. Lawrence, & W. Nord (Eds.) <i>The Sage handbook of organization studies</i> (pp. 55–110.) London: Sage Publications.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Evan, W. (1966). "The organization-set" in J. Thompson (ed.) <i>Approaches to Organizational Design</i>. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Trist, E. (1977). A Concept of Organizational Ecology. <i>Australian Journal of Management 2</i>(2), 161–175.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Singh, J., & Lumsden, C. (1990). Theory and research in organizational ecology. <i>Annual Review of Sociology 16</i>(1), 161–195.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Carroll, G. (1984). Organizational ecology. <i>Annual Review of Sociology 10</i>(1), 71–93.</span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Baum, J.A.C., S.D. Dobrev and A. Van Witteloostuijn (eds, 2006), "Ecology and Strategy." Amsterdam: Elsevier</li> <li>Carroll, G.R. and M.T. Hannan (2000) <i>The Demography of Corporations and Industries.</i> Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.</li> <li>Carroll, G.R. (1985) “Concentration and specialization: dynamics of niche width in populations of organizations.” <i>American Journal of Sociology</i> 90 (6): 1262–83.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Douma,_Sytse" class="mw-redirect" title="Douma, Sytse">Douma, Sytse</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hein_Schreuder" title="Hein Schreuder">Hein Schreuder</a>, 2013. <i>Economic Approaches to Organizations</i>. 5th edition. London: Pearson <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://catalogue.pearsoned.co.uk/educator/product/Economic-Approaches-to-Organisations/9780273735298.page">[2]</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0273735292" title="Special:BookSources/0273735292">0273735292</a> • <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780273735298" title="Special:BookSources/9780273735298">9780273735298</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hannan,_M.T." class="mw-redirect" title="Hannan, M.T.">Hannan, M.T.</a> and J. Freeman (1977) “The population ecology of organizations.” <i>American Journal of Sociology</i> 82 (5): 929–964.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hannan,_M.T." class="mw-redirect" title="Hannan, M.T.">Hannan, M.T.</a> and J. Freeman (1989) <i>Organizational Ecology.</i> Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hannan,_M.T." class="mw-redirect" title="Hannan, M.T.">Hannan, M.T.</a>, L. Polos, and G R. Carroll (2007) <i>Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences, Code, and Ecologies.</i> Princeton: Princeton University Press.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237033735">@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}</style><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="34" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/51px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/68px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="300" data-file-height="355" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikiquote has quotations related to <i><b><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Organizational_ecology" class="extiw" title="q:Special:Search/Organizational ecology">Organizational ecology</a></b></i>.</div></div> </div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://etss.net/index.php/weblog/news/">Evolutionary Theory in Social Science</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www2.bc.edu/candace-jones/mb851/Apr9/HannanFreeman_AJS_1977.pdf">The Population Ecology of Organizations</a></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Aspects_of_organizations" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Aspects_of_organizations" title="Template:Aspects of organizations"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Aspects_of_organizations" title="Template talk:Aspects of organizations"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Aspects_of_organizations" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Aspects of organizations"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Aspects_of_organizations" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em">Aspects of <a href="/wiki/Organization" title="Organization">organizations</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Topics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_architecture" title="Organizational architecture">Architecture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_behavior" title="Organizational behavior">Behavior</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blame#In_organizations" title="Blame">Blame</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_capital" title="Organizational capital">Capital</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cellular_organizational_structure" title="Cellular organizational structure">Cells</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_chart" title="Organizational chart">Chart</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_citizenship_behavior" title="Organizational citizenship behavior">Citizenship behavior</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organisation_climate" title="Organisation climate">Climate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_commitment" title="Organizational commitment">Commitment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_communication" title="Organizational communication">Communication</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Complexity_theory_and_organizations" title="Complexity theory and organizations">Complexity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_conflict" title="Organizational conflict">Conflict</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_culture" title="Organizational culture">Culture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_architecture" title="Organizational architecture">Design</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organization_development" title="Organization development">Development</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_diagnostics" title="Organizational diagnostics">Diagnostics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_dissent" title="Organizational dissent">Dissent</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Ecology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_effectiveness" title="Organizational effectiveness">Effectiveness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_engineering" title="Organizational engineering">Engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_ethics" title="Organizational ethics">Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_field" title="Organizational field">Field</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hierarchical_organization" title="Hierarchical organization">Hierarchy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_identification" title="Organizational identification">Identification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_intelligence" title="Organizational intelligence">Intelligence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_justice" title="Organizational justice">Justice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_learning" title="Organizational learning">Learning</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_life_cycle" title="Organizational life cycle">Life cycle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Machiavellianism_in_the_workplace" title="Machiavellianism in the workplace">Machiavellianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narcissism_in_the_workplace" title="Narcissism in the workplace">Narcissism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_network_analysis" title="Organizational network analysis">Network analysis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_ombudsman" title="Organizational ombudsman">Ombudsman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_patterns" title="Organizational patterns">Patterns</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Perceived_organizational_support" title="Perceived organizational support">Perceived support</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_performance" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational performance">Performance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Industrial_and_organizational_psychology" title="Industrial and organizational psychology">Psychology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Resilience_(organizational)" class="mw-redirect" title="Resilience (organizational)">Resilience</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_retaliatory_behavior" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational retaliatory behavior">Retaliatory behavior</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_safety" title="Organizational safety">Safety</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_space" title="Organizational space">Space</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_storytelling" title="Organizational storytelling">Storytelling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_structure" title="Organizational structure">Structure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_theory" title="Organizational theory">Theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organization_workshop" title="Organization workshop">Workshop</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">See also</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_organizations" title="History of organizations">History of organizations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organization_studies" title="Organization studies">Organization studies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_organizational_theory" title="Outline of organizational theory">Outline of organizational theory</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <dl><dt><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Template"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Symbol_template_class_pink.svg/16px-Symbol_template_class_pink.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Symbol_template_class_pink.svg/23px-Symbol_template_class_pink.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Symbol_template_class_pink.svg/31px-Symbol_template_class_pink.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> See also templates</dt> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Aspects_of_corporations" title="Template:Aspects of corporations">Aspects of corporations</a></dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Aspects_of_jobs" title="Template:Aspects of jobs">Aspects of jobs</a></dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Aspects_of_occupations" title="Template:Aspects of occupations">Aspects of occupations</a></dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Aspects_of_workplaces" title="Template:Aspects of workplaces">Aspects of workplaces</a></dd></dl> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&oldid=1161498521">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&oldid=1161498521</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Behavioural_sciences" title="Category:Behavioural sciences">Behavioural sciences</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Organizational_theory" title="Category:Organizational theory">Organizational theory</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 23 June 2023, at 03:16<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Organizational_ecology&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-9bpbq","wgBackendResponseTime":180,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.275","walltime":"0.395","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1409,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":18698,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":1596,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":16,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":25498,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 351.739 1 -total"," 32.19% 113.239 1 Template:Short_description"," 26.75% 94.094 1 Template:Aspects_of_organizations"," 26.16% 92.020 1 Template:Navbox"," 25.28% 88.923 1 Template:Reflist"," 22.21% 78.129 4 Template:ISBN"," 17.76% 62.480 4 Template:Catalog_lookup_link"," 16.90% 59.452 7 Template:Main_other"," 15.99% 56.247 1 Template:SDcat"," 12.15% 42.729 2 Template:Pagetype"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.150","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":2207550,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-api-int.codfw.main-849f99967d-jjrbx","timestamp":"20241123185930","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Organizational ecology","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Organizational_ecology","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q7102016","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q7102016","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2004-11-11T05:38:32Z","dateModified":"2023-06-23T03:16:05Z","headline":"theoretical and empirical approach in the social sciences that is considered a sub-field of organizational studies"}</script> </body> </html>