Jitendra Vir Singh

Performance, Slack, and Risk Taking in Organizational Decision Making

This research paper investigates the relationship between organizational performance and risk taking in organizational decision making. A complex model is proposed in which the direct relationship, which is triggered by performance below acceptable levels, is negative, but the indirect relationships, which are mediated by organizational slack and decentralization, are positive. A test of the model for a cross-sectional sample of firms shows general support for the model. The findings have implications for theories that view change as arising from stable organizational processes.

Organizational Legitimacy and the Liability of Newness

Investigates the processes in organizations that underlie the liability of newness--i.e., the higher propensity of younger organizations to die. Whether the liability of newness is due primarily to external factors or internal processes is examined by analyzing the event histories of organizational death. The theoretical arguments underlying this study are developed using data gathered from 389 voluntary social service organizations that came into existence in Toronto, Canada during 1970 to 1980; activity data was gathered through 1982. Results suggest that the acquisition of external legitimacy, including the establishment of supportive exchange relationships with external stakeholders, is related to a significant reduction in the hazard of death. In addition, it is shown that organizations that are not externally legitimated have either a constant hazard of death that does not decline with firm age or an increasing probability. Finally, it is demonstrated that most internal organizational changes are unrelated to the death rate. (SFL)

Evolutionary dynamics of organizations

The book presents the latest research and theory about evolutionary change in organizations. It brings together the work of organizational theorists who have challenged the orthodox adaptation views that prevailed until the beginning of the 1980s. It emphasizes multiple levels of change - distinguishing change at the intraorganizational level, the organizational level, the population level, and the community level. The book is organized in a way that gives order and coherence to what has been a diverse and multidisciplinary field. (The book had its inception at a conference held at the Stern School of Business, New York University, January 1992.)

Organizational Change and Organizational Mortality.

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Xl World Congress of Sociology, New Delhi, India, in August 1986. We gratefully acknowledge the involvement of Howard Aldrich, Glenn Carroll, and Paul DiMaggio at the initial stages of our research program on voluntary organizations in metropolitan Toronto. Specific thanks are due to Howard Aldrich and James G. March for insightful comments on an earlier draft. We would specially like to thank Agnes Meinhard for outstanding statistical support and anonymous ASQ reviewers for helpful suggestions. This research was supported by grant number 410-84-0632 from SSHRC, Canada, and grant number 4555-55-7 from the National Welfare Grants Directorate, Health and Welfare, Canada. This study explores whether an ecological, an adaptation, or a random organizational action perspective more appropriately describes the impact of organizational change in a population of voluntary social service organizations. The results indicate that some changes are disruptive, some have no impact on organizational mortality, and others are adaptive. One plausible interpretation of the results is that the effects of organizational changes depend on the location of the changes in the organization -whether in the core or the periphery. Core changes, which are thought to be more disruptive, are best described by an ecological view. Peripheral changes are best described by an adaptation view. The study shows that selection and adaptation are complementary rather than contradictory views, and one clear implication is the need for simultaneous modeling of selection and adaptation processes to build a more complete theory of organizational change.

Emerging multinationals in emerging markets

List of figures List of tables Abbreviations List of contributors Acknowledgements Part I. Introduction: 1. Why study emerging market MNEs? Ravi Ramamurti 2. Third world multinationals: a look back Louis T. Wells, Jr 3. Theoretical aspects of MNEs from emerging markets Alan Rugman 4. Does firm ownership matter? POEs vs. FOEs in the developing world Alice H. Amsden Part II. Country Studies: 5. Chinese multinationals: emerging through new global gateways Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng 6. Indian multinationals: generic internationalization strategies Ravi Ramamurti and Jitendra V. Singh 7. Russian multinationals: natural resource champions Daniel J. McCarthy, Sheila M. Puffer and Oleg S. Vikhanski 8. Brazilian multinationals: surfing the waves of internationalization Afonso Fleury and Maria Tereza Leme Fleury 9. South African multinationals: building on a unique legacy Andrea Goldstein and Wilson Prichard 10. Mexican multinationals: lessons from Cemex Donald R. Lessard and Rafel Lucea 11. Thai multinationals: struggling to enter the big league Pavida Pananond 12. Israeli multinationals: competing from a small open economy Yair Aharoni Part III. Conclusions: 13. What have we learned about emerging-market MNEs? Ravi Ramamurti Index.

Organizational Niches and the Dynamics of Organizational Mortality

Departing from the population-level emphasis of density dependence research in organizational ecology, the authors examine how organizational niches within populations influence patterns of competition and mutualism. Organizational niches characterize intrapopulation variation in productive capacities and resource requirements and are operationalized for a population of day care centers (DCCs) based on the ages of children they are licensed to enroll. The authors find competitive effects of overlap density, the aggregate overlap of a DCCs organizational niche with those of all others, and mutualistic effects of nonoverlap density, the aggregate nonoverlap, which are strongest among neighboring DCCs. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for studying organizational population dynamics.

Organizational Form, Population Dynamics, and Institutional Changes: The Founding Patterns of Voluntary Organizations

Questions related to founding are of central importance to the study of organizations. Recent research in organizational ecology has suggested that ecological dynamics—previous foundings, disbandin...

Emerging Multinationals from Emerging Markets: Indian multinationals: Generic internationalization strategies

Indian firms expanded outward in two waves, the first occurring in the 1970s and 1980s, and the second occurring after 1995, shortly after India had opened up to the global economy in 1991 following economic reforms. The second wave was not only bigger in terms of the scale and speed of outward FDI, but the firms involved used a broader range of strategies. One especially interesting feature was that in the second wave 60–70 percent of the outward FDI went “up-market” (i.e., to highly advanced countries), unlike the first wave in which almost the same proportion went “down-market” (i.e., to countries less developed than India; Lall, 1983). In addition, there was some evidence that in 2006 and the first half of 2007, Indian firms may have invested more abroad than foreign MNEs invested in India – a surprising result for a poor country, although the data underlying these claims need more careful sorting out (Dunning and Narula, 1996). In this chapter, we try to get beneath these intriguing macro outcomes by looking at the underlying micro phenomena at the firm level. Among other questions, we ask: Which Indian firms were at the vanguard of internationalization, and why? What international competitive advantages did they enjoy, and why? How did they internationalize? Which firms directed their investment to the advanced countries, and why? And finally, what impact did Indian firms have on the structure and dynamics of the global industries in which they participated?

Density dependence theory ― current issues, future promise

Beginning in the mid-late 1970s, the field of organizational sociology became quite fertile. Several new paradigms have emerged, and some old ones have enjoyed resurgence. Arguably, two of the more vibrant recent approaches are organizational ecology and the neoinstitutional perspective. During the early 1980s, these two approaches were seen by some as competing with each other. However, during the next few years, their increasing convergence became apparent. It might be asked why it is important to study entry and exit rates in organizational populations.

Technology, Size, and Organizational Structure: A Reexamination of the Okayama Study Data

In this article the author reexamines data from a study that focused on the effects that technology and size have on organizational structure. The study, known as the Oklahoma Study, obtained data ...