Stanislav D. Dobrev

Dynamics of niche width and resource partitioning.

This article examines the effects of crowding in a market center on rates of change in organizational niche width and on organizational mortality. It proposes that, although firms with wide niches benefit from risk spreading and economies of scale, they are simultaneously exposed to intense competition. An analysis of organizational dynamics in automobile manufacturing firms in France, Germany, and Great Britain shows that competitive pressure not only increases the hazard of disbanding but also prompts organizational transformations that give rise to processes of resource partitioning. Emphasizing the content/process distinction in conceptualizing organizational change, the article finds that the process effect of changes in niche width and position increases mortality hazards. We discuss our findings in light of the processes investigated by the ecological theories of density dependence, resource partitioning, and structural inertia, and point to the theoretical links that help to integrate these theories.

Organizational processes of resource partitioning

By the logic of many theories of organization, the dominance of large firms in an industry should hinder the emergence and operation of small specialist firms. Yet, in modern economies, a variety of industries display simultaneous trends of increased concentration and specialist proliferation. Within the perspective of organizational ecology, the theory fragment known as resource partitioning views these two trends as interdependent. The theory holds that under certain environmental and organizational conditions, the increased dominance of large firms in an industry will enhance the life chances of specialist organizations. Here, we examine this theory and the evidence that has been offered in its support. We discuss four different mechanisms that produce resource partitioning: location, customization, anti-mass-production cultural sentiment, and conspicuous status consumption. We also explore empirical issues involved in investigating these mechanisms. Finally, we describe some interesting and little investigated problems of the theory.

The Evolution of Organizational Niches: U.S. Automobile Manufacturers, 1885–1981

Although the niche figures prominently in contemporary theories of organization, analysts often fail to tie micro processes within the niche to long-term changes in the broader environment. In this paper, we advance arguments about the relationship between an organizations niche and evolution in the structure of its organizational population over time. We focus on the technological niche and processes of positioning and crowding among firms in the niche space, relating them to the level of concentration among all firms in the market. Building on previous empirical studies in organizational ecology, we study the evolution of concentration in the American automobile industry from 1885 to 1981 and estimate models of the hazard of exit of individual producers from the market. The findings show that niche and concentration interact in complex ways, yielding a more unified depiction of organizational evolution than typically described or reported.

A Careers Perspective on Entrepreneurship

Excerpt] What if being an entrepreneur were treated like any other occupation—teacher, nurse, manager? What if the decision to found a new venture were thought of as one of many options that individuals consider as they try to structure a meaningful and rewarding career? How would the field of entrepreneurship research be different? In our view, there is much to be learned by conceiving of entrepreneurship not solely as a final destination, but as a step along a career trajectory. Doing so opens the study of entrepreneurship to a wider range of scholarly insights, and promises important insights for entrepreneurial practice, training, and policy. This special issue takes an important step in this direction.

Oppositional Product Names, Organizational Identities, and Product Appeal

At their core, markets are exchange structures between producers and consumers, and products are a key element that connects them together. Many new markets emerge in direct ideological opposition to incumbent industries. Yet, the ways in which ideology affects products in oppositional markets are not well understood. We propose that when audiences cannot easily differentiate between products based on physical attributes, they rely on ideological discourse about the production process. We argue that product names, by embodying linguistically the narrative of this discourse, shape the appeal of oppositional products to customers. When products have names that are congruent with the collective identity of an oppositional market, they have higher appeal. This beneficial effect is attenuated 1 when audience expectations about what type of product should have an oppositional name are violated and 2 when a firm develops a strong organizational identity and audiences rely on this identity to make inference about the firms production process. We find support for this theorizing in the longitudinal analyses of product appeal in the U.S. craft beer industry, 1996-2012.

Career Change and the Iron Cage: Organizations and the Early Labour Market Experience of Professional Managers

Although it is often acknowledged that organizational structure and career outcomes are related, developed theory on how formal features of the design affect inter‐firm job mobility is incomplete. I focus on organizational size and structural differentiation and relate them to ideas about internal labour markets, organizational senescence, bureaucratic complexity, and resource endowments. Analysing data on the early career histories of professional managers, I find that the negative effect of organizational size on quits weakens with organizational age while a firms elaborate hierarchy monotonically increases quits in all but very large firms. I interpret these effects as potential mechanisms for linking demographic processes between and within organizations and as a basis for integrating research in corporate demography and career mobility.

THE TWO SIDES OF THE COIN: CORE COMPETENCE AS CAPABILITY AND OBSOLESCENCE

Although studies of “core competence” appear frequently, the concept lacks a clear definition that allows one to operationalize it and use it to develop falsifiable predictions. We propose a definition based on the phenomenon that core competence is typically applied to – adaptations to different external context. Sourcing insight form the paradigm of organizational ecology, we develop arguments rooted in theories of structural inertia and environmental imprinting. Empirical analyses of failure rates of entrants in the Italian automobile industry confirm our propositions that core competence is a source of competitive advantage when industry entry is based on relevant capabilities and a source of inertia and obsolescence when core competences need to be substantially altered. We conclude that whether core competence materializes as a dynamic capability or exposes the firm to liability to selection and obsolescence is a random process. Its outcome hinges on environmental variation and the resulting firm-environment (mis)alignment and is thus largely beyond managerial control.