Why do certain organizations succeed and others fail? We explore how to integrate time to concepts of ecology to answer questions about social organization and collective action.
Background readings
Freeman & Audia, 2006, ARS, “Community ecology and the sociology of organizations”
Optional readings
Baum & Shipilov, 2006, Ch, "Ecological approaches to organizations"
Hannan & Freeman, 1977, AJS, "The population ecology of organizations"
McPherson, 2004, ICC, "A Blau space primer: Prolegomenon to an ecology of affiliation"
McPherson & Ranger-Moore, 1991, SF, "Evolution on a dancing landscape: Organizations and networks in dynamic Blau space"
Rojas, 2006, JIE, "Sociological imperialism in three theories of the market"
Case-studies
Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo, and Reka Albert. n.d. “Emergence of Scaling in Random Networks.”
Carroll, Glenn R., and Anand Swaminathan. 2000. “Why the Microbrewery Movement? Organizational Dynamics of Resource Partitioning in the U.S. Brewing Industry.” American Journal of Sociology 106(3):715–62. doi: 10.1086/318962.
Cress, Daniel M., J. Miller McPherson, and Thomas Rotolo. 1997. “Competition and Commitment in Voluntary Memberships: The Paradox of Persistence and Participation.” Sociological Perspectives 40(1):61–79. doi: 10.2307/1389493.
Harrison, J. R. 2004. “Models of Growth in Organizational Ecology: A Simulation Assessment.” Industrial and Corporate Change 13(1):243–61. doi: 10.1093/icc/13.1.243.
Lim, May, Richard Metzler, and Yaneer Bar-Yam. 2007. “Global Pattern Formation and Ethnic/Cultural Violence.” Science 317(5844):1540–44. doi: 10.1126/science.1142734.
Mark, Noah. 1998. “Birds of a Feather Sing Together.” Social Forces 77(2):453–85. doi: 10.2307/3005535.
McPherson, J. Miller, and James R. Ranger-Moore. 1991. “Evolution on a Dancing Landscape: Organizations and Networks in Dynamic Blau Space.” Social Forces 70(1):19–42. doi: 10.2307/2580060.
Mcpherson, Miller, Pamela Popielarz, and Sonja Drobnič. 1992. “Social Networks and Organizational Dynamics.” American Sociological Review 57:153–70. doi: 10.2307/2096202.
McPherson, Miller. 1983. “An Ecology of Affiliation.” American Sociological Review 48(4):519. doi: 10.2307/2117719.
Olzak, Susan. 2016. “The Effect of Category Spanning on the Lethality and Longevity of Terrorist Organizations.” Social Forces 95(2):559–84. doi: 10.1093/sf/sow081.
Olzak, Susan and Emily Ryo. 2007. "Organizational diversity, vitality and outcomes in the Civic Rights Movement" Social Forces 85(4): 1561-1591.
Pontikes, Elizabeth, and Michael Hannan. 2014. “An Ecology of Social Categories.” Sociological Science 1:311–43. doi: 10.15195/v1.a20.
Popielarz, Pamela A., and J. Miller McPherson. 1995. “On the Edge or In Between: Niche Position, Niche Overlap, and the Duration of Voluntary Association Memberships.” American Journal of Sociology 101(3):698–720.
Rao, Hayagreeva, Philippe Monin, and Rodolphe Durand Reviewed work(s): 2005. “Border Crossing: Bricolage and the Erosion of Categorical Boundaries in French Gastronomy.” American Sociological Review 70(6):968–91.
Rao, Hayagreeva, Philippe Monin, and Rodolphe Durand. 2003. “Institutional Change in Toque Ville: Nouvelle Cuisine as an Identity Movement in French Gastronomy.” American Journal of Sociology 108(4):795–843. doi: 10.1086/367917.
Rotolo, Thomas, and J. Miller McPherson. 2001. “The Sytem of Occupations: Modeling Occupations in Sociodemographic Space.” Social Forces 79(3):1095–1130.
Ruef, M. 2004. “For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ecological Perspectives on Industrial Decline and Resurgence.” Industrial and Corporate Change 13(1):61–89. doi: 10.1093/icc/13.1.61.
Sampson, Robert J. 1984. “Group Size, Heterogeneity, and Intergroup Conflict: A Test of Blau’s Inequality and Heterogeneity.” Social Forces 62(3):618–39. doi: 10.1093/sf/62.3.618.
Sandell, Rickard. 2001. “Organizational Growth and Ecological Constraints: The Growth of Social Movements in Sweden, 1881 to 1940.” American Sociological Review 66:672–93. doi: 10.2307/3088953.
Shi, Yongren, Fedor A. Dokshin, Michael Genkin, and Matthew E. Brashears. 2017. “A Member Saved Is a Member Earned? The Recruitment-Retention Trade-Off and Organizational Strategies for Membership Growth.” American Sociological Review 82(2):407–34. doi: 10.1177/0003122417693616.
Simons, Tal, and Paul Ingram. 2003. “Enemies of the State: The Interdependence of Institutional Forms and the Ecology of the Kibbutz, 1910–1997.” Administrative Science Quarterly 48(4):592–621. doi: 10.2307/3556638.
Sorensen, J. B. 2004. “Recruitment-Based Competition between Industries: A Community Ecology.” Industrial and Corporate Change 13(1):149–70. doi: 10.1093/icc/13.1.149.
Sørensen, Jesper B., and Amanda J. Sharkey. n.d. “Entrepreneurship as a Mobility Process.”