Contingency theory, an approach that grew out of the Carnegie tradition, gained in popularity during the 1960s and ’70s. Contingency theorists disputed the assumption that a single form of organization is best in all circumstances. Instead, they claimed that the most appropriate form is the one that is best suited to the kinds of action the organization undertakes. For instance, Weber’s model of bureaucracy is an appropriate design for an organization that processes a high volume of routine transactions—a common characteristic of large government organizations, for example.

Organizations differ greatly in their modes of production. In Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice (1965), the English management scholar Joan Woodward argued that an organization’s methods are determined by the class of “core technologies” that characterize its work: small batch (where the work must be adapted to the peculiarities of the current batch—e.g., emergency medical care and residential construction), large batch (such as automobile manufacturing), or continuous processing (as in petroleum refining). Working within Woodward’s definitional framework, American sociologist James D. Thompson showed that, because the characteristic forms of task uncertainty vary by type, so also does optimal organizational design. Representing the high point in the development of contingency theory, Thompson’s thesis, published in Organizations in Action (1967), holds that good organizational designs are those that buffer core technologies from disturbances, such as interruptions in scheduling or inventory shortages.

Two subsequent schools of research took issue with the claim of contingency theorists that organizational designs are shaped by internal constraints. The school known as neoinstitutionalism revived the institutionalist view that the key organizational problem is that of gaining and maintaining support from external constituencies. An important current in the institutional revival, represented in the work of the American sociologist John W. Meyer, argued that organizational designs, especially those aspects that are observable to outsiders, play an important “ceremonial” role. By adopting the organizational designs favoured by experts (such as professors of management, management consultants, and professional bodies), an institution signals its conformity to the prevailing norms, thereby gaining approval from influential external groups. The designs favoured by experts, however, often fail to support the details of the work that organizations must accomplish, because the reality of work is invariably more complicated than what can be recognized in simplified organizational designs. According to Meyer, organizations therefore face a choice between using designs that fit internal needs and using those that meet the standards dictated by external groups. This theory thus explains the characteristic discrepancy between “informal” and “formal” organizational structures.

Much of the research inspired by neoinstitutionalism examines the diffusion of organizational design elements such as quality circles (continuous quality improvement), incentive compensation (e.g., motivational programs or bonuses), affirmative-action policies, deconglomeration (the breakup of large corporations into independent entities), and so forth. This research shows that the adoption of design elements within an organization is influenced less by considerations of internal contingency than by social factors. This is consistent with the ceremonial perspective mentioned above. Organizations tend to adopt design elements from two sources: influential external groups, such as competing firms, and other institutions to which the organization may be tied (e.g., through shared board members).

The second major environmentalist school, organizational ecology, builds on parallels with bioecology and evolution—especially in its application of notions such as selection and adaptation to organizational change. This approach follows the lead of institutionalists such as Selznick in assuming that the core features of an organization (those that shape its identity and determine its structure) are subject to strong inertial forces.

In their work Organizational Ecology (1989), the American sociologists Michael T. Hannan and John Freeman argued that reliability and accountability—the very properties that make organizations the favoured social forms in modern society—also discourage, and in some cases even prevent, organizations from changing their core features. The authors suggested that large changes in the world of organizations have come about at least partly through selection—that is, through the rise of organizations that embody new forms and new designs and through the demise of organizations whose forms were ill-suited to a changing environment.

In emphasizing selection rather than adaptation as the primary process through which organizations thrive or fail, it is nonetheless true that radical changes in an established organization’s core features can increase its risk of failure. The inertia that tends to characterize most large organizations can prevent them from adapting to new conditions (such as changes in the nature of the workforce, technological improvements, and challenges from new competitors). By the same token, these traits also provide opportunities for entrepreneurs outside the established organizations. When possible, nimble organizations that meet the challenges of a new environment can establish a strong position in the market before the established, dominant entities are able to enter the scene.

The key insights of organizational ecology can be traced to the discovery of a kind of imprinting in the world of organizations. In the behavioral sciences, imprinting refers to the process by which influences experienced during a given developmental period can have lasting—often lifelong—consequences. In Social Structure and Organizations (1965), the American sociologist Arthur L. Stinchcombe compared the American textile industry (one of the oldest industries in the country) with the newer automotive industry to argue that the key features of organizations in any industry are related to the era in which the industry emerges. Stinchcombe called this relation a “correlation of age and social structure.”

Ecological research finds that the dynamics of the organizational world get shaped by processes of legitimation and competition. In this context, legitimation refers to the extent to which a group or procedure is taken for granted. That is to say, an organizational form is legitimated when there is little or no dispute over the suitability of the form for the accomplishment of certain tasks. Competition refers to the “crowding” that occurs when multiple units (such as businesses and individuals) try to gain the same resources (such as customers and investors). More organizations will be created, and fewer organizations will fail, when the legitimation of the form is high and competition is weak. Extensive research shows that situations of high legitimation and low competition contribute strongly to the profusion and longevity of organizations.

As indicated by the preceding discussion, research on management has identified a strong interdependence among environment, organizational design, and strategy. Contemporary management scholars judge the quality of a company by the degree to which its strategy and organizational structure are symbiotic, yet they also consider whether the firm’s strategy and structure meet the demands of the external environment. As the speed of technological change accelerates and many firms seek to operate across diverse global environments, it becomes more difficult to achieve these complementary relationships. Organizational analysts document the ways in which firms face these challenges, and the outcomes of their studies ultimately cast light on the management approaches that appear to be the most effective.See also work; social structure; time-and-motion study.

Selections from classic works in organizational analysis appear in Jay M. Shafritz, J. Steven Ott, and Jong Suk Jang (eds.), Classics of Organization Theory, 6th ed. (2005). W. Richard Scott, Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems, 5th ed. (2003), presents a comprehensive overview of classical and contemporary approaches.

Many important developments in the study of organizational decision making are summarized in James G. March, Decisions and Organizations (1988); while Arthur L. Stinchcombe, Information and Organizations (1990), analyzes the organization of work and its effect on the structure and functioning of organizations.

A range of neoinstitutional analyses of organizations can be found in Walter W. Powell and Paul J. Dimaggio (eds.), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis (1991). An overview of research in the ecological perspective can be found in Glenn R. Carroll and Michael T. Hannan, The Demography of Corporations and Industries (2000, reissued 2004).

The application of “social network” analysis to the study of organizations is found in Nitin Nohria and Robert G. Eccles (eds.), Networks and Organizations (1992). A classic economic study is Paul Milgrom and John Roberts, Economics, Organization, and Management (1992).