Adaptive Responses Under Competitive Pressure: Organizational Flexibility in an Emergent Economy

Abstract

This paper examines the processes of organizational adaptation and competitiveness of firms in an emerging economy (Argentina). The empirical focus of this paper concerns the determinants of organizational flexibility during the period from 1989 to 1999, when a combination of economic and political change triggered a massive change in the competitive context of indigenous firms. Two companies in the pharmaceutical industry were selected, one that was flexible (Sidus) and one that was less flexible (DER.S.A.). Longitudinal data are supplied to explore the determinants of organizational flexibility in those organizations.