Organizational Hierarchies and Evolutionary Processes: Some Reflections on a Theory of Organizational Evolution

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter we combine a number of ideas on organizational evolution into a more comprehensive conceptual framework. We introduce the idea that organizational processes-interaction and replication-act on two kinds of organizational entities-ecological and genealogical-at a variety of hierarchically nested levels of organization. The framework provides (1) an articulation of the domain of evolutionary inquiry in organization theory, (2) a context for the chapters that follow, and (3) a basis for identifying aspects of evolutionary theory in need of further investigation. We conclude by linking each chapter to the proposed framework, identifying some important challenges and themes revealed in the volume as a whole and making explicit several directions for future research that appear to hold promise for advancing an evolutionary theory of organizations.