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Cited by 2,254Organizational Management and LeadershipManagement and Organizational StudiesInnovation and Knowledge Management

Adaptation on Rugged Landscapes

Levinthal, Daniel A.·1997·Management Science
DOI 10.1287/mnsc.43.7.934
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Abstract

A simple model is developed to explore the interrelationship between processes of organizational level change and population selection forces. A critical property of the model is that the effect on organizational fitness of the various attributes that constitute an organization's form is interactive. As a result of these interaction effects, the fitness landscape is “rugged.” An organization's form at founding has a persistent effect on its future form when there are multiple peaks in the fitness landscape, since the particular peak that an organization discovers is influenced by its starting position in the space of alternative organizational forms. Selection pressures influence the distribution of the organizational forms that emerge from the process of local adaptation. The ability of established organizations to respond to changing environments is importantly conditioned by the extent to which elements of organizational form interact in their effect on organizational fitness. Tightly coupled organizations are subject to high rates of failure in changing environments. Furthermore, successful “reorientations” are strongly associated with survival for tightly coupled organizations, but not for more loosely coupled organizations that are able to engage in effective local adaptation.

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  • The inertia problem can pertain not only to an organization's zero-order capabilities but to its dynamic capabilities as well, since routine-based organizational change tends to favor local adaptations.

    “Importantly, it can pertain not only to an organization's zero-order capabilities but to its dynamic capabilities as well, since routine-based organizational change tends to favor local adaptations (Collis, 1994;Levinthal, 1997;Schreyögg and Kliesch-Eberl, 2007).”

    From On the contingent value of dynamic capabilities for competitive advantage: The nonlinear moderating effect of environmental dynamism (2014) · cites this paper as Levinthal, 1997

  • Especially when environmental dynamism is high and contextual change is fundamental and discontinuous, long-jump reorientations that require entirely novel solutions often prove more beneficial for a firm's competitive advantage than local adaptations from within the current set of available actions.

    “Especially when environmental dynamism is high and contextual change is fundamental and discontinuous, long-jump reorientations that require entirely novel solutions often prove more beneficial for a firm's competitive advantage than local adaptations from within the current set of available actions”

    From On the contingent value of dynamic capabilities for competitive advantage: The nonlinear moderating effect of environmental dynamism (2014) · cites this paper as Levinthal, 1997

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Authors
Levinthal, D. A.
Affiliations
University of Pennsylvania (US)
Corresponding author
Levinthal, Daniel A.
ORCID
Levinthal, Daniel A.
Venue
Management Science
Publisher
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
Published
1997-07
Volume
43
Issue
7
Pages
934-950
ISSN
  • 0025-1909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1526-5501
DOI
10.1287/mnsc.43.7.934
OpenAlex
W1986904066
Cited by
2,254
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 93 · 2025: 89 · 2024: 90 · 2023: 93 · 2022: 100 · 2021: 115 · 2020: 97 · 2019: 76 · 2018: 125 · 2017: 112 · 2016: 99 · 2015: 106 · 2014: 103 · 2013: 124 · 2012: 105
FWCI
42.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Management Science (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management of Technology and Innovation › Organizational Management and Leadership
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
Keywords
organizational forms, fitness landscape, rugged landscapes, local adaptation, organizational change, selection pressure, organizational fitness, interaction effects, loosely coupled organizations, organizational survival, reorientation, organizational failure, environmental change

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