The Emergence of Organizational Forms: A Community Ecology Approach

• Published in: The American journal of sociology Vol. 106; no. 3; pp. 658 - 714
• Main Author: Ruef, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press 01.11.2000; University of Chicago, acting through its Press
• Subjects: Art galleries & museums; Beliefs; Communities; Community; Community ecology; Community Relations; Ecological Models; Ecological studies; Ecologists; Ecology; Efficiency; Governance; Health care; Health care industry; Health Care Services; Health maintenance organizations; Health services; HMOs; Holistic Approach; Identity; Independent practice associations; Legitimacy; Organization Theory; Organizational behavior; Organizational Development; Organizational research; Organizational structure; Population Distribution; Positioning; Research Methodology; Services; Social development; Social integration. Social relations. Social participation; Social organization. Social system. Social structure; Sociology; Studies; Theory; United States Of America; Status; Public Health; Sociology of organizations; Data Analysis; Society; Identity; Institutions; Statistics; Community; Medical system
• ISSN: 0002-9602; 1537-5390
• DOI: 10.1086/318963

Ruef introduces a new ecological approach to the study of form emergence based on the notion of an organizational community--a bounded set of forms with related identities. Applying the approach to 48 organizational forms in the health care sector, the study suggests that the development of novel forms is affected by the positioning of their identities with respect to existing form identities in the community, by the aggregate density and size of organizations matching those existing identities, and by the amount of attention directed at identity attributes by sector participants.