Organizational adaptation from a rules theory perspective

This paper develops the argument that the nature of an organization's rules powerfully constrains the manner in which it adapts to its environment. The overall process of organizational adaptation is discussed as a backdrop for applying the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) perspective to an analysis of how organizations enact and respond to their environments. A model is presented. Implications of CMM for three basic types of systems — closed, open, and turbulent — are addressed within the context of a hypothetical planning episode.