The Role of Managerial Perceptions in Organizational Adaptation: An Exploratory Study.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between managerial perceptions of, and organizational responses to, a generally similar organizational environment. The top managers of four firms in the college textbook publishing industry were interviewed about the major adaptations which had occurred in their organizations over a three-year period. The findings indicate that managerial perceptions play a significant role in the process of organizational adaptation, but this role is more complex than typically described in the literature. The following arguments are advanced in this paper: (1) management's perceptions of both the environment and the organization are important to the process of adaptation; (2) managerial perceptions interact closely with the organization's strategy for responding to the environment; (3) perceptions fluctuate during the course of adaptation; and (4) manager's perceptions may vary substantially across organizations in a similar environment, but each organization can be effective provided that it is properly designed to pursue its chosen strategy.