Linkage Change and Organizational Growth: The Case of the West Midlands Ironfoundry Industry

The paper attempts to explore the dynamics of manufacturing firms' spatial linkage patterns using data collected from ironfoundry firms in the West Midlands conurbation in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1976. Ordination analysis is used to establish the main dimensions of the linkage system, and the shift of individual firms on these axes between 1968 and 1976 is measured. The changing degree of involvement of firms in the local linkage system of the conurbation as measured in this manner is compared with the organizational changes that they have experienced. The patterns of spatial linkage change and organizational change revealed by the study do not correspond altogether with what has been postulated from studies employing single, time cross-sections of linkage data, calling into question some of the propositions on linkage change and the interaction of the firm with its environment that have been proposed in earlier studies.