Dynamics of Organizational Responses to Competition

This research examines how processes of adaptation and selection operate jointly in the evolution of a population of day-care centers (DCCs) in metropolitan Toronto. We study how DCCs alter their organizational niches, defined by productive capacities and targeted resources, in response to competition and how these changes influence their survival chances. Exhibiting little structural inertia, DCCs modified their organizational niches in response to changing competitive conditions, often without any harmful effects. Indeed, DCCs that moved to less competitive organizational niches improved their survival chances. At the same time, however, competition increased rates of DCC failure and the organizational niche changes made by DCCs did not, on average, affect either the intensity of competition they faced or their longevity. We discuss the implications of these findings, which indicate that the evolution of the DCC population is a joint function of adaptation and selection processes.