Scarcity in the Environment: Organizational Perceptions, Interpretations and Responses

Abstract

Extant models of organizational decline tend to oversimplify the processes underlying the formulation of organizational responses to scarcity in the environment. A model is presented that attempts to enrich this area by using the organization's myth system as a reference point. A number of phases are considered: (a) organizational success and the perceived cause of the success; (b) the elaboration of this 'recipe for success' into a myth system which deeply impacts information gathering mechanisms and resource allocations in the organization; (c) the detection and interpretation of information indicative of scarcity in the environment; (d) the attribution of the scarcity to internal or external causes; and (e) the further discrimination of this attribution to enable formulation of a coping strategy.