Organizational form and environment: an analysis of between-form and within-form responses to environmental change

Abstract

This study extends previous research on organizational adaptation to major environmental shifts by empirically examining the potential constraining effects of organizational form, operationalized using the Miles and Snow typology, on the type of responses enacted as well as the performance effects of the responses. Results indicate that a fit between environmental contingencies and organizational form relates to superior performance. The results also provide support for the idea that organizations systematically move toward the higher-performing forms for a given environment. Consistent with organizational configuration logic, while these responses lead to performance improvements when a between-form change is made, they do not necessarily lead to performance improvements when a within-form change is made. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.