This paper proposes that social categorization is driven by an ecological dynamic that operates in two planes: feature space and category space. It develops a theoretical model that links positions in feature space to label assignments in category space. The first part of the model predicts that...

This longitudinal study examines nearly 200 high-technology start-ups in California's Silicon Valley, from 1994-2001. Evaluating interviews with founders and CEOs, the authors found that work and employment blueprints depended on variables such as: attachment, coordination/control, and...

Uses information regarding the process oforganization-building to identify several distinct models for organizingemployment and work, in order to gain insight into how organizational designersapproach the issue of consistency and complementarities in human resourcesmanagement. Two goals of this...

Factors impacting the organizational structure of firms have been analyzed often utilizing organizations theory. However, several other theories and perspectives have been proposed as potential alternative means of analyzing organizational structure and functioning. While previous studies...

Considers structural inertia in organizational populations as an outcome of an ecological-evolutionary process. Structural inertia is considered to be a consequence of selection as opposed to a precondition. The focus of this analysis is on the timing of organizational change. Structural inertia...

Considers the impact of founding conditions on the later administration and management of technology startups in Silicon Valley. Data were collected in 1994-1995 by survey and interviews with 173 technology firms that had at least 10 employees and were no more than 10 years old. This research...

We examine how the life chances and financial performance of nascent high-technology firms were affected by two kinds of organizational changes: altering founders' blueprints for the employment relation and replacing a founder-chief executive officer (CEO) by an outsider. We argue that both...

This paper examines the impact of organizational founding conditions on several facets of bureaucratization--managerial intensity, the proliferation of specialized managerial and administrative roles, and formalization of employment relations. Analyzing information on a sample of technology...

How does contention over authenticity unfold through social movement processes of mobilization and counter-mobilization? We address this issue by studying how the rise of modern winemaking practices embodied authenticity as creativity, how the success of the modernists triggered a...