Adaptation of Industrial Organisations to the Environment Grounded in Evolutionary Models

摘要

Yes, we perceive that the environment in which comp an ies operate, is changing at higher speeds then before. Globalisation, higher inn ovation rates, customisation, more intense competition, technological developmen ts account for these changes effecting the way industrial companies operate and eventually their structures and processes. Companies have to adapt themselves to these changes. The question arose whether the approach of the Section Industria l Organisation and Management that it has practised for redesign of processes an d organisational structures also withholds in this era of continuous change. Sec ondly, firms are also looking for contingencies in processes and structures to i mprove their chances for survival. These two questions into the processes and st ructures within the firm that it needs to support adaptation to the ever-changi ng environment direct this research. Industrial companies will have to increase to their Complexity Handling Capabili ty, the ability to cope with changes in its environment and imposed complexity p ouring in from the environment. To do so, they might decrease their internal com plexity through redefining their organisations and product structure. The effect of these measurements seems limited; more might be won by learning to increase its base of capabilities. The increase of capabilities holds parallels to the de velopment of species in biology and paleontology for which two models exist: the punctuated equilibrium and the phyletic gradualism. The punctuated equilibr ium supposes that periods of turmoil are interchanged by periods of fermentation giving rise to new variants and products (for companies). The phyletic graduali sm relies on the development of characteristics in species that are initially ha rd to detect but will lead at the end to new species. Whatever might be true for biology and palaeontology, these two models appear as a possibility for cla ssifying the theories of organisational change. Also, these theories put forward insights in the development of organisations that stretch beyond the classical insights on the adaptation of organisations based on one-time interventions ass uming balance between demands from the environment and internal structure. Little research has been done so far in this field of adaptation of companies to the dynamics of the environment. Most literature does not address the internal processes and structures necessary for coping with change. This paper will prese nt initial findings of case studies of graduation theses that took place to generate data on the validity of the evolutionary models. This way the research should not only lead to a theoretical framework but also to practical implicatio ns for industrial companies.