Hannan, Michael T., and John Freeman. 1977.

"The Population Ecology of Organizations." American

Journal of Sociology 82: 929-964.

Organizational Analysis (Sociology 224)

March 8, 2010

Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.

Key Question:
Why are there so many kinds of
organizations?
 Why do organizations emerge? Why are they born?
 Why do organizations die?
 What is the relationship between the broader social

structure/environment and the emergence of new

organizations and organizational forms (Stinchcombe,
1965)?
Observations
• Adaptation does not occur freely and easily; Change is
risky
• Structural inertia is powerful
• The environment is dynamic
• Strong selection forces exist

• Proper unit of analysis is the population (but frequently the

industry)
Key Terms
• Selection
• Structural inertia (internal & external)
• Niche
• Fine-Grained/Coarse-Grained
• Imprinting
• Generalists & specialists (Resource partitioning)
• Density dependence
• Liabilities of Newness, Smallness, and Adolescence