- Stanford, California, United States
Glenn Carroll
Stanford University, GSB, Department Member
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Recent research on organizational ecology is reviewed. Three levels of analysis and approaches to evolution are distinguished: (a) the organizational level, which uses a developmental approach; (b) the population level. which uses a... more
Recent research on organizational ecology is reviewed. Three levels of analysis and approaches to evolution are distinguished: (a) the organizational level, which uses a developmental approach; (b) the population level. which uses a selection approach; and (c) the community level, which uses a macroevolutionary approach. Theoretical and empirical research is critiqued within this framework. Proposals to develop organizational taxonomies are considered.
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Do the cultural works artists produce after receiving major awards change in character? As awards lessen the constraints artists typically face, we argue that award winners receive more opportunities, gain more autonomy, and are more... more
Do the cultural works artists produce after receiving major awards change in character? As awards lessen the constraints artists typically face, we argue that award winners receive more opportunities, gain more autonomy, and are more likely to pursue unique creative paths. Empirically, we analyze the consequences of winning a major Grammy award, a high-profile (often status-shifting) honor in the popular music industry. Using a neural learning approach, we examine the subsequent artistic differentiation of albums of award winners from albums of other artists. We analyze whether the music styles and sonic content of post-Grammy albums of winners change, and whether they become more or less similar to the combined corpus of albums of other artists. In panel regression estimates, we find that after winning a Grammy, artists tend to release albums that stand out more stylistically from other artists. Surprisingly, artists who were nominated but did not win a Grammy became more similar t...
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ON USING INSTITUTIONAL THEORY IN STUDYING ORGANIZATIONAL POPULATIONS (Reply to Zucker, ASR, this issue) GLENN R. CARROLL University of California at Berkeley MICHAEL T. HANNAN Cornell University Zucker claims that the model of density... more
ON USING INSTITUTIONAL THEORY IN STUDYING ORGANIZATIONAL POPULATIONS (Reply to Zucker, ASR, this issue) GLENN R. CARROLL University of California at Berkeley MICHAEL T. HANNAN Cornell University Zucker claims that the model of density depen-dence in ...
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Long a topic of interest to organizational scholars, research on authenticity is, by many accounts, experiencing a renaissance. Recent research in this growing vein indicates that perceptions of au...
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*All authors contributed equally to this project; names are listed in reverse alphabetical order. We appreciate helpful comments on earlier drafts from Gary Ballinger, Nathan Betancourt,
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The proposed symposium would explore authenticity in markets from three very different angles---(1) that of organizations strategically positioning themselves as authentic and producing authentic goods and services, (2) that of the... more
The proposed symposium would explore authenticity in markets from three very different angles---(1) that of organizations strategically positioning themselves as authentic and producing authentic goods and services, (2) that of the principals (individuals or groups) involved in the creating and maintenance of authenticity, and (3) that of consumers seeking, valuing and buying authenticity. Producers might be either organizations or principals; most prior research does not make the distinction, lumping both together conceptually. Combining the three angles and addressing cutting-edge research questions promises to make the symposium interesting and highly insightful. We expect the comparisons achieved by simply juxtaposing the papers will prove eye- opening to many. However, we will also be enlightened by formal discussion of the ideas and papers from noted organizational theorist Ezra Zuckerman as the discussant. The research presented at the symposium comes from a diverse array of ...
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Authenticity, which deals with expressions and perceptions of individual selves and collective identities as “realx or “truex (e.g., Harter 2002; Milton & Westphal, 2005), has emerged as a significant research domain across diverse... more
Authenticity, which deals with expressions and perceptions of individual selves and collective identities as “realx or “truex (e.g., Harter 2002; Milton & Westphal, 2005), has emerged as a significant research domain across diverse arenas of inquiry in management scholarship. Recent theoretical and empirical work in the management field has examined and refined the notion of authenticity in organizational contexts for individuals (e.g., Buckman, 2014; Ibarra & Obodaru, 2016; Leroy, Anseel, Gardner, & Sels, 2015; Yagil & Medler-Liraz, 2013), leaders (Hernandez, Long & Sitkin, 2014; Quinn & Quinn, 2015), and collectives (e.g., Cording, Harrison, Hoskisson & Jonsen, 2013; KovAics, Carroll & Lehman, 2014; Steckler, 2014; Quinn & Thakor, 2014). Together with a panel of leading authenticity scholars whose research examines the processes, influences, and interpretations of authenticity in areas such as professional identity dynamics (Ibarra, 2015), organizational transformation (Quinn & Thakor, 2014)...
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This paper proposes a theoretical framework for addressing the durability of a resource partition in a market. Resource partitioning theory explains a process of endogenous segmentation of the producers and the market. In particular the... more
This paper proposes a theoretical framework for addressing the durability of a resource partition in a market. Resource partitioning theory explains a process of endogenous segmentation of the producers and the market. In particular the theory proposed by Carroll (1985) connects the next growing concentration in the center of a market with the fates of organizations that sit on the market’s periphery. In a partitioned market, large producers in the market center dominate the resource-rich part of the market and small peripheral producers exist on the margins with little, if any, competition between the two.
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Research on stratification has shifted from a focus on the characteristics of individuals to a focus on the characteristics of larger social structures such as organizations and industries. Structuralist perspectives have developed... more
Research on stratification has shifted from a focus on the characteristics of individuals to a focus on the characteristics of larger social structures such as organizations and industries. Structuralist perspectives have developed primarily in isolation from each other. Using new life-history ...
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We examine the entries offirms into the automobile manufacturing industry in Europe from 1886 through 1981. We replicate and compare estimates of the basic model of density-dependent legitimation and competition for Bel-gium, Britain,... more
We examine the entries offirms into the automobile manufacturing industry in Europe from 1886 through 1981. We replicate and compare estimates of the basic model of density-dependent legitimation and competition for Bel-gium, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. The ...
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... Mean company size in telephones 32 3,172 407 Companies providing long-distance service 13 23 36 Companies issuing stock 135 18 153 ... These companies raised capital from their members and existed in order to provide telephone service... more
... Mean company size in telephones 32 3,172 407 Companies providing long-distance service 13 23 36 Companies issuing stock 135 18 153 ... These companies raised capital from their members and existed in order to provide telephone service without re-gard for profitability. ...
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ABSTRACT By initial conditions, we refer to the social and economic conditions present at the establishment of a new firm or organization. Research demonstrates that both internal and external initial conditions can pattern themselves in... more
ABSTRACT By initial conditions, we refer to the social and economic conditions present at the establishment of a new firm or organization. Research demonstrates that both internal and external initial conditions can pattern themselves in the organization’s structure, and these conditions often exert effects throughout much of the firm’s lifetime.
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This article develops and tests theory on when and where a new organizational form will emerge. Recent theory holds that as the number of organizations using a particular external identity code first increases beyond a critical minimal... more
This article develops and tests theory on when and where a new organizational form will emerge. Recent theory holds that as the number of organizations using a particular external identity code first increases beyond a critical minimal level, the code becomes an organizational form. Going beyond this formulation, we theorize about how an external identity code is established. We argue that when the identities of individual organizations are perceptually focused, they will more readily cohere into a distinct collective identity. We develop ideas about how two observable aspects of organizations might generate perceptually focused identities in a common market: (1) de novo entry and (2) agglomeration in a geographic place with a related identity. Using comprehensive data from the market for disk drive arrays, we test these ideas and an alternative by estimating effects of different specifications of organizational and product densities on rates of entry and exit for array producers. O...
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This article may be used only for the purposes of research, teaching, and/or private study. Commercial use or systematic downloading (by robots or other automatic processes) is prohibited without explicit Publisher approval, unless... more
This article may be used only for the purposes of research, teaching, and/or private study. Commercial use or systematic downloading (by robots or other automatic processes) is prohibited without explicit Publisher approval, unless otherwise noted. For more information, contact
This chapter reviews and explores the use of demographic ideas, models and data in the study of organizations, products and corporations. The chapter discusses four different frameworks analysts use to study these topics, but concentrates... more
This chapter reviews and explores the use of demographic ideas, models and data in the study of organizations, products and corporations. The chapter discusses four different frameworks analysts use to study these topics, but concentrates on internal organizational demography and corporate demography, as these are more active areas. Within corporate demography, attention is focused on theoretical models of inertia/change, age-dependent mortality, density dependence, resource partitioning and competition. Contributions have been both theoretical and empirical and show notable cumulativity over time. The domains of organization, products and corporations show many opportunities for demographers to apply and extend their analyses of populations and life events.
Building theories of organizations is challenging: theories are partial and "folk" categories are fuzzy. The commonly used tools--first-order logic and its foundational set theory--are ill-suited for handling these... more
Building theories of organizations is challenging: theories are partial and "folk" categories are fuzzy. The commonly used tools--first-order logic and its foundational set theory--are ill-suited for handling these complications. Here, three leading authorities rethink organization theory. Logics of Organization Theory sets forth and applies a new language for theory building based on a nonmonotonic logic and fuzzy set theory. In doing so, not only does it mark a major advance in organizational theory, but it also draws lessons for theory building elsewhere in the social sciences. Organizational research typically analyzes organizations in categories such as "bank," "hospital," or "university." These categories have been treated as crisp analytical constructs designed by researchers. But sociologists increasingly view categories as constructed by audiences. This book builds on cognitive psychology and anthropology to develop an audience-based ...
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In this paper we developed a concept suggesting that initial entry conditions experienced by start-ups and diversified firms affect the behavior and fates of their products. Specifically, we predicted that in capital intensive industries,... more
In this paper we developed a concept suggesting that initial entry conditions experienced by start-ups and diversified firms affect the behavior and fates of their products. Specifically, we predicted that in capital intensive industries, initial entry conditions confer advantages to diversifiers from related industries. As a result, these firms are likely to ship more models of products than start-ups. Products made by diversifiers are likely to have a longer market life span and exert a stronger competitive pressure than those made by start-ups. We tested these predictions on all products ever shipped in the worldwide optical disk drive industry, 1983-1999. The statistical analysis largely supported our theoretical predictions.
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Abstract This study explores how and when the institutionalized classification system for products (or services) in a specific national market domain affects consumer perceptions of authenticity. We argue that “type authenticity”... more
Abstract This study explores how and when the institutionalized classification system for products (or services) in a specific national market domain affects consumer perceptions of authenticity. We argue that “type authenticity” presupposes a well-established and taken-for-granted classification system for a product or service. In domains with such systems, individuals will place greater value on products or markets that exhibit high type authenticity—other forms of authenticity, including craft, moral, or idiosyncratic authenticity, will be less salient. By contrast, in domains without institutionalized systems, individuals will prioritize craft or moral or idiosyncratic authenticity over type authenticity. To test these arguments, we conducted studies in China where we asked participants to express preferences and make choices about products described to evoke various kinds of authenticity. We also asked these individuals to assess the authenticity of the producer organizations as well as their willingness to pay for associated products. Specifically, we tested the arguments with data on the appeal of various fictitious producers of leather handbags and green tea among Chinese individuals. While the leather handbag is known in China, it is not highly institutionalized whereas white tea clearly is. The findings generally support the hypotheses.
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... study of careers. An event-history design records timing of all moves in a sequence. For example, a study of collective violence recorded the dates of all such events greater than some minimal scope. Conclusions are that event ...