Evolution of organizations through institutional approach, ecology of organizations and punctuated equilibrium.

Abstract

DOI: 10.5902/198346592700 Within the functionalist paradigm, characterized by the philosophical objectivism and the sociology of status quo maintenance, the institutional theory and the ecology of organizations theory are thoroughly studied to explain why the organizations can be, paradoxically, so different and so similar. The theory of organizations ecology defends that there is a big difference among organizations and, as time goes by, those most adapt are selected by the environment. This makes the companies more alike, simply by natural selection or by the intention of aligning with the successful ones. This is the core idea of the institutional theory, where the existence of coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphism standardizes organizations. When an important change occurs in the environment, the cycle restarts, a new selection takes place, and consequently we have the search for isomorphism. Finally, we can observe that one theory complements the other, generating a cycle for the organizations existence, and therefore they can not be considered as exclusive.