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This study defines organizational learning as greater cognizance of action-outcome relationships and the effects that environmental events have on these relationships. It shows that two learning mechanisms, adaptation-in-use and change catalysis, are key factors inrealizing gains from the implementation of administrative innovations. Adaptation-in-use denotes ongoing adjustment of the innovation to the organizational context. Change catalysis means that implementation is an occasion for rethinking the way the organization does business and an opportunity to introduce additional new practices and to innovate. A total of 1150 facilities belonging to 885 companies that implemented the worldwide quality standard ISO 9000 participated in this study. Results demonstrate that the effects of implementation of this administrative innovation on performance are curvilinear; both too little and too much implementation have a negative effect on performance. The two learning mechanisms moderate the relationship between implementation of the administrative innovation and subsequent performance, such that implementation is associated with higher performance when adaptation-in-use and change catalysis are high rather than low.

Although the development of relationships on the Net may be seen as “community,” the increasing global presence from commercial media such as online newspapers suggest that another metaphor may be jousting for preeminence – colonization. Findings from an on‐going case study of online newspapers suggest the early ideals of democratic community‐building in cyberspace are encountering resistance as newspaper organizations delineate “virtual geographic space” and stake out “territory” on the web by subtly discouraging access to other sites (i.e., a type of virtual “homesteading”). Additionally, changes in the production practices of print journalists due to the emergence of electronic newspapers are discussed.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review, integrate and extend the methods for constructing and interpreting a strategic groups map. A strategic groups map is a visualization tool for capturing the essence of the competitive landscape in an industry: extent of competition between and among strategic groups, mobility barriers, available niches, positioning and industry dynamics. Design/methodology/approach This paper extends Porter’s (1980, pp. 152-155) original prescriptions by reviewing the research on strategic groups in the almost 40 years since Porter’s contribution and by amalgamation of practitioners’ uncodified practices. Findings The process for constructing a strategic groups map consists of five steps: first, define the industry; second, identify strategic characteristics that distinguish between groups; third, divide firms into groups; forth, select the two main dimensions of the map, and draw the map; and five, interpret the map. Specific instructions are provided for practitioners and academic researchers. Several examples of strategic groups maps illustrate this. Ways to interpret the maps are discussed, followed by limitations and conclusion. Originality/value Though the topic of strategic groups has been widely researched since the 1980s, there has been very little done in the area of mapping these groups, leaving scholars of businesses and industries with few directions for constructing strategic groups maps. To fill this gap, a structured process for constructing and interpreting a strategic groups map is provided.

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