Three Facets of Organizational Adaptation: Selection, Variety, and Plasticity

Abstract

W hen considering the adaptive dynamics of organizations, it is important to account for the full set of adaptive mechanisms, including not only the possibility of learning and adaptation of a given behavior but also the internal selection over some population of routines and behaviors. In developing such a conceptual framework, it is necessary to distinguish between the underlying stable roots of behavior and the possibly adaptive expression of those underlying templates. Selection occurs over expressed behavior. As a result, plasticity, the capacity to adapt behavior, poses a trade-off as it offers the possibility of adaptive learning but at the same time mitigates the effectiveness of selection processes to identify more or less superior underlying roots of behavior. In addition, plasticity may mitigate the reliability with which practices are enacted. These issues are explored in the context of a computational model, which examines the interrelationship among processes of variation, selection, and plasticity.

The long and winding road: Routine creation and replication in multi-site organizations

“…The latter stages of replication and retentionor exploitationdepend to a greater extent on backward-looking experiential mechanisms to replicate the new routines in diverse contexts and incorporate them in recurring operational activities. In addition, in recent work, Levinthal and Marino (2015) discuss a double-level selection process, in which an organization selects both at the level of broadly different classes of routines and at the level of variation in the characteristics of each selected class.…”

“…Actors adapted to the rules and selected elements among new patterns of action. The artifacts were tested online in a trial-and-error learning process and new patterns of action were generated and selectively retained in the new routines (Pentland et al, 2012;Levinthal and Marino, 2015). Variation within a broad pattern of action was generated when the actors changed their behaviours, abandoned existing routines and found new ways of working associated with the contracts and process documentation.…”

“…Identifying this process is important as part of current research efforts to understand how routines come into being and stabilize (Obstfeld, 2012;Feldman et al, 2016, Dionysiou andTsoukas 2013) and how routines are assembled into capabilities (Eggers and Kaplan, 2013). In addressing this issue, we adopt a capabilities perspective because we are interested in understanding how new routinestreated as whole entitiescan be targets for managerial interventions and intentionally developed to achieve an organization's strategic objectives (Nelson and Winter, 1982;Winter and Szulanski, 2001;Zollo and Winter, 2002;Levinthal and Marino, 2015) In capabilities research, the evolution of new routines occurs when organizations generate new patterns of action and selectively retain the most successful elements (Nelson and Winter, 1982;Zollo and Winter, 2002). Zollo and Winter (2002) developed an evolutionary model of variation, internal selection, replication and retention showing how routines emerge and stabilize over time.…”

When More Selection Is Worse

“…In particular, Levinthal & Posen (2007) and Levinthal & Marino (2015) have shown that adaptive learning processes may be selected against because they imply increased variability in performance as a result of the adjustments the firm will go through. Adaptive learning may lead to superior average performance in the long run but may lead to a higher variability in performance in the short run.…”

“…When the 'fitness' of a practice depends on how many others have adopted this practice or on the presence of specific organizational characteristics, an inferior practice could become dominant (Wright, 1931;Maynard Smith, 1982;Arthur, 1989;Carroll & Harrison, 1994;Levinthal, 1997). Similarly, when selection operates on short-term performance, it might eliminate practices with positive long-term effects, especially in changing environments or when firms can adapt (Levins, 1968;Elster, 1979;Nelson & Winter, 1982;Levinthal & March, 1981;Levinthal & Posen, 2007;Levinthal & Marino, 2015).…”