Integrating the Techno-Economic Cycle with Population Ecology Theory to Explain the Evolution of Organization Forms
Yuen H. Chan, Scott S. Nadler, Cangelosi D. Joseph

Abstract
This conceptual paper explores the interaction between the emergence of each new technological paradigms and the subsequent behaviors of economic long waves as attributing factors for the origin, retention, and survival of diverse organization forms within the assertions of the population ecology theory. This study is based on a broad overview of extant literature and discusses the interrelationship of three major fields of study that includes the theories of technology change, macro-economic fluctuations and trends and population ecology. More specifically, analysis of the dichotomous population ecology concepts of determinism-voluntarism, generalistsspecialists and narrow-wide niches within the framework of resource flows over time at different phases of an integrated techno-economic cycle indicated that different organizational forms are more successful at different phases of the techno-economic cycle. This paper advocates that a more integrative macro level approach should be adopted to deepen our understanding of the origin, growth and atrophy of organizations.

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