Coupled search processes
Subtitle: why is it so difficult to find that organizational design matters?
By: Nicolaj Siggelkow, Jan W. Rivkin
Contributors: Rivkin, Jan W.; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 07-106; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 07-106
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 48
Description: Organizational design affects performance via coupled search processes. At low frequency, managers search for appropriate organizational designs. At higher frequency, managers use designs to search for high-performing operational choices. The two searches are coupled: organizational design molds the choice among operational alternatives, and performance feedback from operational choices shapes design. Our simulation model shows how coupled search processes can dramatically obscure the true impact of design on performance, confounding empirical research. We identify research strategies for tackling this difficulty; discuss populationlevel advantages of coupled search processes; and highlight implications for analogous coupled search processes that shape networks, cognition, and capabilities.
Notes: "June 2007"--Publisher's web site.

Includes bibliographical references.