DYNAMICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSES TO COMPETITION

This research examines how processes of adaptation and selection opera te jointly in the evolution of a population of day-care centers (DCCs) in metropolitan Toronto. We study how DCCs alter their organizational niches, defined by productive capacities and targeted resources, in r esponse to competition and how these changes influence their survival chances. Exhibiting little structural inertia, DCCs modified their org anizational niches in response to changing competitive conditions, oft en without any harmful effects. Indeed, DCCs that moved to less compet itive organizational niches improved their survival chances. At the sa me time, however, competition increased rates of DCC failure and the o rganizational niche changes made by DCCs did not, on average, affect e ither the intensity of competition they faced or their longevity. We d iscuss the implications of these findings, which indicate that the evo lution of the DCC population is a joint function of adaptation and sel ection processes.