A SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW ON WHY FIRMS DIFFER

Much theory and research that apparently seeks to explain why firms di ffer actually addresses the question of why successful firms differ. T his article explains why the two questions are different and explores some of the implications of this difference for the field of strategic management. A wide variety of organizational and economic theories ar e reviewed in this context, including contingency theory, resource dep endence theory, process models, dispositional models, transaction cost economics, organizational ecology and institutional theory. Further d iscussion considers why heterogeneity persists at the firm level when it becomes apparent that only certain types of firms will succeed.