The Dynamics of Rules: Change in Written Organizational Codes

James G. March; Martin Schulz; Zhou Xueguang

Published by Stanford University Press 2000

The Dynamics of Rules

Change in Written Organizational Codes

James G. March , Martin Schulz and Zhou Xueguang

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503618411

Overview
Contents

About this book

Written rules in formal organizations are distinctive elements of organizational history; they shape organizational change and are in turn shaped by it. These rules are created, revised, and eliminated in ways that leave historical traces, and they have a visibility and durability that elude non-written rules. They thus provide rich data for an empirical probe into the dynamics of organizational history. This study uses qualitative and quantitative data from the history of a specific organization, Stanford University, to develop speculations about the ways in which written rules change. It contributes both to a theory of rules and to theories of organizational decision-making, change, and learning. Organizations respond to problems and react to internal or external pressures by focusing attention on existing and potential rules. The creation, modification, or elimination of a rule, then, is a response to events in the outside environment (such as new government regulations) or to events within the organization (such as alterations in internal government structures). The authors elaborate a simple set of ideas about written rules and their dynamics, emphasizing the interplay among periodic major shocks to the system from outside, experiences with individual rules as they age and are revised, and the spread of effects through an interconnected set of rules. It is a story in which changes introduced in one part of a rule system create adjustments in other parts, including the same rule later in time, as the consequences of the changes are experienced and as rule-making attention is mobilized, satiated, and redirected. These processes involve the full panoply of political negotiation, symbolic competition, discussion, and problem solving that are typical of organizational decision making.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Tables Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
ONE Rules In Organizations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
TWO Rules at Stanford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
THREE Speculating about Rule Dynamics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
FOUR An Event History Approach Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
FIVE Explaining Patterns of Rule Birth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
SIX Explaining Patterns of Rule Change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
SEVEN Regularities In Rule Dynamics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
EIGHT Toward an Understanding of Rules Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221

Language: English
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 248
Illustrations
- Other: 21 tables, 14 figures

eBook

Published: August 1, 2000
ISBN: 9781503618411