Organizations vary in how well they perform. This can be due to differences in their strategic positions and to differences in their competitive abilities. We propose an evolutionary model in which there is a trade-off between these two sources of advantage. In a naive evolutionary model, competition triggers both selection and learning–leaving organizations with the capabilities to perform better. However, managers often buffer their organizations from the disciplining forces of selection by seeking out positional advantages in the market. We argue that when this is done using multiunit structures, market position improves but organizational learning is retarded. Consistent with this view, we find that after controlling for selection, single-unit organizations benefit today from being exposed historically to competition–evidence of learning–while large, multiunit organizations do not. Multiunit organizations instead benefit from mutual forbearance, a positional advantage. The findings come from a dynamic analysis of takeovers and performance among retail banks in Illinois. Implications for the study of strategic evolution are discussed.
-
Faculty
- Academic Areas
- Awards & Honors
- Seminars
-
Conferences
- Accounting Summer Camp
- California Econometrics Conference
- California Quantitative Marketing PhD Conference
- California School Conference
- China India Insights Conference
- Homo economicus, Evolving
-
Initiative on Business and Environmental Sustainability
- Political Economics (2023–24)
- Scaling Geologic Storage of CO2 (2023–24)
- A Resilient Pacific: Building Connections, Envisioning Solutions
- Adaptation and Innovation
- Changing Climate
- Civil Society
- Climate Impact Summit
- Climate Science
- Corporate Carbon Disclosures
- Earth’s Seafloor
- Environmental Justice
- Finance
- Marketing
- Operations and Information Technology
- Organizations
- Sustainability Reporting and Control
- Taking the Pulse of the Planet
- Urban Infrastructure
- Watershed Restoration
- Junior Faculty Workshop on Financial Regulation and Banking
- Ken Singleton Celebration
- Marketing Camp
- Quantitative Marketing PhD Alumni Conference
- Rising Scholars Conference
- Theory and Inference in Accounting Research
- Voices
- Publications
- Books
- Working Papers
- Case Studies
- Postdoctoral Scholars
-
Research Labs & Initiatives
- Cities, Housing & Society Lab
- Corporate Governance Research Initiative
- Corporations and Society Initiative
- Golub Capital Social Impact Lab
- Policy and Innovation Initiative
- Rapid Decarbonization Initiative
- Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative
- Value Chain Innovation Initiative
- Venture Capital Initiative
- Behavioral Lab
- Data, Analytics & Research Computing