A new perspective on: evolutionary processes and organizational adaptation

Abstract

Levinthal’s (Evolutionary processes and organizational adaptation: a Mendelian perspective on strategic management. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2021) book is not only a helpful resource on the many facets of organizational adaptation, but also a source of inspiration that promises to revitalize research on organizational evolution. Taking inspiration from this book, I outline a perspective on three topics that may enrich management research: (1) Levinthal’s treatment of path-dependence is a much-needed candidate for a general account of selection processes across biological and social domains; (2) Levinthal’s idea that corporate diversification and technological disruption may be considered instances of speciation—i.e., branching of lineages—(re)frames an exciting research agenda at the intersection of ecology and evolution; (3) Considering executives as a population of fruit flies may, from the perspective of empirical research, be a useful complement to the idea of the Mendelian executive.