Evolutionaire en ecologische organisatietheorieën. Een toepassing op ontwikkelingen in de vakbeweging

Samenvatting

Evolutionary and Ecological Theories of Organization. An Application to Trade Union Development. Following a brief discussion of evolutionary and ecological theory, as applied in organizational sociology and economics, the development and restructuring process of Dutch trade unions during the past 100 years is considered as an empirical case illustration. For the population of trade unions, this development can be described and analyzed as an evolutionary process of differential birth, death, and survival rates of various routines of collective action of workers embodied by different types of unions. The evolutionary approach helps to understand the seemingly spontaneous, unplanned, wave-like, and survival-driven merger process through which unions and union leaders prepare for "life beyond death." The main selection principle appears to be the search for economy of scale, but vicarious selectors, eg, prestige, power, and pensions of union officials, appear to be at work as well. 53 References. Adapted from the source document.