The Effect of Governance Form Upon Adaptation During Times of Environmental Turbulence

Adaptation is perhaps the most fundamental and critical problem confronting organizations. Because of this importance, adaptation is a central concept in various organizational theories and has attracted a great deal of research attention into endogenous and exogenous antecedents of adaptation. One organizational attribute that has been relatively neglected in this research is the issue of governance form (e.g., corporation versus partnership). Governance form varies substantially in many industries, yet this within industry difference is seldom examined. One industry in which governance form varies is the U.S. savings and loan industry where the stock and the mutual governance form co-exist. In this dissertation I present an overview of adaptation and learning research in order to develop theoretical propositions concerning the importance of governance form upon adaptation. Using agency, institutional and learning theories I develop specific testable hypotheses about the effect of governance form upon adaptation. Financial reports mandated from the federal government from 1976 through 1988 were used to test the effects of governance form over twenty-six semiannual periods for the population of all thrifts in the U.S. (over 4000). Governance form was found to have a main effect on such organizational outcomes as: the amount of adaptation, risky adaptation, and performance. Governance form was also found to moderate the relationship between certain endogenous and exogenous antecedents to adaptation and performance. Stock and mutual thrifts responded differently to antecedents of adaptation and performance. Governance form was also found to moderate the relationship between adaptation and performance. Stock and mutual form thrifts engaging in comparable adaptive behaviors had different performance outcomes. These results have implications for subsequent research in agency, institutional and learning theories in addition to adding to our knowledge of the savings and loan context.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business Administration

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Moore, James Harvey

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kraatz, Matthew S.

• Business Administration, Management

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3101927

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/84529