The Evolution of Organizations in the Biotechnology Industry

人口生态学是一种最新的方法，用来理解组织是如何诞生、成长和死亡的。种群生态学家使用“生态位”一词来指使特定组织形式繁荣的资源组合。随着资源的潮起潮落，新形式诞生，旧形式消亡。本研究的重点是组织获取资源的交换关系。研究人员将通过分析定义组织社区交换结构的组织网络如何随时间变化来模拟生态位结构的动态。待研究的组织团体包括美国商业生物技术公司。这是研究组织利基的一个卓有成效的领域，因为该行业的快速发展催生了大量新的组织资源和各种新的组织形式。将收集关于从事商业生物技术的组织的结构和业绩以及组织之间关系的纵向数据。将对数据进行分析，以具体说明组织间联系的模式如何影响生物技术公司的结构和生存机会。研究结果将使“利基”概念在理论上更加清晰，并增强对组织动力学的理解。

Population ecology is a recent approach to understanding how organizations are born, grow, and die. Population ecologists use the term "niche" to refer to combinations of resources that allow specific organizational forms to prosper. As resources ebb and flow, new forms are created while old forms die. The present research will focus on the exchange relations through which organizations obtain resources. The researchers will model the dynamics of niche structures by analyzing how the organizational networks that define the exchange structure of an organizational community change over time. The organizational community to be studied consists of U.S. commercial biotechnology firms. This is a fruitful arena for studying organizational niches since the industry's rapid development has spawned numerous new resources for organizing as well as a variety of new organizational forms. Longitudinal data will be collected on the structure and performance of organizations engaged in commercial biotechnology as well as on the relationships among the organizations. The data will be analyzed to specify how patterns of interorganizational ties have influenced the structure and life chances of biotechnology firms. The results will lead to a theoretical sharpening of the "niche" idea, as well as enhance or understanding of organizational dynamics.