Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Emergence and Evolution of an Organizational Population: Management Consulting Firms in the United States, 1886-1997

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The emergence of new populations of organizations represents an important source of social change. New types of organizations generate novel products, services, and working arrangements within societies. As a population grows, it takes on increasing importance, e.g., by employing more people, serving more customers, and creating more dependence on its outputs. Researchers in organizational sociology have long sought to understand how organizational populations emerge and evolve. This doctoral dissertation research addresses three critical questions: How does the environment within which a population of organizations is embedded affect its evolution? How do differences between organizations within a population affect their interaction? And how does organizational change affect survival and growth? These questions will be addressed through an analysis of the population of U.S. management consulting firms over its entire history, 1886-1997. Archival sources and interviews will be used to construct a longitudinal database containing organization-level data for each firm in each year. Hypotheses for the effects of entrepreneurs, environmental conditions, and major events on population evolution will be tested. The results will contribute to theory-building efforts in organizational sociology, as well as furnish a detailed analysis of an important population of organizations.