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Strategy and Performance pp 203–220Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Understanding Inertia: Developing a Multi-disciplinary Perspective?

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that organizations need to be flexibly adaptive to cope with dynamic environmental and competitive conditions. However, where some contributions to the literature emphasize successful adaptation, others address the limits to adaptation, or inertia. This chapter reviews studies from four broad perspectives of inertia (ecological/ institutional, industry organization economic, organizational, and cognitive) identifying factors promoting or hindering organizational change. The chapter discusses the potential benefit to insight accruing from the complementarity of such approaches. However, it finds these to be outweighed by difficulties related to differences in their preferred focus or approach. Therefore, whilst the pursuit of multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches to research on inertia would seem desirable, several obstacles have to be cleared if the potential gains of such research are to be realized.

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  1. Audley Genus
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  1. Centre for Interdisciplinary Strategic Management Research, Middlesex University Business School, London

    Abby Ghobadian , Nicholas O’Regan , David Gallear  & Howard Viney , ,  & 

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© 2004 Audley Genus

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Genus, A. (2004). Understanding Inertia: Developing a Multi-disciplinary Perspective?. In: Ghobadian, A., O’Regan, N., Gallear, D., Viney, H. (eds) Strategy and Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523135_10

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