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Garbage Can Metaphor

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management

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Abstract

The strategy field has seen a variety of perspectives since the 1980s, including the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities. Many of these new developments build implicitly or explicitly on some of the classic scholars in organizational behaviour (see, e.g., Rumelt, R. P., Schendel, D. J., and Teece, D. J. eds. Fundamental research issues in strategy and economics. Strategic Management Journal 12(special issue), 1994). This should come as no surprise, since ideas on how firms develop and implement strategies is to a very large extent an organizational issue. Thus, many concepts and ideas central to the strategy field today have their roots in the organizations area. The garbage can model (GCM) of decision-making is an example of a concept rooted in organization science. It is associated in particular with a seminal article and other writings by James March and colleagues (Cohen, M. D., March, J. G., and Olsen, J. P. A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly 17, 1–25, 1972).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Mie Augier

  2. Naval Post Graduate School, Monterey, CA, USA

    Jerry Guo

Authors
  1. Mie Augier
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  2. Jerry Guo
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Correspondence to Mie Augier .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University , Stanford, California, USA

    Mie Augier

  2. Tusher Ctr Intellectual Capital, University of California Tusher Ctr Intellectual Capital, Berkeley, California, USA

    David J. Teece

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© 2016 The Author(s)

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Augier, M., Guo, J. (2016). Garbage Can Metaphor. In: Augier, M., Teece, D. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94848-2_100-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94848-2_100-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-94848-2

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