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Two periods of radical political-economic change in the former East Germany illuminate dynamics of organization-environment relationships that generally are hidden from view. Historical, qualitative, and survey data from a longitudinal comparative study of 78 orchestras in four nations show that the contexts of East German orchestras changed significantly when the socialist regime took power after World War II, and then again in 1990 when that regime fell. Socialist rule only modestly affected orchestras' institutional features, however; they continued to reflect centuries-old German musical traditions. The collapse of socialism in 1990, by contrast, provoked differentiation among orchestras-some adapted successfully to the new political-economic context, but others floundered. Successful adaptation was found to be a joint function of an orchestra's prior strength as an organization and the kinds of leadership initiatives taken by orchestra leaders and players. Overall, the findings suggest that the size and character of environmental effects depend on the degree to which contextual changes alter (a) the strength of the link between organizational actions and resources obtained (resource contingency) and (b) organizations' latitude to manage their own affairs (operational autonomy
In the decades since Stinchcombe's (1965) landmark statements on the relationship between organizations and their societal contexts, an abundant research and theoretical literature on organization-environment relationships has developed. In this paper, we take a fresh look at those relations in historically unique circumstances-specifically, during the two periods of radical political-economic change that occurred in the former East Germany in the last half-century. The first change took place in the years immediately after World War II when the socialist regime took power; the second occurred in 1990 when that regime fell and the German states reunified. Our focal institution is the professional symphony orchestra, which has been integral to East German culture for over a century. By examining the impact of the two revolutionary changes on this deeply rooted cultural institution, we seek to identify and illuminate dynamics of organization-environment relationships that generally are hidden from scholarly view.
There is no dearth of conceptual models of organization environment relations (for a brief review, see Allmendinger and Hackman, 1994). Institutional models (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; Zucker, 1977; DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Scott, 1987) describe the processes by which organizations situated in similar environments tend to become...