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CPCRN Overview & Impact
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External Resources
Organizational Theories for Implementation Science
Complexity Theory
Complexity science focuses on understanding how change occurs in complex adaptive systems (i.e., systems that are made up of many interdependent, heterogeneous parts that interact in a nonlinear fashion). The system may be conceptualized as a unit within an organization, the organization, and/or the wider inter- organizational system of which the organization is a part.
Contingency Theory
“To be most effective, organizational structures should be appropriate to the work performed and/or to the environmental conditions facing the organization.” (Schoonhoven, 1981) In other words, the optimal way of structuring work will be contingent on characteristics of both the work being performed (i.e., the task) and the environment where the work is performed (i.e., task environment).
Institutional Theory
Institutional theory answers the question: Why do organizations tend to look so similar (i.e., exhibit isomorphism)? The degree of isomorphism in an organizational field is positively related to the degree of (1) coercive, (2) mimetic, and (3) normative pressures in the field.
Network Perspective
Network perspectives elucidate the social relations between actors (e.g., organizations; individuals within organizations) and how the nature and structure of those relations contribute to the actors’ performance and behavior. Network perspectives explain how and why information and resources flow, and are shared, amongst a population of actors through their connections.
Organizational Learning
Organizational learning is the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within an organization. An organization improves over time as it gains experience.
Population Ecology
Population ecology aims to understand why there are so many kinds of organizations and how organizational populations form, become different, and remain different over time (Baum, 1997). Population ecology focuses on the demographic (e.g., age, size), ecological (e.g., niche-width theory, population density), and environmental (e.g., social, economic, political, and technological) processes posited to influence the survival of organizations in a field.
Resource Dependency Theory
Organizations become more powerful when they can balance the benefits of acquiring necessary resources from external organizations against the dependence that comes with having to acquire resources from external organizations.
Sociotechnical Theory
Social, technical, and organizational subsystems are interrelated parts of one system. Dynamics and mutual influences exist among the three subsystems, giving rise to the system.
Transaction Cost Economics
Organizations incur costs as a result of planning, implementing, and enforcing transactions with other organizations. Organizations strive for greater efficiency by implementing governance structures that will minimize transaction costs.
