Economics is not only a social science, it is a genuine science. Like the physical sciences, economics uses a methodology that produces refutable implications and tests these implications using solid statistical techniques. In particular, economics stresses three factors that distinguish it from other social sciences. Economists use the construct of rational individuals who engage in maximizing behavior. Economic models adhere strictly to the importance of equilibrium as part of any theory. Finally, a focus on efficiency leads economists to ask questions that other social sciences ignore. These ingredients have allowed economics to invade intellectual territory that was previously deemed to be outside the discipline’s realm. By almost any market test, economics is the premier social science. The �eld attracts the most students, enjoys the attention of policy-makers and journalists, and gains notice, both positive and negative, from other scientists. In large part, the success of economics derives from its rigor and relevance as well as from its

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Abstract—Understanding how to implement software process improvement (SPI) successfully is arguably the most challenging issue facing the SPI field today. The SPI literature contains many case studies of successful companies and descriptions of their SPI programs. However, the research efforts to date are limited and inconclusive and without adequate theoretical and psychometric justification. This paper extends and integrates models from prior research by performing an empirical investigation of the key factors for success in SPI. A quantitative survey of 120 software organizations was designed to test the conceptual model and hypotheses of the study. The results indicate that success depends critically on six organizational factors, which explained more than 50 percent of the variance in the outcome variable. The main contribution of the paper is to increase the understanding of the influence of organizational issues by empirically showing that they are at least as important as technology for succeeding with SPI and, thus, to provide researchers and practitioners with important new insights regarding the critical factors of success in SPI.

In the last few decades, we have developed a substantial body of knowledge about CEO succession. However, except for some studies of familybusinesses that lack direct applicabilityto nonfamilyCEO succession, the past studies of succession have not examined the veryfirst succession event in a firm, when the Founder-CEO is replaced, on a largescale basis. The critical differences between later-stage succession and Founder-CEO succession include the higher level of attachment between Founder-CEOs and the firms theycreate, the much larger equityholdings of Founder-CEOs (which give them much more control of the firm), the fact that many Founder-CEOs remain in the firm (even though it is being run bytheir successors), and the fact that nearlyall earlystage succession events involve outside successors (in contrast to later-stage succession research, which has focused on the insider-outsider distinction). These differences make it hard to extrapolate from later-stage succession findings to Founder-CEO succession. Therefore, in order to examine Founder-CEO succession, I used field research and grounded theorybuilding to studythe factors that should affect Founder-CEO succession in Internet start-ups. I find that there are two central intertemporal events that mayaffect Founder-CEO succession: The completion of product development and the raising of each round of financing from outside investors. I develop testable hypotheses about how each of these events affect the rate of succession, and then test these hypotheses using an eventhistoryanalysis of a unique dataset containing the succession histories of 202 Internet firms. Myfindings point to multiple “paradoxes of success ” in which the Founder-CEO’s success at achieving critical milestones actuallycauses the chance of Founder-CEO succession to rise dramatically.

Abstract. The concept of power is inherent in human organizations of any type. As power relations have important consequences for organizational viability and productivity, they should be explicitly represented in enterprise information systems (EISs). Although organization theory provides a rich and very diverse theoretical basis on organizational power, still most of the definitions for power-related concepts are too abstract, often vague and ambiguous to be directly implemented in EISs. To create a bridge between informal organization theories and automated EISs, this paper proposes a formal logic-based specification language for representing power- (in particular authority) relations. The use of the language is illustrated by considering authority structures of organizations of different types. Moreover, the paper demonstrates how the formalized authority relations can be integrated into an EIS. 1

This paper uncovers some of the implicit assumptions of polity-formation underpinning the debate about the European Union's democratic legitimacy. It uses theories of nationalism to understand why a demos is unlikely to develop easily at the European level. Based on a two-by-two categorization of the logic and scope of identity-formation, I conclude that the most promising approach to European demos-formation conceives of identities as both constructed and "sticky". Labeling this theoretical position "bounded integration," I suggest that it provides a more realistic foundation for developing democracy-enhancing reform proposals than does post-nationalist theorizing, especially due to the former's explicit attention to identity-conferring mechanisms such as education, language, and media.

the Harvard Business School. Also, the paper benefited greatly from the comments of Elaine Romanelli and three anonymous reviewers. Complexity Theory, Market Dynamism, and the Strategy of Simple Rules This study explores the fundamental tension between too little and too much structure. Observed in multiple streams of research, this tension is associated with the tradeoff between efficiency and flexibility that is central in dynamic markets. Using the strengths of simulation to confirm internal validity and to elaborate theory through virtual experiments, we examine the relationship between the amount of structure and performance in dynamic environments. We have several findings. First, we confirm that an inverted Ushaped relationship exists between performance and the amount of structure. Yet, this relationship is unexpectedly asymmetric – i.e., it is better to err on the side of too much than too little structure. Second, we describe how market dynamism moderates the relationship between structure and performance. In particular, increasing unpredictability is associated with a less structured optimum. Moreover, when environments are

In this paper, we look into adolescents ’ interactions with parents and peers from a power perspective. We find that parental interactions have dimensions of both Weberian power, but also can be seen in ritual forms that follow from the analysis of Goffman and Collins. In addition, peer group interactions have many ritual and symbolic aspects. The introduction of the mobile telephone has changed the way in which these power relations are carried out. The primary data for this analysis comes from interviews with teens. The analysis also includes some broader quantitative analyses based on random samples of Norwegian teens. 1

The economics of standards and standard setting has grown to considerable prominence in the last few years. 1 Buttressed by influential neoclassical models of network externalities (Farrell & Saloner, 1985; Katz & Shapiro, 1985), this intellectual edifice has as its keystone David’s (1985) famous history of the QWERTY keyboard. In David’s account, the now-familiar arrangement of keys is a paradigmatic instance of path dependency. The choice of the QWERTY design was essentially a matter of historical accident; and, once that arrangement became dominant, the spiraling benefits of its network of complementary capabilities--notably touch-typing skills--effectively “locked ” users into the QWERTY standard. This chapter takes up the issue of standard setting both in theory and in terms of a historical case study, namely, the setting of standards for the American medical profession in the early 20th century. As a contribution to the literature on standards and path dependency, however, this chapter diverges somewhat from the beaten path. First of all, our case involves behav-

Coevolution is an established research framework in the biological and evolutionary sciences, and though a new entrant to organization studies, it holds potential to transform the field (Lewin et al., 2003). Its fundamental premise is that entities or organizations evolve in relation to their environments while at the same time these environments evolve in relation to them. This paper argues that a coevolutionary approach is particularly well suited for research on organizations and the natural environment (O&NE), and that O&NE scholars may make significant contributions to organization theory from this perspective. However, this potential depends upon developing and maintaining a clear distinction between coevolution as a verb, or broad logic (a.k.a. macro coevolution), and coevolution as a noun, or specific mechanism (a.k.a. micro coevolution). In building these arguments the paper develops a definition and research framework for coevolutionary research and discusses theoretical and practical implications for O&NE.