This population perspective opens many new avenues of inquiry, for it encourages us to
understand the dynamics influencing whole populations of organizations. Thus, as Howard
Aldrich, John Freeman, Michael Hannan, and others who have popularized the approach
suggest, organizational analysis shifts from explaining how individual organizations adapt to
their environments to understanding how different species rise and decline in importance.
Why are there so many different kinds of organizations? What factors influence their
numbers and distribution? What factors influence a population’s ability to acquire or retain a
resource niche?