O rganizations are constantly faced with the need to
adapt to changes in their environment. The strategic
management and organizational theory literature is
replete with references to the importance of maintaining a fit
with the environment (Venkatraman and Prescott, 1990; Miles
and Snow, 1978; Porter, 1980). Problems experienced by
such companies as General Motors and IBM highlight the
challenges organizations face in understanding the environment
in which they are operating, and in taking appropriate
actions to benefit from any changes therein.
Recent research has conceptualized organizational "fit" with
the environment as a dynamic process and has examined the
strategic and structural systems which facilitate this process.
This stream of research parallels the thinking on corporate
strategy as "emergent" (Mintzberg, 1989) and a more informal
process than previously conceptualized.