Faraway, yet so close: Organizations in demographic flux

Abstract

Change in firm governance is often associated with inbound and outbound movements of key decision makers. This research extends that observation by treating mobility as a trigger of demographic change in management teams that, in turn, influences organizational survival. Mobility occasions transformations in demographic profiles both within a firm and among firms sharing a competitive arena. In the former case, shifts in diversity may alter the quasi-resolution of conflict achieved by the firm's upper echelons, or, conversely, serve to inject novel views and ideas. In the latter case, migration may modify the demographic overlap among firms and thus rearrange their competitive positioning. We present here an empirical test of this two-pronged manifestation of demographic change and stress the moderating roles of team age and competitive intensity. © 2010 INFORMS.