The Adaptability of the Organization to Change

Starting from the significance of the process of adaptation to the changeable environment, i.e. when the organization acts in a threatening environment, the author posits 14 hypotheses (following Harvey and Mills), which relate to the adaptation of organization to its environment. The primary interest is put upon the speed and cost of adaptation, assuming that the adaptation is faster when the lag between the structural changes and technological innovations is smaller. Although the limited number of variables did not enable the author to test such a widely conceived theoretical framework, this study gave better insight into some of the variables influencing the speed of adaptation of an organization to the environmental changes. The main conclusions are: a) the company adapts faster and more efficiently (in structure and technology) when its market is more competitive; b) there is statistically significant correlation between the adaptability and the level of differentiation of the company; c) the process of adaptation is more efficient when the heterogeneousness of the environment forces the company to be more flexible; d) the company adapts to the changes more easily when the general social system offers more stable behavioral patterns; e) the company is more adaptable when the manpower is of higher educational level, the experts enjoy greater independence, when the company experts more influence on other organizations and when the rapport between the lower and higher echelons in the company is better. Among the factors determining the adaptability of an organization, one could not find variables such as the level of formality, coordination of work, social integration, centralization or social differentiation in the company