James G. March, Martin Schulz and Xueguang Zhou
The Dynamics of Rules: Change in Written Organizational Codes
Stanford University Press
2000
Aalen-Nelson estimation procedure, 207n2
Academic Council, 39-40, 86-87, 91, 92, 150; attention allocation of, 152; historical significance of, 164, 166; local effects of rules made by, 136; resolutions, 46; rule births under, 113, 116 table 5.3, 128; rule changes under, 155-56; rule populations under, 171
Academic rules, 35, 38-40; births, 87, 94, 100-103 tables 4.4-4.5, 106-7, 113-18, 120-24, 134-39, 166; changes, 87, 88-89, 104-5 table 4.6, 115, 134, 142, 143 fig. 6.2, 148-60, 173-74, 183; density, 94, 140, 180-81; effects of presidents on, 134; federal government and, 134, 167; independence from administrative rules, 132, 136; problem areas, 126; regimes, 92, 113, 115-18, 123, 124, 136, 140, 164; relationships among, 151; spells, 84; at Stanford, 86-89, 113-18, 165-66; suspensions, 87, 115, 140; variables of, 94; variations among rule areas, 136
Accounting, 35, 41-42
Action: environment for, 15; rule-based, 6-8, 10, 193, 196; theories of individual, 6-7
translations of rules into, 22, 23
Adaptation, 24-27, 58, 175-76, 190; of rules, 2, 25-27, 190; of rule users to rules, 73, 169. See also changes; revisions see also learning, selection process
Administrative conduct, 41
Administrative Guide, 36-37, 42, 85, 91, 111, 164
Administrative rules, 35-38; births, 86, 87-88, 94, 95-97 tables 4.1-4.2, 106-7, 109-13, 129-34; changes, 87-88, 98-99 table 4.3, 112, 142, 145-48, 173-74; density, 94, 129, 132, 140, 180-81; federal government and, 167; independence from academic rules, 132, 136; problem areas, 126; regimes, 109-11, 131-32, 147, 148, 164; relationships among, 148; spells, 84; at Stanford, 85-88, 109-13; suspensions, 86, 87-88, 112, 129, 132, 140; variables of, 94; variations among rule areas, 129, 131
Affirmative action programs, 34
Age, regime, 77-78, 91-92, 123, 124, 131-32, 136, 140, 147, 148, 159, 170-72, 190
Age, rule, 77-79; academic rules, 148, 150; administrative rules, 145, 147; changes and, 142-43, 148, 150, 156-59, 173-76, 178-79; effect on rule population, 170-72, 190; measurement of, 175-76; rule histories and, 93-94, 145-47, 172-73; stability and, 72-74
Agenda items: Academic Council, 119, 152, 153; attention allocated to, 121, 123, 153, 158, 183-84; Faculty Senate, 119, 152, 153, 183; rule births and, 119
Appropriateness, logic of, 7, 10, 18-19
Archives, 28-29, 85
Articles of Organization, 39
Association of College and University Business Administrators, 42
Association of Students at Stanford University (ASSU), 44
Attention allocation, 51-52, 57-58, 119; to agenda items, 121, 123, 153, 158, 183-84; competition and, 68-69, 183; contagion and, 182-84, 195; measurement of, 152, 153; partitioning, 155, 156; patterns of, 163; problem recognition and, 63-64; routinization of, 48, 51, 63-4, 153-6
rule births and, 112, 121, 184; rule changes and, 67-70, 123, 153, 155, 158, 159, 184, 195; theories of, 68
Authority, 26, 38-40
B
Bacchetti, Raymond, 52
Behavior. See Action
Births, 3, 4, 139-40; academic rules, 87, 94, 100-103 tables 4.4-4.5, 106-7, 113-18, 120-24, 134-39, 166; administrative rules, 86, 87-88, 94, 95-97 tables 4.1-4.2, 106-7, 109-13, 129-34; attention allocation and, 112, 119, 184; environment and, 111-12; external influences on, 59-60, 111; government role in, 111, 187-88; historical context of, 108-9, 112, 156, 165-67; influence of new regimes on, 164; models of, 94-99, 107-9; organizational structure and, 111, 113, 147, 169; patterns of, 48-50, 87-89, 106-7, 125, 159-60; problem solving and, 49-51, 56-57, 75, 159-60, 181-82; procedures, 92; rates of, 108-9; rule changes and, 112, 141; rule density and, 64-65, 80-82, 125-29, 132, 139-40, 179-82; in rule histories, 83-84; rule regimes and, 109-11, 113, 115-18, 123, 124, 140; rule suspensions and, 66, 112, 115, 129, 139-40, 179-82. See also Proliferation
Board of trustees, Stanford, 38-39
Breeding, rule. See Births; Proliferation
Budgeting, 35, 41, 51-52
Bureaucracies, 4, 9-10, 25, 61, 170; changes in regimes and, 164; rule proliferation in, 13-14, 65, 125, 192-93; Weber's law of, 179
C
Causal inferences, 201
Censorship, 87, 144
Centralization, 5-6, 8, 69-70
Certifications, 15
Change, organizational: theories of, 1, 11, 72, 79, 196; see also changes, learning
Changes, 25-27, 41; academic rules, 87, 88-89, 104-5 table 4.6, 115, 134, 142, 143 fig. 6.2, 148-60, 173-74, 183; administrative rules, 87-88, 98-99 table 4.3, 112, 142, 145-48, 173-74; attention allocation and, 67-70, 123; competence in making, 53-54, 74-75, 80, 173-74; contemporaneous, 151; definition of, 141; external influences and, 59-60, 159, 190; hazard rate of, 144; historical context of, 48, 72, 93, 155, 156, 165-67, 192, 195; optimal level of, 194-95; organizational structure and, 147, 150-51, 158, 159, 169; patterns of, 53, 57, 63, 70 table 3.1, 87-89, 141, 159-60, 166, 176-78; problem solving and, 26, 63; repeated events and, 144-45; rule age and, 78-79, 142-43, 173; rule births and, 112, 115; rule regimes and, 77-78, 147, 148, 151-52, 159, 164. See also Revisions; Suspensions
Changes, contemporaneous, 148
Choice-based action, 6-7
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 34
Clocks: Multiple clocks, 77, 92, 171, , regime, 92, 165. See also Regimes, age
Coefficients, 90; of academic rule births, 114 table 5.2, 116 table 5.3, 117 table 5.4, 118, 122 table 5.5, 135 table 5.8, 138-39 table 5.9; of academic rule changes, 149 table 6.2, 154 table 6.3, 157 table 6.4; of administrative rule births, 110 table 5.1, 130 table 5.6, 133 table 5.7; of administrative rule changes, 146 table 6.1
Committees, 39-40, 42-43
Competence: accumulation, 4, 57, 72-82, 191, 194; differential strengthening of, 77; external influences and, 74; in problem solving, 182; regime age and, 171; rule changes and, 53-54, 73-75, 80, 173-74. See also Knowledge; Learning
Competition, 15-16, 24; attention allocation and, 65, 68-70, 182-83; ethics of, 43-44; rule changes and, 148, 151, 159
Complexity, organizational, 31-32, 61; measurement of, 92-93; rule births and, 111, 113; rule changes and, 147, 150-51, 158, 169-70. See also Organizational structure
Compliance, 19, 60
Conflict, 12-13, 48-51
Consequences, 6-7, 10
Construction: of rules, 6; of organizational reality, 14-16. See also Social construction.
Contagion: of attention allocation, 67, 71, 121, 182-84; of problem generation, 57, 67-72; of rule changes, 148, 151, 155-56, 159, 194-95; technology and, 67-71
Contemporaneous changes, 148, 151
Content, 181-82
Contracts, 12, 13
Controller's office, 35, 36
Cooperation, 20
Coordination, 12, 41
Courses and Degrees, 86-87
Covariates, 84, 89-90, 94-105; of rule births, 107-8, 120-21; in study of rule change, 143-44
Crises, 51-53
CUBA Manual, 42
D
Darwinian models, 25
Deaths. See Suspensions
Debate, 21-22
Decentralization, 34, 41
Decision-making: processes, 50; theories of organizational, 68; see also action.
Delegation of authority, 39
Demands: rules as responses to, 50
Demonstrations, 32-33, 46, 59, 91; student, 43-44, 88, 120
Density, 64-66, 80-82; academic rules, 94, 140, 180-81; administrative rules, 94, 129, 132, 140, 180-81; environment and, 66, 94; global, 128-29, 131, 134, 136; local, 128-29, 131-32, 136, 139-40, 206-7n9, 206n8; organizational structure and, 64, 187; regime age and, 172; rule births and, 64-65, 80-82, 125-29, 132, 139-40, 179-82; rule regimes and, 131-32, 136; variations in, 132, 137. See also Problem space
Development, rule. See Evolution, rule
Diffusion, 27, 48, 71 See also Contagion
Discipline, 47, 49
Dismissals, 45-46
Dissolutions. See Suspensions
Distances, 71-72, 179, 199
Diversionary functions, 50-51, 69
Diversity in rule development, 197
Domains: contagiousness of revisions among, 72, 183; responsibility barriers of, 195; rule changes within, 155. See also Faculty rules; Student rules; Subpopulations
Durability. See Stability
Duration See Age, Rules, endurance of
Dynamic covariates, 144
E
Ecology, 57, 64, 196; attention allocation and, 67, 70; need for future study of, 201-2; problem recognition and, 70-71; regulation of, 191; of rule births, 112, 115, 169; of rule changes, 147-48, 151, 169, 179-84. See also Environment; External influences; Internal influences
Ecological structure of knowledge, 191-92; see also Knowledge
Economic change, theories of, 11
Economic institutions, 12, 24, 25, 26
Efficiency of history , 16, 195-97
Embeddedness, 42, 48, 58, 78, 163, 191, 198
Employment. See Organizations
Enforcement, 19, 60
Environment, 4; organizational structure and, 10, 15, 60-62, 195; rule age and, 78; rule births and, 111, 115, 123; rule changes and, 147, 151, 158, 159, 176, 190; rule density and, 66; rule regimes and, 165; rules as reflections of, 199; as source of problems, 66. See also Ecology; External influences; Internal influences
Eppstein, Maureen, 37
Event count analysis, 83
Evolution, rule, 16-18, 59; study of, 54-55; theories of, 22-25, 197; of unwritten rules, 19. See also Adaptation; Changes, Rules
Evolution of authority, 39, 53
Experience, 26, 73-77, 176, 200; see also Learning, experiential
Exploration and exploitation , 182, 199
External influences, 42, 52-61, 91; competence and, 74; in learning process, 189, 199-200; measurement of, 92; on rule births, 111, 118, 123-24, 131; on rule changes, 190; on rule histories, 167, 169; on rule regularities, 161; as sources of problems, 58-61, 66. external pressures for reliability, 172 See also Ecology; Environment
F
Faculty, 38-40, 42-43, 51, 52
Faculty Handbook, 87
Faculty rules, 44-47, 49, 119, 120; births, 121, 124, 136; changes, 137, 150, 152, 153, 156; densities, 137; historical patterns of, 166; influence on student rules, 184
Faculty Senate, 40, 47, 52, 86-87, 171; attention allocation, 152, 183-84; density of rules under, 137; effects of rules made by, 91-92, 136; historical significance of, 150, 164, 166; rule births under, 88, 113, 117 table 5.4, 128; rule changes under, 89, 155-56
Feedback, 24, 37-38
Firings, 45-46
Formal rules. See Written rules
Fundamental Standard, 43, 50, 52-53, 54
Funding, governmental , 33-34, 42, 60, 92; effects on rule histories, 167; rule births and, 111, 115, 120, 124, 129, 187-88; rule changes and, 147, 151, 152, 158, 187-88
G
Global effects, 127-29, 134, 136. See also Local effects.
Goals, organizational, 189
Government, 7-8; of faculty, 38-40; higher education and, 33-34, 42, 92, 111, 115, 162; influence on rule histories, 167; intervention of, 33, 58-61,147, 151, 166-7, models, 34; rule births and, 111, 115, 187-88; rule changes and, 147, 148, 151, 152, 158, 187-88; of students, 42-43, 52-53. See also Funding, governmental; Legislation
Groups: effects of rules on, 20, 21
H
Handbooks, 34
Hazard rate, 84, 144, 173, 177
Heterogeneity, unobserved population, 128n7, 174-75, 177, 187, 201, 206n7
Hierarchies. See Organizational charts
Higher education, 30, 32, 53, 59, 91, 169-70; competence accumulation in, 77, 78; government involvement in, 33-34, 42, 92, 111, 115, 162
Historical periods, 162-63; rule births within, 119-20, 123-24, 165-67; rule changes within, 152, 156-59
Histories, rule, 3-5, 16, 48, 54-55, 83-85, 93-4, 172-79, 195-97; ecology and, 196; external influences on, 167, 169; inefficiencies in, 195-97, 201; measurement of, 93-94, 172-73; rule changes and, 145, 148, 150, 158-59, 172-73, 200 See also Rules.
History: role in rule development, 8, 22-24, 186; rule changes and, 26-27, 47-48, 141-44, 186; of rule regimes, 147, 150, 166-67; rules as records of, 11, 16, 19, 161, 198-99; significance in study of rules, 200-201; unwritten rules and, 20; written rules and, 2, 21-22. See also Historical periods; Histories, rule
Hobbesian problems of anarchy, 8
Honor Code, 43-44, 51-54
I
Identity, 6, 18-19,
Images, 11, 21
Implementation, 23, 202
Independence of rule changes, 155
Informal rules. See Unwritten rules
Institutionalization, 8, 24, 25
Interdependence. See Interrelationships of rules
Internal influences, 61, 118, 140, 161, 169. See also Ecology
Internalization, 9, 19
Interpersonal relationships, 10
Interpretation, 23-24, 43-44
Interrelationships of rules, 57-58, 71-74, 147-48, 151, 155, 159, 168-69, 179-82, 191-92. See also Ecology
Invisible hand of institutions, 19
J
Jordan, David Starr, 38, 42-43
Jurisdictions, 195
K
Kaplan-Meier estimation procedure, 207n2
Knowledge, 16, 21, 145, 175-76, 185-92, 193, 198; encoded in rules , 73-77, 186-192. See also Competence; Learning
Kolak, Noel, 40
L
Learning, 3-4, 18, 69, 81-82, 189-91; curves (amount of knowledge still remaining), 140, 200; experiential, 26, 57, 73-77, 186, 196, 197-200; local, 2, 66, 126, 180, 189; measurement of, 94, 145; proliferation of rules and, 125, 182, 193; role in rule evolution, 195-200, 202; rule births and, 125, 140, 182; rule changes and, 73-77, 173-74, 176. See also Competence; Knowledge
Legal environment, 58-60, 120, 186-88
Legislation, 60-61; in higher education, 33-34, 42, 92, 167-68; rule births and, 111, 115, 134, 167-68, 188; rule changes and, 147, 148, 151, 158, 159, 167-68, 188. See also Government.
Legitimacy, 25, 195
Lessons of history, 2, 4, 9, 16, 73, 77, 182, 198-99. See also History, Learning.
Liability of newness, 72, 78, 172, 198
Likelihood ratio, 207n11
Limdep, 207n9
Limited rationality, theories of, 10; see also Rationality
Local effects: of rule density and suspensions, 127-29, 131-32, 136, 139-40, 206-7n9, 206n8. See also Subpopulations, Global effects
Localization, 2, 4, 36, 70-71
Logic of appropriateness, 6, 10, 22
Logic of consequence, 6, 10, 22
Lyman, Richard W., 51
M
Memos, 36-37
Models: for measuring rule change, 143-45; negative binomial model, 206n7, 207n12; Poisson, 84, 108-9, 120-21, 128, 206-7n9, 206n7; single slope, 206-7n9
N
Negative binomial model, 206n7, 207n12
Negotiation, 12-13, 26, 186-87
Networks. See Diffusion; Interrelationships of rules
O
Obsolescence, rule version, 176, 198
Occurrence dependence , 79-80, 177
Organizational charts, 9-10, 131
Organizational structure: measurement of, 92, 111; rule births and, 111, 113, 147, 169; rule changes and, 147, 150-51, 158, 159, 169; stability of, 12, 19, 21. See also Complexity, organizational; Size, organizational
Organizations, 2-5, 8-11; function of rules within, 11-17, 48, 186-89; theories of, 8-11, 72, 78. See also Bureaucracies
Overdispersion, 109, 205n3, 206n7, 207n12, 207n13
P
Path-dependent processes, 196-97
Patterns: rule births, 48-50, 87-89, 106-7, 125, 159-60; rule changes, 53, 57, 63, 70 table 3.1, 87-89, 141, 159-60, 166, 176-78
Payroll processing, 35, 36
Personnel administration, 35, 36, 131
Poisson models, 84, 108-9, 120-21, 128, 206n7, 206n7, 206-7n9
Policies, 12, 86; on campus disturbances, 44-45, 47, 50; changes in, 37-38; creation of, 40; research, 8; tenure, 45-49
Political problems, 186-90, 193
Political processes, 26, 188
Politics: in higher education, 32-33; within organizations, 12, 15-16
Population, rule, 168-69
Predictability, 12, 187Predictions. See Patterns
Presidents, 38, 126, 129, 134
Problem absorption, 64-66, 76, 81-82, 126, 129, 159-60. See also Problem solving
Problems: influence of existing rules on, 165; political, 186-89, 193; recognition of, 63-64, 67-72; recycling of, 126, 129, 168, 206n6; sources of, 58-66; technical, 186, 189-91, 193; exogenous flows of, 63
Problem instigators , 65, 66, 165, 172, 196Problem recognition, theory of, 63, 67
Problem solving, 8; rule births and, 49-51, 56-57, 75, 125, 140; rule changes and, 26, 63; rules as records of, 162, 193, 196; stability of rules and, 53. See also Problem absorption
Problem space, 168-69, 181-82. See also Density
Problem supply, 131, 136
Procedural interdependence, 71-72, 155, 182
Procedures, 72, 86
Procedures for Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion, 46
Proliferation, 13-14, 192-94. See also Births
The Protestant Ethic (Weber), 14
Protests. See demonstrations
Q
Quantitative analysis, 54-55, 200-201
R
Racial incidents, 43, 49, 50
Rationality, 7, 9-11, 13-14; theories of calculated, 10; See also Limited rationality
Records. See Archives
Recycling of problems, See Problems, recycling of
Regimes: academic rules and, 92, 113, 115-18, 123, 124, 136, 140, 164; administrative rules and, 109-11, 131-32, 147, 148, 164; age, 77-78, 91-92, 123, 124, 131-32, 136, 140, 147, 148, 159, 170-72, 190; effect on rule system, 170-72, 190; environment and, 165; histories of, 147, 150, 166-67; maturation of rule regimes, 68-9, 77, 170-72; rule births and, 109-11, 113, 115-18, 123, 124, 140; rule changes and, 77-78, 147, 148, 151-52, 159, 164; rule density and, 131-32, 136; at Stanford, 91-92, 163-65. See also Academic Council; Faculty Senate
Repeated events, 144-45
Research malpractice, 47
Residues of prior adaptation , 4, 168-9, 185, 196
Responsibility barriers, 195
Retention of experience, 21, 25, 28, 139, 169. See also Experience, Knowledge, Learning, Rules
Revisions, 2-4, 40-41; academic rules, 87-88, 115, 121, 134, 148-50; administrative rules, 85-86, 145-47; attention allocation and, 184; effect on stability, 79-80, 176-78, 194; government role in, 187-88; learning process and, 76; obsolescence and, 176; patterns of, 87-89; previous, 145, 148-50, 159, 176-78; problem absorption and, 76; rate of, 142, 175-79; rule age and, 79, 157-59, 173-74; in rule histories, 83-84, 93, 145, 147, 172-73; at Stanford, 37, 85-89; time distances between, 179, 180, 182-83. See also Changes; Plasticity; Suspensions
Right-censoring, 144
Ross, Edward A., 45
Rule-based action, 6-8, 10, 193, 196
Rules: areas of, 35, 49, 60, 127, as encodings of history, 16-17; as constructions of meaning, 14-16; as contractual substitutes for tacit understandings , 187; as depositories of knowledge, 16, 73-77, 186-192; as genes of organizations, 26; as primary instruments of coordination, 7, 9, 11-12; as proliferating organisms, 13-14, 125; as rational instruments, 11-13, 192-5; as trophies, 15-16; dysfunctions of 10; elaboration of, 49, 60-61, 65, 172, endurance of, 72-74, 77-79, 81, 173-76, 194-5, 198; functional interdependence of, 71-72, 155, 182; plasticity of, 79-80, 93; purposes of, 8, 21, 187; social functions of, 5-8, 18-20, 63, 187 stability of, 72-74, 77-81, 173-76, 178, 194-5, 198; substantive purposes of, 187; theories of, 5-17, 185-86; see also Academic rules, Administrative rules, Faculty rules, Histories, rules; Student rules
SAC. See Student Affairs Committee
Selection process, 25-26
Sexual harassment, 47
Sienna, James, 52
Size, organizational, 61; effect on rule population, 169-70; measurement of, 92-93; rule births and, 111, 113; rule changes and, 147, 150-51, 158; rule density and, 64, 187. See also Organizational structure
Social construction of problems, 14-16, 63
Society, theories of human, 7-8
Sociology, 8, 24-25
Space, 179, 180, 182-83, 191-92
Split-spell technology, 207n3
Stability: optimal level of, 194-95; organizational, 12, 19, 21; regime age and, 171; rule age and, 72-74; rule changes and, 53-54, 57-58, 80, 174-78
Stanford, Jane, 35, 38-39, 45
Stanford, Leland, 30
Stanford Faculty Handbook, 86
Stanford University, 28-34; academic rules, 38-40, 86-89; administrative rules, 35-38, 85-86, 87; degree programs, 32 fig. 2.2; patterns of rule births at, 106-7; proliferation of rules at, 193; rule archives, 85; rule regimes, 91-92, 163-65; stability of rules at, 194; student and faculty population, 31 fig. 2.1. See also Academic Council; Faculty Senate
Stanford University Bulletin, 86
Stanford University Register, 86
Statement of Faculty Discipline, 47
Statement of Policy on Appointment and Tenure at Stanford University, 46
Stories and statistics, 54-55
Student Affairs Committee, 42-43
Student enrollment, 30
Student rules, 42-43, 119-20; births, 121, 123-24, 129, 136; changes, 137, 150, 152, 153, 156; density and suspensions, 137; historical patterns of, 42-43, 52-53, 166; influence on faculty rules, 184; recycling, 137
Subpopulations, 119, 120; of academic rules, 122 table 5.5, 123-24, 126-28, 156, 166; of administrative rules, 127-28, 132; density and suspensions of rules within, 140; interrelations of rules and, 180-81. See also Domains; Faculty rules; Local effects; Student rules
Substitution, 62, 187
Suspensions, 3, 124-25; academic rules, 87, 115, 140; administrative rules, 86, 87-88, 112, 129, 132, 140; correlation with revisions, 175; global effects of, 128-29, 134, 136; local effects of, 128-29, 131-32, 136, 139-40, 206-7n9, 206n8; regime age and, 172; rule births and, 66, 112, 115, 129, 139-40, 179-82; rule density and, 80-82; rule histories and, 83-84, 172-73; of rules at Stanford, 86, 87-88; variables of, 206n6, 206n8; variations in subpopulations, 132, 137. See also Changes; Revisions
Symbolic compliance, 60
Symbolism, 8, 21, 187
T
Teams, 11-12
Technical problems, 186, 189-91, 193
Technology, 41, 79
Tenure policies, 45-49, 51-52
Threshold of problem recognition, 63-4
Time: attention allocation and, 69; distances between revisions and, 179, 180, 182-83; effect on rule system, 171-72; rule age and, 79; rule births and, 75, 108-9, 112, 128; rule changes and, 48, 72, 93, 155, 156, 165-67, 191-92, 195. See also Age, regime; Age, rule; History
Time-varying covariates, 143-44
Tinkering, 67, 79, 171, 177
Trust, 187-88
Turbulence, 181
U
Unconscious premises of action, 9
Unwritten rules, 8, 17-20; advantages of written rules over, 190, 198; density of, 180-81; in rule development, 53; substitutes for written rules, 62, 187. See also Rules, Written Rules.
V
Values, 72-73
Variables: academic rules, 94, 100-105 tables 4.4-4.6; administrative rules, 94, 95-99 tables 4.1-4.3; measurement of, 89-94; of rule density, 125; of rule regimes, 113
Veto power, 38
Vicious circles, 13
W
Weber, Max, 9-10, 13-14, 179
Whitehead, Alfred North, 197-98
Written rules, 1-2, 6, 9; advantages over unwritten rules, 190, 198; as carriers of history, 21-22; study of, 17-18. See also Rules; Unwritten rules.