Analyse the following passage and provide an appropriate answer for the…
2023
Analyse the following passage and provide an appropriate answer for the questions that follow
Demography of organisations, also called population ecology is an interesting field. It proposes that organisational mortality processes depend upon the age and size of the organisation, as well as on characteristics of populations and environments. Moreover, there is evidence of an imprinting process -meaning that environmental conditions at certain early phases in an organisation's development have long-term consequences. In particular, organisations subject to intense competition have elevated mortality hazards at all ages. A central theme is structural inertia, the tendency for organisations to respond slowly relative to the speed of environmental change. A central argument holds that the inertia derives from the very characteristics that make organisations favoured actors in modern society in terms of reliability and (formal) accountability. It follows that changes in an organisation's core features are disruptive and increase mortality hazards, at least in the short-run. Research on this subject tends to support this view. The concept of niche provides a framework of relative environmental variations and competition to population dynamics and segmentation. Much empirical work examines the niches of organisational populations in terms of dimensions of social, political, and economic environments. Most research in this field builds on theories of resource partition and of density dependence. Resource-partitioning theory concerns the relationship between increasing market concentration and increasing proliferation of specialists in mature industries. The key implication of this theory concerns the effects of concentration on the viability of specialist organisations (those that seek to exploit a narrow range of resources). The theory of density-dependent organisational evolution synthesizes ecological and institutional processes. It holds that growth in the number of organisations in a population (density) drives processes of social legitimatization and competition that, in turn, shape the vital rates.
Recently it was reported that Indian textile sector was not doing well. If the ideas contained in the passage are agreed to, then which of the following could be possible reason (s)?
1. All Indian firms are as old as international firms.
2. Indian textile firms are dispersed all over the country, with most of them also having international presence.
3. Textile firms in India were subjected to trade union activity in the period from 1960s to 1980s.
- A.
1
- B.
2
- C.
3
- D.
1 and 2
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: In organisational-ecology (population-ecology) theory, a firm's or industry's later performance can be tied back to a specific named mechanism — (a) intense competition raising mortality hazards, (b) structural inertia making adaptation slow, or (c) the imprinting process, under which environmental conditions during an earlier phase of an organisation's history can leave a mark that resurfaces much later. The question asks only which statement 'could be' a possible reason, i.e. which statement is even capable of connecting to one of these named mechanisms — not which is proven beyond doubt. A statement that names no link at all to competition, inertia, or imprinting cannot be a 'possible reason' under this passage's theory, regardless of whether it is otherwise true.
Application: Test each numbered statement for whether it can plausibly connect to any of the three mechanisms. The passage does not give exact founding dates for these firms, so no statement can be proven with certainty — only judged on whether it even engages a named mechanism.
Statement 1 (firms as old as international firms) states an age-parity fact, but the passage never treats mere age-equality as a driver of mortality; it names competition, inertia, and imprinting instead. Nothing in Statement 1 touches any of those — it cannot be read as a possible reason.
Statement 2 (dispersed nationwide, with international presence) describes geographic spread and reach, which the passage likewise never connects to mortality hazards. It invokes none of the three named mechanisms either, so it too cannot be read as a possible reason.
Statement 3 (subjected to trade union activity from the 1960s to the 1980s) is different in kind: it describes an environmental condition from a period well before the 'recently' referenced in the question — that is, an earlier period in these firms' history, which is the kind of timing the passage's imprinting process is about. We have no way to confirm from the passage that this specific episode is what caused today's poor performance, but, unlike Statements 1 and 2, it is at least the right kind of fact to engage that mechanism at all.
Cross-check: Since Statements 1 and 2 name no link to competition, inertia, or imprinting even individually, combining them (the 'Statements 1 and 2' option) still names no such link — pairing two statements that are each irrelevant to the theory does not make them relevant together. Statement 3 remains the only statement that engages the passage's theory at all, confirming it as the answer.