The BTF Vision of Unfolding Rule Worlds
本文回顾了《企业行为理论》的核心思想，强调其通过动态过程模型揭示组织规则与学习的意外后果，对组织研究者具有启发价值。
A Behavioral Theory of the Firm (Cyert & March, 1963) is a multifaceted collection of “little ideas” that has the potential to evolve into multiple and potentially revolutionary directions. In my first encounters with the BTF (the book and the theoretical research program), I was intrigued by its predominant focus on models of dynamic processes. BTF employs a distinctive style of theory construction that proceeds through articulation of models of behavior in organizations, and that builds on relatively parsimonious and realistic assumptions about underlying organizational processes (of decision making, information processing, expectation formation, etc.) and their limitations (arising from bounded rationality of organizational actors and processes). It is a bold approach of modeling the organizational processes that shape action in and of organizations, and it has been a persistent source of inspiration for many students of organizations since then. At the same time, BTF models tend to be dynamic (often incorporate computer programs that simulate dynamic processes) and can reveal the surprising implications of organizational processes and structures (e.g., competency traps, superstitious learning, garbage cans, etc.) and their unfolding in time. In particular, dynamic models of organizational learning and organizational rules appear to offer unusual potential for the future elaboration of the BTF.