General Organizational Classification: An Empirical Test Using the United States and Japanese Electronics Industries

This study empirically tests the existence of populations. It reports a general organizational classification for both the United States and Japanese electronics industries. It tests for and identifies populations within a family of electronics industries and demonstrates the relevance of a general organizational classification for explaining how different natural selection processes affect different populations. Data include 669 US and 144 Japanese electronic firms. The results suggest that classification should play a more central role in development of organizational science.