The Concept of Velocity

Introduction

This blog is devoted to thinking about the implications for science, technology and innovation policy both from a holistic government perspective and with an understanding of the speed of change.

All material for this page comes from or is based on.:

Ian P. McCarthy, Thomas B. Lawrence, Brian Wixted and Brian R. Gordon (2010) A Multidimensional Conceptualization Of  Environmental Velocity Academy of Management Review 2010, Vol. 35, No. 4, 604–626.

Velocity:

Bourgeois and Eisenhardt (1988) introduced this concept to the management literature in their study of strategic decision making in the microcomputer industry. They described this industry as a “high velocity environment”—one characterized by “rapid and discontinuous change in demand, competitors, technology and/or regulation, such that information is often inaccurate, unavailable, or obsolete” (Bourgeois & Eisenhardt, 1988: 816).


A common feature of the treatment of environmental velocity in the literature has been the
use of singular categorical descriptors to characterize industries—most typically as “low,”
“moderate,” or “high” velocity (e.g., Bourgeois & Eisenhardt, 1988; Eisenhardt, 1989; Eisenhardt
& Tabrizi, 1995; Judge & Miller, 1991; Nadkarni & Narayanan, 2007a,b).

The Multidimensional perspective

(p611) An important benefit of a multidimensional conceptualization of environmental velocity is
the potential it provides to examine the differences and relationships among the velocities of
different dimensions. To that end, we introduce three concepts: (1) velocity homology—the relative
similarity among the rates and directions of change of different dimensions; (2) velocity coupling—
the degree to which the velocities of different dimensions are causally connected; and
(3) velocity regimes—the different patterns of environmental velocity that emerge from variations
in velocity homology and velocity coupling.


Rate & Direction of Change

Environmental velocity is a vector quantity defined by the rate and direction of change exhibited
by one or more dimensions of the organizational environment over a specified period.
The rate of change is the amount of change in a dimension of the environment over a specified
period of time, synonymous with such concepts as pace, speed, clock rate, or frequency of
change. The direction of change, while often mentioned in studies citing Bourgeois and
Eisenhardt’s (1988) definition, has attracted relatively little attention beyond that. One possible
reason for this is the relative difficulty of describing the direction of environmental change.
Whereas the velocity of a physical object can be described simply as moving eastward at 50 km/
hr, similarly straightforward descriptions of the direction of change of an organizational environment
are not so obvious. This is particularly the case when we consider the direction of
change across different industry dimensions, such as products, technology, and regulation,
the direction of each of which could be described in numerous distinct ways.

Environmental Dimensions
The second way in which we break down the concept of environmental velocity is in terms of
the dimensions of the organizational environment that are changing. While the dimensions
of the environment that are salient for any particular study will vary according to the specifics
of the research project, there are several that have been widely used in prior research on organizational environments. We use the four dimensions suggested by Bourgeois and Eisenhardt
(1988)—demand, competitors, technology, and regulation—and to this list we add a fifth
dimension—products.

Homology
The term homology was coined by the paleontologist Richard Owen (1843) to explain the morphological similarities among organisms. It has been used by management scholars to describe the degree to which two phenomena are similar (Chen, Bliese, & Mathieu, 2005; Glick, 1985; Hanlon, 2004) and is consistent with the homogeneity- heterogeneity aspect of environmental complexity (Aldrich, 1979; Dess & Beard, 1984). In our framework, velocity homology is the degree to which the rates and directions of change of different dimensions are similar to each other over a period of time.


Velocity Coupling
A second important aspect of the relationship between velocity dimensions is the degree to which and the ways in which they interact over time. We examine these interactions through the concept of coupling. This is the degree to which elements of a system, including product components (Baldwin & Clark, 1997; Sanchez & Mahoney, 1996), individuals (DiTomaso, 2001), organizational subunits (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Weick, 1976, 1982), and organizations (Afuah, 2001; Brusoni, Prencipe, & Pavitt, 2001), are causally linked to each other (Orton & Weick, 1990; Weick, 1976). In our framework velocity coupling is the degree to which the velocities of different dimensions in an organizational environment are causally connected—the degree to which a change in the velocity of one dimension causes a change in the velocity of another.

Velocity Regimes
We propose the concept of a velocity regime as a way to describe the pattern of velocity homology and velocity coupling within an organizational environment. Although both these characteristics of velocity vary continuously, we focus on combinations of high or low homology and tight or loose coupling to more clearly illustrate how they vary and the effects of these variations. The result is a typology (see Figure 2) with four distinct velocity regimes that represent ideal types, rather than an exhaustive taxonomy of velocity conditions. To illustrate and visualize the degrees of homology and coupling that characterize each regime, we have embedded a variation of Figure 1 into each cell of Figure 2.

We can use these concepts to analyse science policy.

What is the speed of technological change?
Do reviews lead to policy change?
Does policy change = programs with money or regulatory / legal frameworks?