Organizationl response to environmental pressures: The Policy of Affirmative Action

This article outlines a strategy for examining the effect of environmentally induced change on organizational behavior. The major concern is the response of organi zations to demands to hire greater numbers of women and minorities. Central to predicting organizational response to change is a reformulation of the concept of technological core with respect to one type of structure—the public federative organi zation. Given the literature on organizational environment and change, it is predicted that organizations will accede to demands to hire more women and minorities but will channel them into positions that are thought to confer the least cost and the greatest benefit on the organization itself irrespective of the goals of affirmative action. The implications of the study are important for predicting major obstacles to policy implementation.