Co-evolution in an organization population of which knowledge-intensive service organizations form a part

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of what the new economy and the increased importance and quantity of knowledge mean for the co-evolutionary change within organization populations of which knowledge-intensive service (KIS) organizations form a part. Co-evolution has four prerequisites, namely scarcity of customers in the market that leads to selection pressure, conscious choice that enables change, interconnectedness that enables the organizations to have an effect on each other and feedback processes that carry the long term repercussions of the choices that an organization makes. To some extent all of these deal with knowledge. A KIS organization may have several roles in co-evolution. It may enable co-evolutionary development of other organizations and it may also function as the driver of co-evolution. Additionally, KIS organizations change and develop in co-evolution with others of their kind. In different roles co-evolution may be competitive, mutualistic or exploitative.