Physical Co-location: an intersection of problem-solving and vicarious learning

ABSTRACT Scholars have examined Revans' problem-solving praxeology in many contexts but have not fully explored the concept in the case of physical co-location. Hence, we focussed on investigating Revans' conceptualisation in a co-located context by paying particular attention to the ‘different forms of learning' that emerged from it. The research setting for this study involved two coworking spaces in Bangalore, India, whose constituents were co-located start-ups and established enterprises. Held from January to March 2020, the study involved conducting exploratory, semi-structured interviews with twelve firms. The findings suggested that in a co-located environment, a) firms learnt ‘vicariously' from a rich, external knowledge base during the enquiry-led Alpha phase b) firms learnt ‘experientially', through learning by doing and reflecting in the implementation-focussed Beta phase c) firms learnt through the process of ‘emergence’ that resulted from personal reflection and team interaction, in the revelatory Gamma phase. This study lends a novel direction in acknowledging that vicarious learning, that is, learning through the experience of others, serves as a starting point for problem-solving in a co-located context. We demonstrate that firms gain familiarity with the problem through vicarious sources, that is, from those experienced co-located firms who had journeyed on a similar path.