This phenomenon is easier to observe in an international transforming business environment where new companies, MNEs and local companies are setting up, industries are being formed and institutions are transforming. Then the learning becomes more perceptible and more easily observable as all levels co-evolve under each other’s influences. This is the reason why for our background we conducted a 15-year longitudinal qualitative observation of the transformation of Poland while the political and economic systems were changing: from communism to a more market driven economy; this meant that new industries were being born locally and both MNEs and local organizations were taking advantage of the change of political and economic systems to set up shop. We based our study on institutional theory.
We would like to show that neither organizations, industries nor institutions can be considered unidirectional recipients of knowledge (Morgan and al. 2007) and analyze how the three levels: the micro, mezzo and macro actors simultaneously learn from each other, while they themselves evolve in an international transforming business environment. We called this phenomenon: co-evolution.
The subject of co-evolution has been devoted a relatively limited number of studies since the triple level of co-analysis is difficult to disentangle and has to be analyzed over a certain period of time. The purpose of this study is to give a provide rich learning and a shortcut for development by westerners and local players at all three levels in the areas of the world that will be developing in the near future such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENAs).
KEYWORDS: knowledge transfers, multilevel learning, co-evolution, knowledge sharing, MNEs, transforming environments.