Calm in the storm: Simulating the management of organizational co-evolution

Abstract

Whilst past research has explored the notion of co-evolution and ambidexterity in organizations, few have drawn from theoretical insights made in other domains of study such as biology and cultural evolution. This paper seeks to make a contribution towards this project, by developing an agent-based simulation model of multi-level co-evolution within an organization, with a view towards shedding new light on organizational adaptation. Unlike previous simulation studies of this nature, this study focuses on the co-evolution of behaviour at multiple-levels between interacting individuals, based on the evolutionary mechanisms of variation, selection and retention. In this way it is seen that incremental, punctuated and chaotic patterns of aggregate organizational behaviour arise from the same core building blocks of variation–selection–retention. The findings from this study point to the need for management control in ambidextrous organizations both during times of stability AND transformational change. In the latter case, this control was not that of an overpowering management suppressing variations and innovation from within the organization. Rather it might be interpreted as the voice of calm in the chaos of the storm, providing direction to the many actors within the organization and walking them along the thin line between inaction and chaos.