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In the extant research on online knowledge communities (OKCs), little attention has been paid to the influence of membership fluidity on the coevolution of the social and knowledge systems. This article aims to fill this gap.

Based on the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework, this paper constructs a simulation model to study the coevolution of these two systems under different levels of membership fluidity.

By analyzing the evolution of these systems with the vector autoregression (VAR) method, we find that social and knowledge systems become more orderly as the coevolution progresses. Furthermore, in communities with low membership fluidity, the microlevel of the social system (i.e. users) drives the coevolution, whereas in communities with high membership fluidity, the microlevel of the knowledge system (i.e. users' views) drives the coevolution.

This paper extends the application of the ASA framework and enriches the literature on membership fluidity of online communities and the literature on driving factors for coevolution of the social and knowledge systems in OKCs. On a practical level, our work suggests that community administrators should adopt different strategies for different membership fluidity to efficiently promote the coevolution of the social and knowledge systems in OKCs.

This study aims to understand how the coevolution of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and emerging economy institutions affects social and economic (in)equality in an ambiguous, emerging economy context from a political actor perspective.

Qualitative in nature, the study builds on conversations with 20 political actors involved in the peacebuilding process in Myanmar/Burma. It analyzes their perceptions of interaction of MNEs and host economy institutions from a social constructionist viewpoint.

The study identifies four coevolution patterns which portray the evolving interaction between MNE activities and different elements of their host institutional environment as well as their consequences for social and economic (in)equality.

This study contributes to critical international business research on emerging economies by emphasizing the different and partly conflicting host institutions of various stakeholder groups involved in the coevolution of MNEs and host institutional environments. The more nuanced conceptualization of the complex institutional environment enables the analysis of inequality as a direct and indirect outcome of MNE–institution interaction. Thus, the study connects to the business and human rights discussion and provides insight into the consequences of MNEs’ adoption of social and environment standards.

Organizational researchers live in two worlds. The first demands and rewards speculations about how to improve performance. The second demands and rewards adherence to rigorous standards of scholarship (March & Sutton, 1997, p. 698).Those of us who study organizations and are professors of management work on the front lines, so to speak, where the beliefs we have about how to improve managerial performance get passed directly on to practitioners. The question is, What right do we have to put our beliefs in a privileged position? Beliefs, by definition, are supposed to be true. According to Webster’s (1996) a belief is a conviction about the truth of some statement and/or reality of some phenomenon, especially when based on examination of evidence. Are all of our lectures based on consensually agreed upon evidentiary standards? What are these standards and who should maintain them?

The purpose of this paper is to examine deinternationalisation through the lens of coevolutionary theory. The intention is to offer a fuller understanding of the processes and strategic challenges involved in this process and establish a path for future research in this area of internationalisation theory.

The paper draws links between emerging themes in organizational theory and internationalisation to aid the conceptual development and understanding of the process of deinternationalisation.

The exploration of links between organizational theory and internationalisation allows for the process of deinternationalisation to be more fully distinguished. The paper identifies processes of managed selection and retardation that will inform this process of organizational change.

Whilst there are concerns over the applicability of concepts from natural sciences within the social sciences, the paper does offer a number of research propositions to guide future academic investigation within the field of deinternationalisation.

By linking research on coevolution to the study of internationalisation, the paper contributes to the understanding of the emergence of differing paths and trajectories involved in the process of international contraction and expansion. Furthermore, coevolutionary theory allows the process of deinternationalisation to be conceptualized as a means of generating and guiding future study on this under‐explored area of internationalization research.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the coevolutionary dynamics between multistage overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integration and knowledge network reconfiguration and the impact of this coevolution on industrial technology innovation.

This paper builds a coevolution analysis framework in stages and constructs structural equation models for empirical tests using the Chinese technology-sourcing overseas M&A events that occurred from 2001 to 2012.

Overseas M&A integration and knowledge network reconfiguration are in a coevolutionary relationship, driving industrial technology innovation. The acquirer adopts initial integration degree that matches the resource relatedness between the acquiring and acquired parties, promoting initial industrial technology innovation through initial knowledge network reconfiguration. Initial knowledge network reconfiguration will feed back to the M&A integration decision in the mid-to-late stage through increasing knowledge similarity and narrowing network position difference. The higher the improvement of mid-to-late integration degree, the more it can drive mid-to-late industrial technology innovation through mid-to-late knowledge network reconfiguration.

Future research can accurately classify overseas M&A integration stages through case tracking and explore other network attributes.

Practical guidelines are provided for managers on how to implement a multistage overseas M&A integration strategy, optimize knowledge network reconfiguration and promote industrial technology innovation. Significant practical implications are presented, especially in academia, society and quality of life.

Different from the previous research considering M&A integration as a single-stage decision, this paper emphasizes the dynamics of the M&A integration process and explores the coevolution mechanism of multistage overseas M&A integration and knowledge network reconfiguration.

Purpose – To discuss how coevolutionary framework is useful to research emerging and evolving phenomena, such as global sourcing of business services, where West meets East.

Approach – The authors first introduce the phenomenon of global sourcing of business services and then review extant literature on coevolutionary research.

Findings – The authors discuss how global sourcing is a coevolutionary and multilevel phenomenon, which can be better understood by identifying micro and macro factors (task, firm, industry, and country), demand and supply (clients and service providers), technological and institutional factors (Information and Communication Technology (ICT), digitization, demographic trends, national and regional policies).

Research implications – The authors identify the main mechanisms, research questions, and methodological issues that underlie coevolutionary analysis.

Originality/Value – The main contribution of this chapter is twofold: provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of global sourcing of business services, and assert that in coevolutionary research the role of mechanisms affecting a phenomenon may change over time.

Manufacturers increasingly seek new ways to add customer value and differentiate. However, in business markets such efforts often remain relatively unsuccessful, leading to a large number of services offered and higher costs, but with limited corresponding returns. Based on extensive expert interviews and case study research, this paper studies how suppliers in the highly commoditized metalworking industry try to realize new types of customer value. The paper identifies “ideal” value positions pursued by Belgian contract manufacturers and service providers in order to survive in an industry characterized by fierce price competition from low labor cost countries. Further, the paper shows how companies can migrate to these “ideal” value offerings. Key success factors and potential traps for each ideal type are identified. Market strategy transition necessitates an internal “alignment” strategy and an external “coevolution” with chain partners.

This paper provides an analytical theory of appropriateness judgments that introduces structural dimensions in the study of social rationality of organization members. This approach helps explore the coevolution of members’ relative position in structure and normative choices in their organization. Illustration of this approach is based on the study of controversial judicial decisions and dynamics of advice networks in a courthouse where lay judges have to choose between punitive and nonpunitive awards in cases of unfair competition in business. In this case, coevolution is facilitated by an endogenous process of centralization–decentralization–recentralization of advice networks over time, and by use of a procedural “weak legal culture” that helps align and homogenize conflicting normative choices among organization members. It is suggested that this approach to social rationality helps revisit our understanding of social processes, in this case collective learning and secondary socialization in organizations and flexible labor markets.

Our study advances theory in supply chain resilience (SCRes) by identifying and describing the mechanisms through which interorganizational relationships (IORs) contribute to SCRes.

We employ a multi-method conceptual development design combining structured and narrative review of the literature, supported by illustrative case studies. A four-stage refinement process was used for data reduction, and analysis was informed by complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory.

Our findings identify connectivity, collectivity and scalability as key mechanisms through which relationships between organizations contribute to SCRes. These mechanisms draw on IOR elements of information sharing, decision synchronization and incentive alignment to augment self-organization and emergence, and adaptation and coevolution via modifying/advancing resilience strategies and practices.

Our study advances theory and practice of SCRes by expounding on how connectivity, collectivity and scalability act as mechanisms that drive and diffuse the contribution of resilient strategies/practices to resilience capability. This is significant for strategic alignment between IORs and SCRes.