Inter-Organizational Learning: Lotka-Volterra Modeling of Different Relationships

In this paper, we propose a simple model, based on Lotka-Volterra system, to simulate knowledge building in various configurations of inter-organisational partnerships. This model allows to differentiate the impacts of internal interactions and external collaborations on knowledge growth in an organisation. Following the type of partnership, i.e. competition, symbiosis or predation, we analyse the efficiency of inter-organisational knowledge building on a long-term perspective. The only relationship that demonstrates a long-term interest in the building of strictly new knowledge is predation. This kind of relationship allows large and lean organisations to complete their exploitative capabilities with explorative skills coming from small and agile organisations. Through such a relationship, a balance between exploration and exploitation can be found. This approach is a first step in a research dedicated to the study of complex adaptive systems, a well-suited framework to analyse management phenomena occurring at the edge of chaos, between stability and instability.