Co-evolution as a concept developed in the biological sciences to
describe reciprocal changes in interacting species over many generations
(Thompson, 1999). Transferring this idea to change within industrial organizations
Naturally occurring phenomena stem from outside the sphere of influence of
industrial actors within any defined focus. As such, this includes institutional
regulatory processes, but it may also derive from extra-institutional sources, as our
specific case will show. Examples include the advancement of scientific knowledge in
chemistry, and growing awareness of global ecological issues and their institutional
outcomes in the form of incentives for R&D or taxation on ecological externalities. At
the same time, there are man-made or intentional phenomena (i.e. decision events)
that aim at optimization on a specific level of analysis (i.e. strategic goal setting) in
adapting to external changes. Our specific case will show that such types of events
representing certain ongoing processes do occur and influence one another over time,
thus creating new collective perceptions of reality that can become events in their own
right.