The study of inter-organizational interactions from the perspective of ecology. Bogotá University Hospitals Case

The main purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to answer the question of how the evolutionary process of rules allows the organization to develop designs – activities that adapt to changing environmental conditions. The starting point of this argument is based in the identification of the research gap between the literature dedicated to the study of the organization-environment (OE) relationship, specifically with respect to what is exposed by organizational Ecology (EO) against the framework of evolutionary theory. The dissertation establishes that, despite what has been developed by OE, it has drawbacks in transferring the evolutionary discourse to the case of organizations, especially when it leaves aside variation as a key element of the evolutionary process. This argument will be based on the evolutionary ontological framework and the understanding of the organization as a system of rules, generator of knowledge, considering that the OE relationship occurs through organizational designs product of the evolutionary trajectory of rules, which are presented by the interaction between individuals, situations that allow the development of activities that are ultimately those that compete, prey or cooperate and which facilitate the adaptive process. The behavior described is shown through the use of agent-based simulation with the characterization of the provision of health services in emergencies in order to show the evolutionary process in action and provide support to the developed proposal. Finally, the document establishes a contribution to the research gap with the development of a framework for understanding the evolutionary framework in the organizational field, providing both theoretical and practical contributions so that researchers and managers can take it as a starting point and carry it to practice.

Organization-Environment Relationship, Organizational Ecology, Evolutionary Ontology, Social Systems