Responding to Hypercompetition: The Structure and Processes of a Regional Learning Network Organization

The authors present a model of the learning process in a regional network organization. The model is based on a six-year study of Nordvest Forum, perhaps the only multifirm network in the world to have been purposefully formed to help its member companies learn how to develop and apply knowledge about management and organizational change. The network, composed of 46 companies located in and around Ålesund. Norway, has been an effective mechanism for helping many of the region's firms respond to today's hypercompetitive global marketplace. Implications for research on hypercompetition, learning networks, and regional development policy are discussed.