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Organizational Learning
Abstract
No theory or model of organizational learning has widespread acceptance. This paper clarifies the distinction between organizational learning and organizational adaptation and shows that change does not necessarily imply learning. There are different levels of learning, each having a different impact on the strategic management of the firm.
... Here, the individuals' knowledge is tethered to their learning aptitude, amplifying their ability to execute effective actions that bolster performance. This notion aligns with Fiol and Lyles (1985), who emphasize enhancing actions, comprehension, and knowledge. ...
... Rigorous punitive systems, intolerant of error; Beliefs and interests of individuals and specific groups; Lack of balance in the division of power and responsibility; Lack of employee motivation to learn. Argyris and Schön (1996); Berthoin Antal, Lenhardt and Rosenbrock (2001); Cannon and Edmondson (2001); Edmondson (1999Edmondson ( , 2002Edmondson ( , 2008; Kim (1993); Schein (1993); Starbuck and Hedberg (2001 Fiol and Lyles (1985); Morgan (1996). ...
... Moreover, the notion of power distribution equality, underpinned by a flexible and decentralized organizational structure, is another favorable factor for learning (Fiol & Lyles, 1985;Morgan, 1996). However, while such equality can spur change and innovation, it can sometimes hinder full commitment (Scherer & Tran, 2001). ...
Universities should be dedicated to providing an education that fosters social transformation by interrelating the environmental, social, and economic dimensions. This article asserts that a truly sustainable university extends beyond merely “greening” the campus—it emphasizes sustainability across all core processes, be it in education, management, research, or community relations. The primary aim of this study is to delve into organizational learning and sustainable management processes, drawing inspiration from the I3E model introduced by Cebrian (2016). A qualitative case study was undertaken at a Brazilian federal university listed in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings to achieve this. The research thoroughly examined institutional documents and interviews with managerial staff to discern strategic decisions, sustainable initiatives, and best practices. The findings suggest that the journey towards learning for sustainability is riddled with challenges, such as a paucity of commitment, communication gaps, ineffective leadership, distrust within the institution, limited funding, conflicting interests among various groups and individuals, and the burden of rigid bureaucratic protocols. However, facilitating factors have also been identified, including reshaping pre-existing mental models, a genuine interest in learning, and a conducive organizational framework. This research enriches the existing discourse on sustainability and organizational learning and offers a comprehensive and interconnected perspective on these topics. Additionally, it delivers valuable insights for academic administrators aspiring to craft a blueprint for a sustainable university. It does so by addressing overarching challenges and placing the components of the institutional management model in context, thereby offering direction for sustainable core processes in areas such as teaching, research, outreach, and management.
... Drawing on organisational learning theory, the research delineates the distinct impacts of digital business strategies on both exploratory and exploitative learning, contingent upon varying degrees of organisational memory and its distribution. By weaving the organisational learning theory into the tapestry of digital research discourse, this investigation significantly enhances and evolves existing theoretical frameworks (Fiol & Lyles 1985). Undoubtedly, this research also extends pivotal practical insights for MNEs in South Africa, guiding them in leveraging digital business strategies to bolster performance and sidestep potential digital pitfalls. ...
... Lastly, by integrating the theory of organisational learning (Fiol & Lyles 1985) with the digital strategy discourse for MNEs, this study offers a fresh theoretical lens. It posits that the efficacy of a digital business strategy is not just determined by the strategy itself but also by how organisations learn from and adapt to it. ...
Background: Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) are obsessed with implementing digital business strategy in global competition, but there is limited knowledge about how and when the MNEs can achieve performance. Aim: This study aims to clarify the influence of digital business strategy on MNEs’ performance in South Africa, and whether this impact is mediated by exploratory and exploitative learning and moderated by organisational memory level and dispersion. Setting: Senior executives from the MNEs participated in the year-long survey. Before the survey, the participants were communicated and agreed, and the survey was completed by email. Method: Two-stage data from 314 MNEs in South Africa were obtained. Hierarchical regression analysis and Hayes Process Macros were used. Results: The results show that digital business strategy positively influenced performance, and the relationship was mediated by exploratory and exploitative learning. Organisational memory level and dispersion had an inverted U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship between digital business strategy and exploratory and exploitative learning. Conclusion: This study provides the first insight into the relationship between digital business strategy and MNEs’ performance in South Africa. It reveals the mediating mechanism and boundary conditions of this relationship, making an important contribution to the literature concerning digital business strategy. Contribution: This study encourages MNEs in South Africa to implement digital business strategies according to local conditions. What’s more, exploratory and exploitative learning is a strategic process that cannot be ignored, and moderate organisational memory can help these MNEs benefit from digital business strategy better.
... leads to more adaptive behavior that hinders common development and learning (Edmondson, 2002;Fiol & Lyles, 1985;Powell & Mainiero, 1999), as indicated by the dashed back loop in Figure 4. This is also in line with previous research emphasizing the importance of value congruence in diverse teams in order to benefit from heterogeneity (Jehn et al., 1999;Olsen & Martins, 2012). ...
... where the more heterogeneous the interests, the more scope there is for learning through reflection and action (Edmondson, 2002;Fiol & Lyles, 1985). Our research shows that an authentic dialog at eye level between all organizational members helps to jointly develop solutions (consensus), to build a "community" of diverse individuals within the organization (cohesion), and to build the capacity to learn how to proceed in the future (reflexivity). ...
In the context of working from home triggered by the COVID‐19 pandemic, we theorize on inclusive organizational behavior (IOB) as a participatory practice to use diverse interests as a resource for developing a long‐term working mode. We adopt a mixed‐methods design to examine qualitative data from four companies and quantitative data from a company survey. In the qualitative study, we identify four IOB approaches (blighting, silencing, balancing, and harmonizing) employed by various organizational actors (HR/managers, employees, and their representatives). These practices concern organizational culture, structures, and everyday interactions in dealing with diverse interests. In the quantitative study, we examine the relationship between heterogeneity of interests, participation, and organizational experiences with working from home. We integrate our findings in an IOB model and show that a higher degree of participation fosters positive experiences with working from home, as well as opportunities for learning. Addressing diverse interests through participatory practices may involve challenges and lengthy negotiations yet offers the potential to learn from diversity for future working modes. Our research contributes to the conceptualization and practical implementation of IOB by emphasizing the importance of participation in co‐creating opportunities for learning from given and potentially emerging interests in a constantly changing world of work.
... Despite the extensive research on organisational learning, there remains no universally accepted theory or definition of it (Argote, 2013;Crossan et al., 1999;Easterby-Smith and Lyles, 2012;Fiol and Lyles, 1985;Huber, 1991). Argote and Ophir (2017) describe organisational learning as a process that changes the organisation as a result of experiences. ...
... Argote and Ophir (2017) describe organisational learning as a process that changes the organisation as a result of experiences. Fiol and Lyles (1985) view organisational learning as the acquisition of knowledge from experiences and the translation of that knowledge into actions taken by the organisation. By studying learning from cyber security incidents, our aim is to understand both the practices organisations employ to extract lessons from incidents and the changes they make because of them. ...
... Argyris and Schön (1978) coined organizational learning to describe detecting and correcting administrative errors. Fiol and Lyles (1985) later described it as enhancing activities via increased knowledge and understanding. Huber (1991) hypothesized that an entity learns if the range of its potential behaviors changes due to its information processing. ...
... Compared to the other studies, Ismail (2005) discovered that the learning dimensions of Embedded Systems, Systems Connection, and Continuous Learning had substantial predictive effects on innovative activities occurring inside the company. According to Maria and Watkins (2003), embedded systems, strategic leadership, continuous learning, and team learning accounted for more significant variance in adopting innovation than the other three elements of the learning organization. Ugurluoglu et al. (2013) discovered Embedded systems, Systems connection, and Continuous learning to be significantly predictive of innovation. ...
... One of the proven ways that help universities adapt to change and increase their performance is learning, more specifically, organisational learning (Kezar and Holcombe 2019). In fact, organisational learning practices and processes can facilitate change and enhance organisations (Argyris and Schön 1996;Fiol and Lyles 1985;Garvin 1993;Huber 1991). ...
Universities are facing changes that could be adapted by learning. Organisational learning helps universities in attaining better organisational and sustainable performance. The study aims to combine and explore how organisational learning culture enables organisational learning to contribute to better organisational performance and better sustainable performance, following the natural resource-based view and organisational learning theory. The study examines the relationship between organisational learning culture, organisational learning, organisational performance, and sustainable performance in the university context from university teachers. The author collected 221 surveys from public university teachers in Europe to test the model. The results indicate a positive relationship between organisational learning culture and organisational learning. In addition to that, the positive relationship between organisational learning and organisational performance is indicated. Moreover, the results indicate a positive relationship between organisational learning and sustainable performance. The results also show that the organisational learning process mediates organisational learning culture and university performance. The study addresses a gap in the scarce studies in the university context for organisational learning and sustainable performance. Finally, this study reproduces an organisational model that has been adapted for universities.
... That makes the group learning context highly relevant for our purposes. Fiol and Lyles (1985) describe group learning as improving actions through better knowledge and understanding. In contrast, Edmondson et al. (2001) define it as improving the performance of a team, reflecting, and acting to obtain and process information to find, understand, and adapt to changes in the environment. ...
... In today's rapidly changing business environment, e-learning within educational technology has become an indispensable core strategy for modern enterprises. With continuous advancements in information technology and deepening globalization, e-learning transcends traditional teaching and training methods, becoming a necessary condition for enterprises to maintain their competitiveness in the face of swift market changes [1][2][3]. The flexible application of technology education offers employees a learning mode that overcomes the limitations of time and location while also bringing significant benefits to enterprises by controlling their learning costs, enhancing employee performance, and achieving cross-national and remote training. ...
In the rapidly evolving landscape of information technology and with the ubiquitousness of the internet, corporations are increasingly focused on harnessing educational technology to boost their competitive prowess. A pivotal question emerges: Can they implement this technology effectively and sustainably to enhance the learning capabilities of their workforce and facilitate their accumulation of knowledge and skills? This concern remains a central focus in the corporate sphere. From educational psychology, goal orientation theory offers an explanatory framework for understanding learner (employee) behavior variations following learning interventions. This research is grounded in the e-learning environment fostered by educational technology within corporations. It explores and hypothesizes the impact of employee achievement motivations—including learning, proving, and avoiding goal orientations—on self-regulated learning (encompassing cognitive, motivational, and behavioral adjustments). Additionally, this study examines how employees’ self-regulated learning and learning satisfaction with the learning process influence learning effectiveness (learning outcomes) assessments. Our empirical survey targeted 380 employees from 26 companies participating in corporate educational technology learning (e-learning), with our research hypotheses tested through PLS structural equation modeling. The analysis indicates that employees’ learning and proving goal orientations indirectly positively affect their learning outcomes by mediating self-regulated learning and learning satisfaction. Conversely, employees’ avoidance goal orientation indirectly negatively impacts their learning outcomes by mediating their self-regulated learning and learning satisfaction. Finally, the researchers offer recommendations for management and future research directions.
... El aprendizaje ayuda al progreso y al cambio de la percepción del entorno, del comportamiento y del desarrollo cognitivo. Fiol & Lyles (1985) proponen que el aprendizaje genera un cambio en la conducta de los individuos. Más allá del aprendizaje individual también se encuentra el aprendizaje colectivo que corresponde a la capacidad de un grupo de personas para aprender a trabajar en equipo y construir acuerdos (Örtenblad, 2001;Pahl-Wostl, 2009). ...
In recent years, research has been done on participation, however, the collective learning of actors is not addressed and there is a lack of knowledge of this process. This research asks: How do local actors learn and build a common technical language, coordination and agreements in the peri-urban territory of Melipilla? The analysis focuses on a modification of the Communal Regulatory Plan (PRC) carried out between November 2013 and December 2015. Thus, the objective of this research is to understand the collective learning process of local actors in the construction of their relationships. Then, a brief conceptual framework is developed about governance, learning and the link between the two is established. Semi-structured interviews with local actors are carried out and content analysis technique is applied in the method. The results are divided into two components: the perception of learning in the process of coordination and agreements, as well as the learning of technical language. Finally, this research contributes to the verification of a group learning of external origin on coordination and the construction of agreements, the difficulty in the technical use of language and the absence of creation of new language.
... Perhaps the dynamic nature of the business landscape and the competitive environments in which firms operate have limited the effort devoted to understanding firm's behavioral consistency. For example, the strategic change and dynamic capability literatures emphasize that firms resisting change and adaptation are less likely to survive (Fiol & Lyles, 1985;Fortune & Mitchell, 2012;Greve, 1998;Worch et al., 2012). These arguments are typically developed in the context of market-related strategies and actions (Datta et al., 2003;Dutton & Duncan, 1987;Kelly & Amburgey, 1991;Miller & Shamsie, 2001). ...
This study explores whether and under what conditions women CEOs engage in behavioral consistency when promoting CSR practices. Specifically, drawing from the social role and behavioral consistency theories, we argue that women's CEO presence will positively affect CSR consistency. We use two categories to capture the firm's consistency in CSR practices: inter-domain and temporal consistency. Inter-domain consistency indicates reliability in a firm's conduct across its various stakeholder groups. Temporal consistency refers to the consistency of a firm's behavior toward its stakeholders over time. Using 167 unique S&P 500 firms over the 2005-2013 sample period, we found that women CEOs maintain higher temporal and inter-domain consistency than men. Our results also show that women CEO-led firms with greater gender diversity on their boards exhibit higher temporal and inter-domain consistency levels. Our study advances our understanding of how women CEOs use their situational and positional power to improve such equity and consistency.
... In addition, organizations can absorb security experience from outside the organization, such as experience from external companies [60]. Security knowledge gained from any of these sources can guide the secure application of IT innovations [4,32,60]. ...
... Organizational learning assumes using knowledge and comprehension to improve performance (Fiol & Lyles, 1985). Many researchers have linked organizational learning to higher organizational performance (Hurley & Hult, 1998 Organizational learning includes learned behaviors and interpretations (Imran, et al., 2016). ...
Organizational change becomes important when companies fail to accomplish planned goals in a turbulent business environment. However, successful change implementation becomes impossible without organizational members' change readiness. Resistance to change is a factor that can jeopardize change efforts the most, and change readiness reduces potential change resistance. Also, continuous learning of all organization members is an essential prerequisite for successful change implementation. The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of change readiness on change success and investigate the role of organizational learning capacity in this relationship. The study was conducted in September 2021, and the sample included 43 large companies operating in Croatia. The results of PLS-SEM analysis show that the impact of change readiness on the success of organizational change is fully mediated by organizational learning capacity.
... In addition, learning from failure involves forgetting and relearning. Forgetting is a prerequisite for establishing new cognitive and behavioral patterns and relies on relearning the failure experience (Fiol & Lyles, 1985). Thus, learning from failure enables organizations to obtain not only knowledge of what they thought was right, but also knowledge of what they thought was wrong but what was actually right, with far-reaching effects on their future cognitive, behavioral, and practical activities. ...
Restricted by unfavorable external environments and weak operational capabilities, social enterprises often fail. However, the issue of whether and how learning from failure affects social enterprise growth performance has not yet been sufficiently focused and effectively addressed. Based on resource orchestration theory, this study analyzes the mechanism between learning from failure and social enterprise growth performance using a two-stage sample of 189 Chinese social enterprises from Shandong and Beijing. We also explore the moderating role of failure normalization, which supplements research gaps and buffers Chinese social enterprise growth. The results show that learning from failure is significantly and positively related to social enterprise growth performance. Resource orchestration intervenes in the link between learning from failure and social enterprise growth performance. In addition, the contingency impact of failure normalization influences learning from failure and social enterprise growth. Our study underscores the significance of resource orchestration in the integration and application of commercial and social elements in social enterprises to achieve the co-development of economic and social performance. The findings not only reveal the mediating mechanism and contextual conditions under which learning from failure drives the growth performance of social enterprises but also provide insights into the survival and development of Chinese social enterprises in the context of economic transformation.
... The third and last phase of the scenario manipulated organizational learning (Fiol & Lyles, 1985). This involved focusing on the follow-up recovery phase which occurs after an immediate recovery has been provided (Miller et al., 2000). ...
The ninth chapter titled “Challenges of Organizational Learning” from the second part of the book Managing Learning Enterprises titled “Challenges of Implementing a Learning Enterprise” begins by identifying the common misconceptions about learning organizations and organizational learning. A learning organization is an environment in which organizational learning takes place. Even though every organization engages in organizational learning, but it could be imposed by top management, the best environment for organizational learning is a learning organization. Learning organizations are able to continuously change when all their members are involved. Two possible outcomes of organizational learning have been identified—changes in mental models and thinking and changes in behavior as a reflection of the new knowledge. The key question “Are organizations capable of learning?” was also addressed by noting that changes based on newly acquired knowledge remain in the system even after the people who created them have left the organization and influence the behavior of newcomers. The chapter also looks at organizational learning in modern ecosystems as adaptive, self-regulating learning systems, in supply chains and in coopetitive arrangements. The chapter concludes with an analysis of entrepreneurial organizational learning.
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact mechanism of the degree of innovation failure on breakthrough innovation in Chinese listed companies, and examines the moderating effect of the company’s own knowledge-based capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on organizational learning theory and using the innovation failure data of invention patents from Chinese A-share listed companies on the main board from 2003 to 2017 as research samples, this study constructs and examines a comprehensive framework and its impact on breakthrough innovation regarding “what kind of innovation failure will promote breakthrough innovation”, focusing on innovation failure, enterprise knowledge base, and breakthrough innovation.
Findings
Empirical research has found a U-shaped relationship between innovation failure and breakthrough innovation. In other words, both a low level of failure and an extremely high level of failure can significantly promote breakthrough innovation in enterprises. Furthermore, when the depth of enterprise knowledge is high, it further strengthens the non-linear relationship between innovation failure and breakthrough innovation.
Originality/value
The research results enrich the study of the failure predicament and breakthrough innovation of Chinese technology innovation enterprises, revealing effective paths for Chinese technology innovation enterprises to get rid of the passive situation of innovation failure, and providing theoretical support and practical reference for “breaking new ground and achieving breakthrough innovation”.
Impact statement
Portrayals of startup founders in entertainment media often show scrappy university dropouts battling to get funding - and then finally bringing their new product successfully to market. This article asks and answers the question as to whether or not this anti-education scenario is truly the norm. Is higher education helpful or not in getting funded? Using data from a large startup competition, where some startups ultimately get funded and others do not, we have the required treatment and control groups to be able to shed light on that research question. A primary impact of this paper is that it shows academics, founders and investors that education level is a positive factor in getting funded. A secondary impact is that there appears to be a negative curvilinear relationship between years of education and funding success. This means that there may be an optimal level of education after which additional education no longer helps attract professional investors, but may actually begin to be an impediment.
Background
Organizational learning is critical for delivering safe, high-quality surgical care, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where perioperative outcomes remain poor. While current investments in LMICs prioritize physical infrastructure, equipment, and staffing, investments in organizational learning are equally important to support innovation, creativity, and continuous improvement of surgical quality. This study aims to assess the extent to which health facilities in Tanzania’s Lake Zone perform as learning organizations from the perspectives of surgical providers. The insights gained from this study can motivate future quality improvement initiatives and investments to improve surgical outcomes.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from an adapted survey to explore the key components of organizational learning, including a supportive learning environment, effective learning processes, and encouraging leadership. Our sample included surgical team members and leaders at 20 facilities (health centers, district hospitals, and regional hospitals). We calculated the average of the responses at individual facilities. Responses that were 5+ on a 7-point scale or 4+ on a 5-point scale were considered positive. We examined the variation in responses by facility characteristics using a one-way ANOVA or Student’s t-test. We used univariate and multiple regression to assess relationships between facility characteristics and perceptions of organizational learning.
Results
Ninety-eight surgical providers and leaders participated in the survey. The mean facility positive response rate was 95.1% (SD 6.1%). Time for Reflection was the least favorable domain with a score of 62.5% (SD 35.8%). There was variation by facility characteristics including differences in time for reflection when comparing by level of care (P=0.02) and location (P=0.01), and differences in trying new approaches (P=0.008), capacity building (P=0.008), and information transfer (P=0.01) when comparing public versus faith-based facilities. In multivariable analysis, suburban centers had less time for reflection than urban facilities (adjusted difference = -0.48; (95% CI: -0.95, -0.01; P=0.046)). Surgical team members reported more positive responses compared to surgical team leaders.
Conclusion
We found a high overall positive response rate in characterizing organizational learning in surgery in 20 health facilities in Tanzania’s Lake Zone. Our findings identify areas for improvement and provide a baseline for assessing the effectiveness of change initiatives. Future research should focus on validating the adapted survey and exploring the impact of strong learning environments on surgical outcomes in LMICs. Organizational learning is crucial in surgery and further research, funding, and policy work should be dedicated to improving learning cultures in health facilities.
This study, which uses grounded theory procedures, explores the dynamic aspects of the Civil Society Organization (CSO)-government collaboration process by considering the case of South Korea's Seoul Community Development Initiatives program. Through multi-site case studies involving 31 in-depth interviews, we identified six different patterns of how CSOs define their roles within cross-sectoral collaboration processes which are shaped by various configurations of the respective levels of government involvement and CSOs' community engagement. Our findings suggest that strong CSO leadership, previous collaboration experience , and proactive community involvement by the CSOs all play vital roles in fostering desirable outcomes for CSOs' cross-sectoral collaboration across the six patterns. K E Y W O R D S
This study draws on archival sources to investigate the ways in which management control may contribute to and support organizational resilience by analyzing crises from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Apollo (1961–1972) and Space Shuttle (1972–2011) programs. Both programs suffered significant events with tragic consequences. A fire killed three astronauts during a launch rehearsal test of Apollo 1 . During the Space Shuttle program, the Challenger broke apart shortly after launch, and the Columbia disintegrated upon re‐entering Earth's atmosphere; both tragedies resulted in the death of all seven crew members. NASA's recovery from the three disasters and subsequent achievements exemplifies organizational resilience. This study analyzes and discusses how management control contributed to such efforts, which enabled the space programs to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of crises which could have very well led to the abandonment of the United States’ spacefaring endeavours.
The aim of the research is to identify the factors which enable / restrain public managers’ learning from past experience.
The article draws upon research undertaken in Italian local governments after the last performance-based reform (2009). It gives evidence of the ways of learning in organizations characterized by a bureaucratic administrative culture, a political regime instability and ones that operate under financial stress conditions. These circumstances are common in many public administrations in the “era” of the global financial, economic and fiscal crisis.
We based our analysis on a cross-sectional data set and the research was carried out using an OLS model.
Besides the factors identified in the performance management literature which foster public managers’ learning, we found that the political regime stability produced positive effects on learning. Moreover, executives in municipalities characterized with an higher percentage of enforcement measures tended to be more aware of the importance of measuring and analyzing past performance in order to reduce further potential financial criticalities.
Learning has been identified as important component of collaborative capacity (Bardach, 1998, 2001). Without the capacity to learn on the organizational, team, and individual levels, public organizations may also lag in their ability to collaborate successfully across organizational boundaries. Nowhere is the need to collaborate more apparent than in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which was created in part to foster collaboration among 22 distinctly different member organizations. This manuscript examines the connection between organizational learning and collaborative capacity, with special emphasis on DHS. By matching questions from the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) with questions from the 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS), this study assesses key learning indicators on the federal level. Findings suggest that DHS employees lag behind their counterparts on one key measure of organizational learning: the ability to assess performance gaps. This lag may affect the organization's ability to collaborate effectively, but progress may be made if potential organizational learning disorders (OLDs) are examined and addressed. Special attention is given to action learning as a tool for overcoming potential learning disorders and improving organizational performance.
Purpose
This paper aims to design a hybrid model of knowledge-based performance management system (KBPMS) for facilitating Lean Six-Sigma (L6s) application to increase contractor productivity without compromising human safety in Indonesian upstream oil field operations that manage ageing and life extension (ALE) facilities.
Design/methodology/approach
The research design applies a pragmatic paradigm by employing action research strategy with qualitative-quantitative methodology involving 385 of 1,533 workers. The KBPMS-L6s conceptual framework is developed and enriched with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritize fit-for-purpose Key Performance Indicators. The application of L6s with Human Performance Modes analysis is used to provide a statistical baseline approach for pre-assessment of the contractor’s organizational capabilities. A comprehensive literature review is given for the main pillars of the contextual framework.
Findings
The KBPMS-L6s concept has given an improved hierarchy for strategic and operational levels to achieve a performance benchmark to manage ALE facilities in Indonesian upstream oil field operations. To increase quality management practices in managing ALE facilities, the L6s application requires an assessment of the organizational capability of contractors and an analysis of Human Performance Modes (HPM) to identify levels of construction workers’ productivity based on human competency and safety awareness that have never been done in this field.
Research limitations/implications
The action research will only focus on the contractors’ productivity and safety performances that are managed by infrastructure maintenance programs for managing integrity of ALE facilities in Indonesian upstream of oil field operations. Future research could go toward validating this approach in other sectors.
Practical implications
This paper discusses the implications of developing the hybrid KBPMS- L6s enriched with AHP methodology and the application of HPM analysis to achieve a 14% reduction in inefficient working time, a 28% reduction in supervision costs, a 15% reduction in schedule completion delays, and a 78% reduction in safety incident rates of Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), Days Away Restricted or Job Transfer (DART) and Motor Vehicle Crash (MVC), as evidence of achieving fit-for-purpose KPIs with safer, better, faster, and at lower costs.
Social implications
This paper does not discuss social implications
Originality/value
This paper successfully demonstrates a novel use of Knowledge-Based system with the integration AHP and HPM analysis to develop a hybrid KBPMS-L6s concept that successfully increases contractor productivity without compromising human safety performance while implementing ALE facility infrastructure maintenance program in upstream oil field operations.
Recent studies have provided empirical evidence that innovation performance is related to the way a firm is embedded in its supply network, specifically the centrality of its network position, but it remains unclear why some firms can use inputs from suppliers better than others, despite having comparable structural characteristics in their supply networks. Drawing on theories of social networks and organizational climate, this study examines the role of buying firms' organizational climate for innovation. It uses several structured and unstructured datasets for S&P 500 firms and applies count regression models to test hypotheses. Supply network data from FactSet were analyzed to determine the degree centrality of a buying firm. Computer‐aided content analysis was used to capture the organizational climate of buying firms based on online employee reviews collected from Glassdoor. The results suggest a positive relationship between the degree centrality and the innovation performance of buying firms. Moreover, certain facets of the organizational climate related to learning, including rewards and career progress, as well as work pressure management, affect the link between the degree centrality of a buying firm and its innovation performance. In conclusion, this study enhances the understanding of the connection between supply networks and innovation. It highlights the crucial role of a firm‐level factor, specifically the influential facets of organizational climate for learning, in determining innovation performance.
This study empirically examines how induced learning through adopting a set of best practices and learning‐by‐doing improved a hospital's care of ischemic stroke patients using ad hoc teams. While previous studies in healthcare operations management conducted in ad hoc team environments predominantly focused on volume‐based learning (learning by doing, team familiarity via interactions among team members), our study focuses on induced learning in ad hoc teams through best practice adoptions. The analysis uses secondary data (Data period: January 2009–March 2017) about stroke patients from a comprehensive stroke center (CSC) in a U.S. tertiary teaching hospital as it adopted the U.S. American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) Target:Stroke best practices. The ad hoc stroke teams provide the initial care and their performance is measured using “ Door‐to‐Needle (DTN) ” time and its sub‐time segments. The DTN time is measured as the time elapsed between the stroke patient's arrival at the hospital's emergency department (ED) and the appropriate infusion of “ Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA) ” (i.e., a thrombolytic medication informally referred to as a “clot buster”). We found that adopting these best practices improved ischemic stroke care beyond improvement due to repetition. We also found that the neurologist's recent experience providing stroke care for the prior patient is positively associated with meeting the time performance goal for the current patient. This study provides insights into the use of management mechanisms to adopt and sustain best practices in healthcare that are generalizable to other organizations with ad hoc team environments.
The social impacts of enterprises' innovation activities have become a novel frontier of innovation management research in recent years. This paper aims to investigate the dynamic process and key mechanisms of how firms transform "Social Value" into competitive products through a meaningful innovation process. Under the "variance-designed" setting of the holistic multiple-case approach, six representative innovation enterprises with controllable variance are selected to be analyzed for theoretical sampling. By intra/inter-case analysis, we figured out two main findings. First, the meaningful innovation process that transforms social value into competitive outputs involves three main sub-processes, namely meaning identification, meaning conversion, and meaning application. Second, the overall process is driven by two key mechanisms, termed the deductive mechanism and the reflective mechanism. The findings aim to contribute to the body of "innovation and society" literature and provide detailed paths and mechanisms for the social value transformation process of meaningful innovation. The implications and limitations of our findings are also discussed for future research.
Technology transfer in international collaborations is challenging but can bring benefits to both local and foreign‐owned firms in emerging economies. In this paper we focus on conditions for potential technology transfer in emerging economies. We develop a configurational theoretical framework and empirically operationalize it using qualitative comparative analysis. Building on differences in absorptive capacity between these two kinds of firms and relying on data from the construction industry in Ghana, we develop a process model of technology transfer in emerging economies. Our model shows that technology transfer in local and foreign firms can be achieved through different combinations of human resource development and knowledge management, as well as international collaborations and networks. The model also explicates mechanisms leading to potential technology transfer. Based on the findings and the process model, the study makes several contributions to the absorptive capacity and technology transfer literature in emerging economies by shedding light on the underlying processes that foster a firm's ability to absorb technology in international collaborations.
This study aims to analyze the impact of the analytic and holistic reasoning perspectives on organizational creativity with the mediated role of knowledge acquisition, knowledge distribution, knowledge interpretation, and organizational memory. The theoretical framework developed in this study is based on an interactionist model of organizational creativity and conceptual links among creative persons, processes, situations, and products proposed by Woodman et al. (1993). The data were collected from 382 top managers in small and medium-sized enterprises in the southern region of Vietnam. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is applied to test the proposed relationship. The findings show that the analytic reasoning perspective significantly affects organizational creativity. Knowledge interpretation and organizational memory moderate the positive influence of the two perspectives of strategizing on organizational creativity, contributing to the theoretical framework. Constructive implications for organizations and company managers include logically analyzing and evaluating business activities, especially building concrete beliefs, routines, and physical artifacts.
This paper explores a new approach to violent extremism through complex adaptive systems and system of systems analysis. Within both disciplines, the paper will show the simplified model developed about how violent extremist jihadist organisations learn, adapt, innovate or change in an intentional way. Because of its weakness, terrorists always look for the relative advantage and they reach it, among others, via learning, adaptation, innovation, ultimately, through intentional change. Understanding their dynamics intentional change will facilitate disrupting terrorist organisations.
This paper investigates the role of management practices and international learning in management and marketing innovations. Additionally, it examines whether these innovations have impact on innovation performance. Based on data drawn from the World Bank Enterprise Survey for Turkish firms, the results of the empirical analyses indicate that while management practices and international learning from exporting and technology licensing
contribute to management innovation, only management practices favor marketing innovation. Furthermore, the findings show that both types of innovation foster product innovation performance. This study aims to advance research on management and marketing innovations by considering management practices and international learning as antecedents, and by exploring innovation performance consequences of non-technological innovations in an emerging economy.
This special forum focuses on international communities of practice (CoP) as a concept and an object of inquiry in International Relations (IR). The Introduction discusses the concept’s origins and how it has entered the field of IR. It addresses why and how CoPs matter to IR scholars by looking at how structure, agency, processes, institutions, and knowledge manifest themselves in communities. This special forum’s main contributions are: (1) capturing the political and economic effects of shared knowledge creation and diffusion through practices; (2) identifying the sources of knowledge production and learning, as well as the normative and political contestation within and between CoPs; (3) studying the social processes that originate at the boundaries between CoPs; (4) examining how people and processes generate, transform, and communicate knowledge; and (5) exploring how CoPs cultivate global governance’s norms, values, and practices from the bottom up. The Introduction also helps distinguish CoP from other relational concepts in IR such as networks, fields, regimes, and epistemic or security communities. It ends by way of situating the contributions to the special forum and outlining a research agenda on CoPs in world politics.
Based on STS theory, the present study aims to examine the effect of social and technical quality management practices on learning organization development in SMEs. A questionnaire survey was conducted on Tunsian-certified SMEs. Quantitative data was gathered from 78 Tunisian SMEs. Collected data were analyzed using a structural equation model. The results indicate that the dimensions of QM practices separately do not have a significant relationship with learning organization. However, when integrated together to constitute a sociotechnical QM system, it shows a significant and positive link with a learning organization. The findings help practitioners to understand how TQM practices contribute to developing learning organization and focus on two dimensions simultaneously in order to ensure continuous learning. Although the amount of literature on total quality management and learning organization, there is a lack of empirical investigation regarding the relationship between social and technical quality practices and the development of learning organization in SMEs. This study seeks to bridge this gap and provide new data about this relation in SMEs operating in the Tunisian context.
Previous research has stressed the importance of the relationship between foreign divestment and subsequent firm performance. Yet, controversy remains, as some authors suggest that foreign divestment has a positive effect on firm performance, and others propose that foreign divestment has negative performance effects. To help reconcile this controversy, we first explicate existing arguments and argue that in the context of retail (de‐)internationalisation, foreign divestment will have a predominantly negative effect on retailers’ financial performance. We then draw on organisational learning theory to argue that this negative performance effect of foreign divestment is contingent on (a) the spatial dispersion of previously divested foreign operations (i.e. the extent of geographical diversity of the foreign divestments the multinational enterprise [MNE] has conducted over a specified period of time), and (b) the temporal dispersion of previously divested foreign operations (i.e. the time between prior divestment episodes). Drawing on a panel of some of the largest retail MNEs over the 20‐year period 1997–2016, we find that foreign divestment has a negative effect on retailers’ subsequent performance. Our results also indicate that the negative performance effect of foreign divestment is effectively mitigated by retailers’ prior divestment experience in spatially diverse and temporally dispersed settings.
Much progress has been made with respect to improving our understanding of organizational learning. However, important gaps remain with respect to understanding barriers to learning flows that are rooted in bounded rationality and how such barriers can be reduced. We show how manifestations of bounded rationality in the form of framing effects and cognitive biases can act as barriers to learning at the individual, group, and organizational levels. We theorize that organizations can cope with these barriers to learning by deploying managerial practices that function as organizational repairs. More specifically, we add 3Is to the 4I framework by showing how intervening, inducing, and inquiring practices can attenuate these cognitive barriers to organizational learning. The three kinds of organizational repairs differ in terms of how directly they engage with the learning behaviors of organizational members. They range from direct managerial interventions (intervening) to incentivizing or nudging organizational members to engage in learning behaviors (inducing) to building a culture of reflexivity (inquiring). Throughout the paper we critically reflect on the explicit and implicit assumptions in the 4I framework as well as our extension of it.
هدف هذا البحث إلى التعرف على دور تقنية التحسين المستمر من خلال _أسلوبي تنظيم موقع العمل (5s) والإدارة المرئية (VM)_ في عملية التعلم التنظيمي (اكتساب المعلومات، توزيع وتفسير المعلومات، الذاكرة التنظيمية)، ولتحقيق هذا الهدف تم القيام بمراجعة منظمة للأدبيات المتعلقة بالتحسين المستمر والتعلم التنظيمي، ومن ثم تم تصميم قائمة استقصاء وتوجيهها إلى المدراء في المستوى الإداري الأول في عدد من المصانع التابعة لثلاث شركات كبرى عاملة في مجال تصنيع الأجهزة الكهربائية في مصر، وتوصل البحث إلى العديد من النتائج من أهمها: هناك علاقة متبادلة بين التحسين المستمر والتعلم التنظيمي، كما أن هناك مستوى مرتفع لتطبيق أساليب التحسين المستمر وعملية التعلم التنظيمي في الشركات محل الدراسة، وتوجد علاقة معنوية بين أساليب التحسين المستمر وعملية التعلم التنظيمي. وبناء على نتائج البحث تم وضع العديد من التوصيات من أهمها: ضرورة قيام المسؤولين في الشركات محل الدراسة بتطبيق أسلوب المقارنة المرجعية للتعرف على تجارب المنظمات العالمية المماثلة بخصوص أسلوبي التحسين المستمر والتعلم التنظيمي، وكذلك ضرورة التعاون مع المراكز البحثية المتخصصة والجامعات للتعرف على آخر مستجدات البحوث العلمية ومحاولة ربط البحث العلمي بالواقع العملي. كما أوصى البحث بالقيام بدراسات مستقبلية ضمن قطاعات مختلفة مثل القطاع الخدمي للتعرف على كيفية مساهمة أساليب التحسين المستمر في عملية التعلم التنظيمي.
Although foreign direct investment (FDI) allows emerging market firms (EMFs) to experience various institutions and learn to innovate, we know little about the] effects of exposure to diverse institutions on EMFs’ environmental innovation—a sustainable approach to pursuing economic growth. Incorporating the institutional logics perspective with the learning-from-diversity view, we investigate how an EMF’s environmental innovation benefits from diverse environmental regimes embedded in both its inward and outward FDI. We posit that EMFs become environmentally innovative by learning from diverse environmental regimes embedded in FDI activities. Also, this learning effect depends on the institutional logics dominant in these firms, demarcated by their ownership structure. Whereas the market capitalism logic strengthens EMFs’ learning-from-diversity effect, the state socialism logic does not. Analyses of a sample of 275 publicly listed Chinese firms between 2009 and 2018 support these theoretical arguments. Our findings contribute to the learning-from-diversity and institutional logics literature.
Organizational learning in social and healthcare organizations-Collective reflection during strategizing This research explores how collective reflection during strategizing supports organizational learning. Strategizing evolves over time as strategy practitioners interact with each other, use different strategy practices, and gain more experience of their strategy work. However, this learning process and the meaning of collective reflection within it has not been given attention in previous research. The theoretical frame of the study consists of strategy-as-practice (SAP), collective reflection, and organizational learning literature. In particular, the 4I-framework of organizational learning developed by Crossan et. al. (1999) is utilized. The empirical data were collected by a survey. According to the findings of the study, collective reflection during strategizing supports organizational learning, which, during strategizing, proceeds through microprocesses of intuition, interpretation, integration, and institutionalization. Furthermore, the study shows that the 4I model is suitable for scrutinizing organizational learning during strategizing.
Introduction
The focus of morbidity and mortality conferences (M&MCs) has shifted to emphasize quality improvement and systems-level care. However, quality improvement initiatives targeting systems-level errors are challenged by learning in M&MCs, which occurs at the individual attendee level and not at the organizational level. Here, we aimed to describe how organizational learning in M&MCs is optimized by particular organizational and team cultures.
Methods
A prospective, multiple-case study design was used. Using purposive sampling, three cases covering different medical/surgical specialties in North America were chosen. Data collection included direct observations of the M&MC, semistructured interviews with key M&MC members, and documentary information.
Results
The role of the M&MC in all cases integrated two key concepts: recognition of system-wide trends and learning from error, at an organizational and team level. All cases provided evidence of double-loop learning and used organizational memory strategies to ensure knowledge was retained within the organization. A patient safety culture was linked to the promotion of open communication, fostering learning from adverse events.
Conclusion
This study describes three cases of systems-oriented M&MCs that reflected elements of organizational learning theory. The M&MC can therefore provide a context for organizational learning, allowing optimal learning from adverse events.
The multidimensional characteristic of learning has received little attention in the network literature, resulting in fragmented empirical evidence on learning networks. To address this gap, we introduce a framework that allows a better understanding of the multidimensionality of learning networks by employing the concept of multiplexity in the network literature. Our proposed conceptual framework for multiplex learning networks includes a 3-E typology (exploration, exploitation, and exaptation), which serve as distinct layers within the multiplex networks. We also provide a hypothetical scenario to demonstrate the potential of our multiplex learning networks framework for HRD scholars and practitioners. Moreover, we extend our framework to a multilevel model that connects individual-level learning relationships to team-level relationships. Our framework’s theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.
This paper proposes the concept of “organizational frames of reference” (OFOR) as a framework for examining the unquestioned assumptions and processes underlying strategic decision-making. Components of OFOR are described and their functions and formation are discussed. Future research questions and management implications are suggested.
This paper reports a case study of a religious order whose shared interpretive schemes (the schemata that map its experience of the world), especially its understanding of its mission, were being substantially changed. During this time the order underwent a major revision in structure. On the basis of the case, the paper explores ways interpretive schemes undergo fundamental change and ways these changes are linked to restructuring. The paper proposes that major changes in interpretive schemes occur through dialectical processes in which old and new ways of under-standing interact, resulting in a synthesis. The process of change in interpretive schemes is in a reciprocal relationship with changes in structure. This relationship is not direct, but rather is mediated by the actions of organizational members and their emotional reactions to change. Environmental forces are likely to initiate the change, but the way the environment is interpreted by organizational members affects the type of change that takes place. Similarly, the way the organization's leadership initiates or responds to alternate interpretive schemes limits the type of change in understanding that can occur.
This article prescribes how an organization can be designed to meet social and technological changes and to reap advantage from them. Long-term viability maximizes in a self-designing organization, in which those who perform activities take primary responsibility for learning and for inventing new methods, and in which nonparticipant designers restrict themselves to a catalytic role. Such an organization is formed by putting together processes, the generators of behaviors. Although the complex interactions among processes make designers' forecasts unreliable, serious future problems can be avoided by keeping processes dynamically balanced. The desired balance can be caricatured with six aphorisms: Cooperation requires minimal consensus. Satisfaction rests upon minimal contentment. Wealth arises from minimal affluence. Goals merit minimal faith. Improvement depends on minimal consistency. Wisdom demands minimal rationality.
A comparative model of organizations as interpretation systems is proposed. The model describes four interpretation modes: enacting, discovering, undirected viewing, and conditioned viewing. Each mode is determined by (1) management's beliefs about the environment and (2) organizational intrusiveness. Interpretation modes are hypothesized to be associated with organizational differences in environmental scanning, equivocality reduction, strategy, and decision making.
Most of the time, organizations generate actions unreflectively and nonadaptively. To justify their actions, organizations create problems, successes, threats and opportunities. These are ideological molecules that mix values, goals, expectations, perceptions, theories, plans, and symbols. The molecules form while people are result watching, guided by the beliefs that they should judge results good or bad, look for the causes of results, and propose needs for action. Because organizations modify their behavior programs mainly in small increments that make sense to top managers, they change too little and inappropriately, and nearly all organizations disappear within a few years.
Describes cases of crises in companies to illustrate how top managers can guide organizations into crises and intensify crises, as well as halt crises by disclosing opportunities, arousing courage, and stirring up enthusiasm. Top managers' ideals dominate organizational learning, but they also prevent unlearning. Encased learning produces blindness and rigidity that may breed full-blown crises. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The concept of organizational culture has received increasing attention in recent years both from academics and practitioners. This article presents the author's view of how culture should be defined and analyzed if it is to be of use in the field of organizational psychology. Other concepts are reviewed, a brief history is provided, and case materials are presented to illustrate how to analyze culture and how to think about culture change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Organizational adaptation is a topic that has received only limited and fragmented theoretical treatment. Any attempt to examine organizational adaptation is difficult, since the process is highly complex and changeable. The proposed theoretical framework deals with alternative ways in which organizations define their product-market domains (strategy) and construct mechanisms (structures and processes) to pursue these strategies. The framework is based on interpretation of existing literature and continuing studies in four industries (college textbook publishing, electronics, food processing, and health care).
Most of the time, organizations generate actions unreflectively and nonadaptively. To justify their actions, organizations create problems, successes, threats and opportunities. These are ideological molecules that mix values, goals, expectations, perceptions, theories, plans, and symbols. The molecules form while people are result watching, guided by the beliefs that they should judge results good or bad, look for the causes of results, and propose needs for action. Because Organizations modify their behavior programs mainly in small increments that make sense to top managers, they change too little and inappropriately, and nearly all organizations disappear within a few years.
Crises force organizations to replace top managers, so top managers should try to avoid crises through continuous unlearning. The authors suggest ways in which top managers can help themselves unlearn.
Strategic management is the process through which a manager ensures the long term survival and growth of a firm. This paper provides a comprehensive framework for strategic management based on adaptation, a metaphor that succinctly captures the endeavors of an organization to be fitted better to its environment.
This article represents an exploratory study of the process of problem formulation in organizations and of factors that influence the process. The following questions are addressed: (1) how do organizations become aware of the existence of problems and in what kinds of problems is the process important; (2) what process do organizations go through to formulate definitions of problems; (3) what impact do attitudes and demographic characteristics of individual managers have upon the problem-formulation process; and (4) what are some of the major emergent themes that characterize problem formulation in organizations?
This paper analyzes learning processes of a seven-man team during a semester's involvement in a complex management decision exercise. Four phases of organizational development are identified and discussed: an initial phase, a searching phase, a comprehending phase, and a consolidating phase. Observations of how the team learned are then compared with three recent discussions of organizational learning processes in laboratory, industrial, and governmental settings. The paper proposes a synthesis which views organizational learning as a product of interactions among three kinds of stress. It presumes that learning is sporadic and stepwise rather than continuous and gradual and that learning the preferences and goals goes hand in hand with learning how to achieve them. Separate mechanisms are postulated to control adaptation at the individual and subgroup level within the organization and to control adaptation of the organization as a total system. Links between the two levels of adaptation are also described.
This study tracks the strategies of a retail chain over sixty years of its history to show how that vague concept called strategy can be operationalized and to draw conclusions about strategy formation in the entrepreneurial firm that grows large and formalizes its structure. The conclusions focus on patterns of strategic change and on contrasting characteristics of entrepreneurship and planning.
This paper examines the reasons given by CEOs to explain their firms' performance in annual stockholder reports over an 18-year period, comparing firms with stable and unstable performance. We argue that the managements of unstable firms, lacking real control over organizational outcomes, strategically manipulate causal attributions to manage impressions of their control. As evidence of this, these managements claim responsibility for both positive and negative outcomes more than do the managements of firms with stable performance, and, contrary to psychological theories, seem reluctant to attribute poor performance to uncontrollable environmental events. When environmental effects are cited, they are coupled with announcements of executive changes, thus implying to readers that management is taking steps to wrestle with its unruly environment. Evidence also indicates that these attributional strategies resulted in better future performance for the firms employing them.
This paper develops the concept of action learning in terms of holographic principles. It offers an approach to inquiry, learning, and organizational design in terms of minimum critical conditions which seek to enhance capacities for individual and collective self-organization.
Classical theories of omniscient rationality in organizational decision-making have largely been replaced by a view of limited rationality, but no similar concern has been reflected in the analysis of organizational learning. There has been a tendency to model a simple complete cycle of learning from unambiguous experience and to ignore cognitive and evaluative limits on learning in organizations. This paper examines some theoretical possibilities for assuming that individuals in organizations modify their understanding in a way that is intendedly adaptive even though faced with ambiguity about what happened, why it happened, and whether it is good. To develop a theory of learning under such conditions, we probably require ideas about information exposure, memory, and retrieval; learning incentives; belief structures; and the micro development of belief in organizations. We exhibit one example by specifying a structural theory of the relations among liking, seeing, trusting, contact, and integration in an organization. The argument is made that some understanding of factors affecting learning from experience will not only be important to the improvement of policy making in an organizational context, but also a necessary part of a theory of organizational choice.
Examines how major firms utilize R&D activities to create new businesses through internal corporate venturing (ICV). Using a qualitative method, this analysis was done for one large, U.S.-based high-technology firm. This firm has a new venture division, which was formed in the early 1970s. Data were obtained from the study of six major projects that were ongoing at the time of the research. This data collection included interviews with 61 firm employees involved in the projects. The key and peripheral managerial activities of the grounded process model of ICV and the flow of these activities through four venture stages are presented. The four major processes in the model are definition, impetus, strategic context determination, and structural context determination. Among the findings: It is usually the autonomous strategic initiatives of individuals at the operational level that provide the ideas for much of corporate entrepreneurship. As a result of the very autonomous nature of these initiatives, management has difficulty deciding how to deal with the new initiatives and often ignores administrative issues through the entrepreneurial process. Middle-level managers are found to play a key role in linking these autonomous initiatives to the corporate strategy of these diversified major firms. (SRD)
Sumario: What culture is and does -- The dimensions of culture -- How to study and interpret culture -- The role leadership in building culture -- The evolution of culture and leadership -- Learning cultures and learning leaders