ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING THEORY

Hamideh IrajSahar Najafikhah

Delone and McLean IS Success Model1Expectation Confirmation Theory2

Organizational Learning3

4

Evaluation Theories

SERVQUAL

A General View on Organizational Learning Theory• Originating authorsWeick (1979) The Social Psychology of Organizing Cyert and March (1963) A Behavioral Theory of the Firm.

• Originating areaOrganizational theory; Sociology• Level of analysisLevels of analysis may cover one of five levels: unit, group, company, industry, or society. The usual levels of analysis, however, are either individual or organization.

The Theory History

1960sThe theory emerged from organizational theory and social psychology

1970s

gained in popularity with management researchers following the work of Argyris and Schon(1978)

Schematic of the Theory

When OL takes place?

when the organization (1) adds to its knowledge base or pool of potentialalternatives but does not change current actions/processes,

(2) alters current actions to correct errors, but does so blindly, without conscious attempts to understand or modify the action–outcome relationship

(3) may exhibit both characteristics.learning is a continuum, with most organizations

falling somewhere between the two extremes.

Antecedents

The concept of Reference GapThe need to resolve an error between organizational expectations and actual outcomes.

Incorrectly Applied ProcessesFailure of knowledge due to:

• Inaccurate knowledge• Unidentified contributing factorsUncontrollable environmental factors

THEORY CONSTRUCTS

Theory ConstructsKnowledge Acquisition:the organization scans both the internal and external environment and seeks valid data and processes

Information Distribution:1. The likelihood that a subgroup needing

information and another subgroup possessing that information "find each other"

2. The speed with which the match up occurs.

Theory Constructs cont.

Interpretation:when the organization attempts to expand current knowledge, adapt/alter current processes or detect current or potential misfits between the organization and environment

Outcomes:knowledge outcomes or commercial/performance outcomes together comprise a measure of organizational performance.measured by operational efficiency and performance, spread of technology or increased competitive knowledge

Theory Constructs cont.

Organizational Memory:The ability of the organization to encode, store and retrieve information from past experience is created by and helps create Organizational Learning.

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER MODELS

Comparison of Organizational Learning and Absorptive Capacity

Both deal with information and learning

● OL tends to focus on environmental characteristics as moderating known relationships

● ACAP focuses on internal characteristics

★ OL describes how an organization learns★ ACAP examines how well an organization learns and

why it learnsOL is considered one of the necessary antecedents of ACAP

Comparison of Organizational Learning and Absorptive Capacity -

cont.

➔ The OL model operates at a macro level -organization level

➔ The ACAP model operates at a micro level -detailed explanations of learning process

Resources

1. Integrated Series in Information Systems, Volume 29, Information Systems Theory Explaining

and Predicting Our Digital Society, Vol. 2, Springer; 2012 edition

2. http://istheory.byu.edu/wiki/Organizational_learning_theory

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