Browsing by Subject "Organizational learning"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    An investigation of the internal corporate factors of organizational learning and innovation
    (2013-08) Jayanti, Elizabeth Bechtel
    This study answers the question, "What are the dimensions of the organizational learning experience?" from the perspective of 35 members of four leading companies, representing the first such empirical effort. A review of over 1,368 articles revealed that current organizational learning models are based in theory rather than practice, frequently reduce organizational learning to the individual level , and focus on external factors to the neglect of internal factors. While research on organizational learning dates back to work by Cyert and March (1963), fifty years later, empirical answers to the following questions were still lacking: What happens to information as it is processed through the organization? What predictable screening biases are there in an organization? * What is the relation between decisions made by the responsible representatives and the final decision implemented by the organization? *In what systematic ways are decisions elaborated and changed by the organization? (Cyert & March, 1963, p. 21-22). Fifty dominant organizational learning survey instruments were closely reviewed. It was discovered that each instrument was based on theoretical models, rather than real-world organizational data. This meant that it was unknown whether any dimensions of organizational learning had been missed, or if the assumed dimensions were correct. Questions for the interview were drawn from questions that appeared in multiple previous instruments and focused on the organizational rather than individual level. Data was recorded and transcribed verbatim. Scrubbed transcripts were analyzed in Nvivo using a grounded theory approach. This study found no evidence for several assumed dimensions such as decision types , decision proactivity , role clarity , knowledge turnover , and market share . It was determined that the long-standing idea of controlling for industry is not practical. Finally, this study discovered that organizational learning is significantly influenced by company culture , which constitutes a way of being. This culture shapes what actions a company takes in areas of knowledge management , client focus , focus for growth , and engagement . What a company does ultimately influences what a company becomes, through organizational learning .
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    Navigating the stages of innovation: a study of the U.S. biotechnology industry.
    (2010-07) Dahlin, Eric Carl
    My dissertation takes a broad view of innovation by investigating product success among U.S. biotechnology firms across various stages of innovation including product discovery, product development, and product success. Current explanations of biotechnology product success examine one or two stages of innovation and underscore the importance of strategic alliances. However, current explanations are incomplete. First, they fail to examine whether their explanations hold across the entire innovation process. Second, estimates suggest that up to 70% of strategic alliances fail to meet their objectives (Kale and Singh 2009) and product develop remains very costly despite the high incidence of alliances in the biotechnology industry. I propose that success across the stages of innovation is associated with the scope of learning that occurs within the firm, among strategic alliance partners, and from a focal firm's network. That is, product discovery is associated with learning within the firm, product development is associated with learning among strategic alliance partners, and product success is associated with learning from the firm's overall network. While entering strategic alliances to pool resources to defray the costs of innovation is likely a necessary condition for innovation success current research overlooks the role of product development strategies. In this study I examine product development strategies that influence the likelihood of innovation success including exploration, exploitation, and ambidexterity (i.e., the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation strategies). Moreover, findings from interviews with executives in biotechnology firms provide insight into the strategies firms use to develop new drugs and evaluate them at various stages of innovation. Results from regression models support the general proposition that success at different stages of innovation varies with the scope of learning. Learning at the organizational-level (firm age and absorptive capacity) is likely to increase success at the discovery stage. Alliance partnerships are sources of learning (research alliance and development alliances) that affect product development. Network-level learning (network centrality and network experience) influences sales growth, but only for smaller firms in my sample. I also find that ambidexterity product development strategies are statistically significant predictors of success at each stage of innovation.