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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