Organizational Learning Through Project Postmortem Reviews – An Explorative Case Study

2007 ◽  
pp. 136-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torgeir Dingsøyr ◽  
Nils Brede Moe ◽  
Joost Schalken ◽  
Tor Stålhane
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning

Using action research in innovation project management: building legitimacy and organizational learning in an SME during a merger process

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance Elizabeth Kampf ◽  
Charlotte J. Brandt ◽  
Christopher G. Kampf
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Project

PurposeThe purpose is to explore how the process of action research (AR) can support building legitimacy and organizational learning in innovation project management and portfolio practices in merger contexts.Design/methodology/approachMeta-reflection on method issues in Action Research through an action research case study with an innovation group during an organizational change process. This case demonstrates an example of an action research cycle focused on building practitioner legitimacy rather than problem-solving.FindingsKey findings include (1) demonstrating how AR can be used for building legitimacy through visualizing the innovation process, and embedding those visuals in top management practices of the organization; and (2) demonstrating how AR can work as an organizational learning tool in merger contexts.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on an action research cooperation during a two-and-a-half-year period. Thus, findings offer the depth of a medium term case study. The processes of building legitimacy represent this particular case, and can be investigated in other organizational contexts to see the extent to which these issues can be generalized.Practical implicationsFor researchers, this paper offers an additional type of AR cycle to consider in their research design which can be seen as demonstrating a form of interplay between practitioner action and organizational level legitimacy. For practitioners, this paper demonstrates a connection between legitimacy and organizational learning in innovation contexts. The discussion of how visuals were co-created and used for building legitimacy for an innovation process that differs from the standard stage gate model demonstrates how engaging in AR research can contribute to developing visuals as resources for building legitimacy and organizational learning based on connections between theory and practice.Originality/valueThis case rethinks AR practice for innovation project management contexts to include legitimacy and organizational learning. This focus on legitimacy building from organizational learning and knowledge conversion contributes to our understanding of the soft side of innovation project management. Legitimacy is demonstrated to be a key concern for innovation project management practices.

Learning together and working apart: routines for organizational learning in virtual teams

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Information Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Virtual Teaming

Purpose Research suggests that teaming routines facilitate learning in teams. This paper identifies and details how specific teaming routines, implemented in a virtual team, support its continual learning. The study’s focus was to generate authentic and descriptive accounts of the interviewees’ experiences with virtual teaming routines. Design/methodology/approach This case study gathered concrete, practical and context-dependent knowledge about virtual teaming routines in a specific environment. The main source of data was narrative expert interviews with working members of the team. Findings This study illustrates how a mix of face-to-face and virtual routines can ensure organizational learning in virtual teams. Research limitations/implications This case study is limited to one virtual team in the information industry. Future research could build on this research to study virtual teams in other industries. Practical implications This research offers specific examples of teaming routines that managers of virtual teams might adapt in managing their own teams. Social implications Given that the use of virtual teams is a growing phenomenon, understanding how to help those teams learn effectively is a critical issue. Originality/value This case study extends the research on teaming routines to virtual teams.

scholarly journals Discovering Opportunities in the Solar Energy Industry: A Subjectivistic View of Entrepreneurial Activity

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 124-139
Author(s):  
Gloria Cuevas-Rodriguez ◽  
Carmen Cabello-Medina
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Industry ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Solar Energy Industry ◽  
The Creation

Using the subjectivist view of entrepreneurship, the focus of this paper centers on understanding how certain individuals have created opportunities in the solar energy industry. An in-depth case study is developed to analyse the subjectivist character of discovery and creativity; the relevance of organizational learning for entrepreneurship; and the role of entrepreneurs’ experiences in shaping a firm’s subjective productive opportunity set. Through this research the relationships between the subjective visions and experiences of entrepreneurs, and perceived opportunities are presented. Besides the diversity of the problems that entrepreneurs encounter during the creation and development of the company, and the range of resources utilized are also discussed.

Diffusion of E-Learning Practice in an Educational Institution

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Keith Thomas ◽  
Paul Lam ◽  
Annisa Ho
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Initial Design ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Initial Idea ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Learning Projects

Successful knowledge transfer or diffusion of e-learning practice goes beyond precursor incentives and anticipated rewards for the individual lecturer. It also involves wider enabling of learning attributes and cultural capabilities in an organization. This paper examines how some of these attributes and capabilities play out in an educational institution in the context of web-enabled technology. An organizational-learning model is used to examine diffusion of practices after initial design and development. This paper is based on a case study of eight course-level e-learning projects in a university based in Hong Kong. The study illustrates a number of issues and challenges for the wider uptake of the initial idea from the individual course to the programme and wider institution.

Dynamic capabilities, organizational learning and ambidexterity in a higher education institution

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Patricia da Silva Souza ◽  
Adriana Roseli Wünsch Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to analyse how dynamic capabilities (DC) affect organizational learning (OL) in a Brazilian higher education institution (HEI) and how this relationship affects organisational ambidexterity (OA). Design/methodology/approach The research strategy involves a qualitative, single case study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, documentary research over a 15-year period and nonparticipant observation. Data were analysed using narrative analysis. Findings The results show that founders and managers influence the activities related to sensing, seizing and reconfiguring DC. They interpreted the new opportunities and shared them with other individuals. Gradually, a collective sense about the new ideas was constructed. New academic and administrative routines were created and an OL process took place at the HEI, which resulted in a valuable balance between exploration and exploitation (OA) for the organisation. Originality/value The study offers insight into how DC, OL and OA can be related. Although each construct has its own independent definition, there are similarities between them. The case study demonstrates how these theories were affected, and the research, therefore, makes a new methodological contribution regarding how to study DC, OL and OA as an integrative phenomenon.

Organizational Learning Mechanisms: Exploring a Conceptual Framework for Organizational Learning in Schools

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 571-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Schechter
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
School Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Cultural Framework ◽  
Large School ◽  
Organizational Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Secondary Grades

In light of the complexity and wealth of information in societies today the notion of organizational learning has become the forerunner of school change discourse. However, organizational learning is still characterized by mystical and amorphous rhetoric, understood well neither by researchers nor by practitioners. Therefore, this article is an attempt to explore the notion of organizational learning through the concept of organizational learning mechanisms (OLMs) and the culture in which they are embedded. A case study in a large school, comprised of middle and secondary grades, provided the context for studying OLMs and the learning values (culture) influencing their productivity. The study strengthens the ability to empirically research learning by schools through the structural and cultural framework. Lessons drawn from the study and future research, which may contribute to the field of organizational learning, are discussed

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