It is clear from the literature that in situations where organizations and their
members face changing environments, it is necessary that mechanisms (learning) exist
to capture the new knowledge which enables the firms to address those changes. This
article examines the relative importance and significance of the existence of an
`open-mindedness context' to the existence and nature of `organizational learning'.
We include time as a variable in the analysis and focus on the need to unlearn at a
moment (T) in order to learn more efficiently at a moment after (T+1). These
relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 107 Spanish small
to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the telecommunications industry. The
results indicate that the effects of exploration and exploitation of knowledge at
moment T+1 is conditioned by the existence of an `open-mindedness culture' at moment
T.
Adam, B.
(1990) Time and Social Theory.
Philadelphia
, PA:
Temple University Press
.
2.
Ambrosini, V.
and
Bowman, C.
(2001)
`Tacit Knowledge: Some Suggestions for Operationalization'
, Journal of Management Studies38(6):
811-29.
3.
Anderson, J.C.
and
Gerbing, D.
(1988)
`Structural Modelling in Practice: A Review and Recommended Two-Steps
Approach'
, Psychological Bulletin103(3):
411-23.
4.
Argyris, C.
and
Schön, D.
(1978) Organizational Learning.
Reading, MA: Addison and
Wesley.
5.
Armstrong, J.S.
and
Overton, T.S.
(1977)
`Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys'
, Journal of Marketing Research14: 396-402.
6.
Baker, W.E.
and
Sinkula, J.M.
(1999)
`The Synergistic Effect of Market Orientation and Learning Orientation on
Organizational Performance'
, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science27(4):
411-27.
7.
Barclay, D.
,
Higgins, C.
and
Thompson, R.
(1995)
`The Partial Least Squares (PLS) Approach to Causal Modelling: Personal
Computer Adoption and Use as an Illustration'
, Technological Studies2(2):
285-309.
8.
Bettis, R.A.
and
Prahalad, C.K.
(1995)
`The Dominant Logic: Retrospective and Extension'
, Strategic Management Journal16: 5-14.
9.
Bluedorn, A.C.
(2000) `Time and Organizational Culture', in
N. M. Ashkanasy
,
C. P. M. Wilderon
and
M. F. Peterson
(eds) Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate, pp.
117-28. Thousands Oaks,
CA: SAGE.
10.
Bogenrieder, I.
(2002)
`Social Architecture as a Prerequisite for Organizational Learning'
, Management Learning33(2):
197-216.
11.
Boiral, O.
(2002)
`Tacit Knowledge and Environmental Management'
, Long Range Planning35(3):
291-317.
12.
Boland, R.J.
,
Tenkasi, R.V.
and
Te'eni, D.
(1994)
`Designing Information Technology to Support Distributed Cognition'
, Organization Science5(3):
456-75.
13.
Brown, J.S.
and
Duguid, P.
(1993)
`Stolen Knowledge'
, Educational Technology33(3):
10-15.
14.
Campbell, D.T.
(1955)
`The Informant in Quantitative Research'
, American Journal of Sociology60: 339-42.
Crossan, M.
,
Cunha, M.
,
Vera, D.
and
Cunha, J.
(2005)
`Time and Organizational Improvisation'
, Academy of Management Review30(1):
129-45.
17.
Cyert, R.M.
and
March, J.G.
(1963) A Behavioral Theory of the Firm (2nd
edn). Malden, MA:
Blackwell.
18.
Day, G.S.
(1994)
`Continuous Learning About Markets'
, California Management Review36(4):
9-31.
19.
Day, G.S.
and
Nedungandi, P.
(1994)
`Managerial Representations of Competitive Advantage'
, Journal of Marketing58: 31-44.
20.
Dewhurst, F.W.
and
Cegarra, J.G.
(2004)
External Communities of Practice and Relational Capital'
, The Learning Organization11(4/5):
322-31.
21.
Eisenhardt, K.M.
and
Brown, S.L.
(1998)
`Time Pacing: Competing in Markets That Won't Stand Still'
, Harvard Business Review59-69.
22.
Faces, G.F.
(1999)
`La Unión Monetaria Europea: Un Desafío
Estratégico Para la PYME Española [The European
Monetary Union: A Strategic Challenge For Spanish SMEs]'
, Alta Dirección203: 70-84.
23.
Fornell, C.
and
Larcker, D.F.
(1981)
`Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and
Measurement Error'
, Journal of Marketing Research18: 39-50.
24.
Gersick, C.J.
(1991)
`Revolutionary Change Theories: A Multilevel Exploration of the Punctuated
Equilibrium Paradigm'
, Academy of Management Review32: 274-309.
25.
Gioia, D.
,
Schultz, M.
and
Corley, K.
(2000)
`Organizational Identity, Image and Adaptative Instability'
, Academy of Management Review25, 63-81.
26.
Gist, M.
and
Mitchell, T.
(1992)
`Self-efficacy: A Theoretical Analysis of its Determinants and
Malleability'
, Academy of Management Review17(2):
183-211.
27.
Grant, R.M.
(1996)
`Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm'
, Strategic Management Journal17(Winter Special Issue):
109-22.
28.
Gupta, A.K.
,
Smith, K.G.
and
Shalley, C.E.
(2006)
`The Interplay Between Exploration and Exploitation'
, Academy of Management Journal49: 693-706.
29.
Hall, R.
and
Andriani, P.
(2003)
`Managing Knowledge Associated With Innovation'
, Journal of Business Research56(2):
145-52.
30.
Hannan, M.
and
Freeman, J.
(1984)
`Structural Inertia and Organizational Change'
, American Sociological Review49: 149-64.
31.
Hansen, M.T.
,
Nohria, N.
and
Tierney, T.
(1999)
`What's your strategy for managing knowledge
? ' Harvard Business Review77(2):
106-16.
32.
Harrington, S.
and
Guimaraes, T.
(2005)
`Corporate Culture, Absorptive Capacity and IT Success'
, Information and Organization15: 39-63.
33.
He, Z.L.
and
Wong, P.K.
(2004)
`Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity
Hypothesis'
, Organization Science15(4):
481-94.
34.
Hedberg, B.L.T.
,
Nystrom, P.C.
and
Starbuck, W.H.
(1976)
`Camping on Seesaws: Prescriptions for Self-designing Organizations'
, Administrative Science Quarterly21: 41-65.
35.
Holmqvist, M.
(2004)
`Experiential Learning Processes of Exploitation and Exploration: An
Empirical Study of Product Development'
, Organization Science15: 70-81.
36.
Holsapple, C.W.
and
Singh, M.
(2001)
`The Knowledge Chain Model: Activities for Competitiveness'
, Expert Systems with Applications20(1):
77-98.
37.
Huber, G.P.
(1991)
`Organizational Learning the Contributing Processes and the
Literatures'
, Organization Science2(1):
88-115.
38.
Humphreys, P.
,
Mcadam, R.
and
Leckey, J.
(2005)
`Longitudinal Evaluation of Innovation Implementation in SMEs'
, European Journal of Innovation Management8(3):
283-304.
39.
Kohli, A.
,
Jaworski, B.J.
, and
Ajith, K.
(1993)
`MARKOR: A Measure of Market Orientation'
, Journal of Marketing Research30: 467-77.
40.
Kumar, N.
,
Stern, L.W.
and
Anderson, J.C.
(1993)
`Conducting Interorganizational Research Using Key Informants'
, Academy of Management Journal36(6):
1633-51.
41.
Lavie, D.
and
Rosenkopf, L.
(2006)
`Balancing Exploration and Exploitation in Alliance Formation'
, Academy of Management Journal49(4):
797-818.
42.
Lei, D.
,
Slocum, J.
and
Pitts, R.
(1999)
`Developing Organizations for Competitive Advantage: The Power of Learning
and Unlearning'
, Organizational Dynamics27(3):
24-39.
43.
Levinthal, D.A.
and
March, J.G.
(1993)
`The Myopia of Learning'
, Strategic Management Journal14, 95-112.
44.
McKenna, R.
(1997) Real Time: Preparing for the Age of the Never
Satisfied Customer. Boston, MA:
Harvard Business School Press.
45.
March, J.G.
(1991)
`Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning'
, Organization Science2(1):
71-87.
46.
March, J.G.
and
Simon, H.
(1958) Organizations. New
York: Wiley.
47.
Milliken, F.
and
Lant, T.
(1991) `The Effect of an Organization's Recent Performance
History on Strategic Persistence and Change: The Role of Managerial
Interpretations' , in
J. Dutton
,
A. Huff
and
P. Shrivastava
(eds) Advances in Strategic Management (Vol. 7),
pp.125-52. Greenwich, CT :
JAI Press.
48.
Miner, A.S.
and
Anderson, P.
(1999) Advances in Strategic Management (Vol. 16).
Stamford, CT: JAI
Press.
49.
Nonaka, I.
(1994)
`A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation'
, Organization Science5(1):
14-37.
50.
Nunnally, J.
(1978) Psychometric Theory. New
York : McGraw-Hill.
OECD
(2005) OECD Economic Surveys of Spain.
Spain: Mundi-Prensa
Libros .
53.
Pérez López, S.
,
Montes Peón, J.M.
and
Vázquez Ordás, C.J.
(2004)
`Managing Knowledge: The Link Between Culture and Organizational
Learning'
, Journal of Knowledge Management8(6):
93-104.
54.
Purser, R.E.
,
Bluedorn, A.C.
and
Petranker, J.
(2005)
`The Times of Cause and Flow in Organizational Change'
, Research in Organizational Change and Development15, 1-29.
55.
Purser, R.E.
,
Pasmore, W.A.
and
Tenkasi, R.V.
(1992)
`The Influence of Deliberations on Learning in New Product Development
Teams'
, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management9: 1-28.
56.
Schein, E.
(1993)
`How Can Organizations Learn Faster? The Challenge of Entering the Green
Room'
, Sloan Management Review34(2):
85-92.
57.
Selnes, F.
and
Sallis, J.
(2003)
`Promoting Relationship Learning'
, Journal of Marketing7(3):
80-95.
58.
Shaw, R.B.
and
Perkins, D.N.T.
(1991)
`Teaching Organizations to Learn'
, Organization Development Journal9: 1-12.
59.
Sinkula, J.M.
,
Baker, W.E.
and
Noordewier, T.
(1997)
`A Framework for Market-Based Organizational Learning: Linking Values,
Knowledge and Behavior'
, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science25(4):
305-18.
60.
Slater, S.F.
and
Narver, J.C.
(1995)
`Market Orientation and the Learning Organisation'
, Journal of Marketing59(3):
63-74.
61.
Spender, J.C.
(1994)
`Organizational Knowledge, Collective Practice and Penrose Rents'
, International Business Review3(4):
353-67.
62.
Starbuck, W.H.
(1992)
`Learning by Knowledge-intensive Firms'
, Journal of Management Studies29(6):
713-40.
63.
Tulku, T.
(1994) Dynamics of Time and Space: Transcending Limits on
Knowledge. Berkeley, CA: Dharma
Publishing.
64.
Tushman, M.L.
and
O'Reilly, C.
(1996)
`Ambidextrous Organizations: Managing Evolutionary and Revolutionary
Change'
, California Management Review38: 8-30.
65.
Tyre, M.J.
,
Perlow, L.
,
Staudenmayer, N.
and
Wasson, C.
(1996)
Time as a Trigger for Organizational Change
. Proceedings of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Academy of
Management . Cincinnati, OH: Academy of Management
.
66.
Volberda, H.W.
and
Lewin, A.Y.
(2003)
`Co-evolutionary Dynamics Within and Between Firms: From Evolution to
Co-evolution'
, Journal of Management Studies40(8):
2105-30.
67.
Zollo, M.
and
Winter, S.G.
(2002)
`Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities'
, Organization Science13(3):
339-51.
