Emerald Management Review:
Bounded rationality and organizational learning based on rule changes

Abstract:

Purpose - Studies how learning occurs between people who have different knowledge bases/specialities, pointing out that these people will have different approaches to formulating and solving problems, hold different assumptions about the world and draw different conclusions because of this.

Design/methodology/approach - Reviews the theories concerning organizational learning and questions their usefulness for understanding the learning that takes place between specialists. Presents an alternative analysis that focuses on the role that organizational rules play in providing storage spaces for knowledge; that routines play in integrating knowledge; and that prototyping plays in enabling rule change. Terms this 'transactive organizational knowledge' and explores how it occurs in practice using two cases studies - one of a German bank, the second of a large international pharmaceutical company.

Findings - Argues that the case studies indicate the potential of the concept of transactive organizational knowledge to explain how specialists can identify and combine knowledge without having to actually share knowledge in great amounts. Research limitations/ implications - Discusses the areas of further research needed to explore the concept and considers the implications for the understanding of organizational change.

Originality/value - Develops a new approach to understanding organizational learning.

Keywords:

Article Type:

Research paper

Reference:

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