Prospering in a transition economy through information technology-supported organizational learning

Citation

(2007), "Prospering in a transition economy through information technology-supported organizational learning", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 21 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2007.08121fad.002

Prospering in a transition economy through information technology-supported organizational learning

Prospering in a transition economy through information technology-supported organizational learning

Janson M., Cecez-Kecmanovic D., Zupancic J. Information Systems Journal, January 2007, Vol. 17 No. 1, Start page: 3, No. of pages: 34

Purpose – to report the findings of a longitudinal case study of Sava, the Slovenian company, during the 1995-2004 period when it successfully navigated the transition to a free market economy. Design/methodology/approach – a case study was undertaken to investigate the approaches used by Sava, a long-established Slovenian manufacturer of a wide range of rubber products, such as tyres for cars and bicycles, to enable it to succeed in making a successful transition from a company operating in a socialist society and a protected market to a privatized company working within a capitalist global market. Pays particular attention to the important role of IT-supported organizational learning in bringing about the radical changes required for a successful transition. Focuses on the attention given by the managers to the role of IT in single-loop learning, double-loop learning, and triple-loop learning. Findings – the results reveal that that an important factor was the recognition of the value of input from the company’s employees in the introduction of IT systems, and the value of IT tools, such as Lotus Notes, document management systems and SAP in increasing the company’s capacity to learn. Concludes that the success of the transition demonstrated the company’s considerable capacity for reconceiving not only its environment, but also its own identity. Originality/value – enhances and extends the literature of studies designed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between organizational learning and IT in real-life organizational contexts, while illustrating important issues relating to workplace democracy, participative policy making, and egalitarian power structures. ISSN: 1350-1917 Reference: 36AE883DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2575.2006.00228.x

Keywords: Case studies, Communications technology, Economics, Information systems, Learning organizations, Slovenia