DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING PROCESSES FOR ENHANCING ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ACROSS ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXTS
International Journal of Organizational Analysis
ISSN: 1934-8835
Article publication date: 1 March 2005
Abstract
By adopting a cognitive perspective, we examine ways in which knowledge creation processes within organizations effectively enhance organizational knowledge via the cognitive processes of organizational members. We identify two distinct yet complementary learning processes—informational and interactive—and argue that these processes contribute to the creation of organizational knowledge in different ways. We use cognitive mapping to examine changes in knowledge and use a research design involving pre‐test and post‐test of cognitive maps. Results suggest that organizational knowledge generally improves as organizations engage in the knowledge creation processes and that the effectiveness of such processes in creating knowledge depends on the context. The conceptual arguments and methods developed in this paper should encourage researchers to conduct additional empirical research and help managers change the mix of the informational and interactive learning processes for effective learning as their firm's competitive environment becomes more volatile.
Keywords
Citation
Gnyawali, D.R., Stewart, A.C. and Grant, J.H. (2005), "DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING PROCESSES FOR ENHANCING ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ACROSS ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXTS", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 216-243. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb029005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited