An Analysis of James March's Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning


Book Description

Exploration and Exploitation is a key text for scholars and business practitioners interested in promoting economic well-being and sustainable growth. March’s work promotes the preservation of companies’ competitiveness and sustainability in the fluctuating market environment by maintaining a balance between exploration and exploitation processes. He explicates that this balance depends on the interchange between the adaptive capability of the company, predictability and consistency, competition, anticipations, level of risk, learning, socialization dynamics within the organization, and the overall environmental turbulence. These intricacies make March’s text invaluable.




Design Thinking Research


Book Description

Extensive research conducted by the Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, USA, and the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, has yielded valuable insights on why and how design thinking works. The participating researchers have identified metrics, developed models, and conducted studies, which are featured in this book, and in the previous volumes of this series. This volume provides readers with tools to bridge the gap between research and practice in design thinking with varied real world examples. Several different approaches to design thinking are presented in this volume. Acquired frameworks are leveraged to understand design thinking team dynamics. The contributing authors lead the reader through new approaches and application fields and show that design thinking can tap the potential of digital technologies in a human-centered way. In a final section, new ideas in neurodesign at Stanford University and at Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam are elaborated upon thereby challenging the reader to consider newly developed methodologies and provide discussion of how these insights can be applied to various sectors. Special emphasis is placed on understanding the mechanisms underlying design thinking at the individual and team levels. Design thinking can be learned. It has a methodology that can be observed across multiple settings and accordingly, the reader can adopt new frameworks to modify and update existing practice. The research outcomes compiled in this book are intended to inform and provide inspiration for all those seeking to drive innovation – be they experienced design thinkers or newcomers.




Organizational Learning


Book Description

Why do some organizations learn at faster rates than others? Why do organizations "forget"? Could productivity gains acquired in one part of an organization be transferred to another? These are among the questions addressed in Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge. Since its original publication in 1999, this book has set the standard for research and analysis in the field. This fully updated and expanded edition showcases the most current research and insights, featuring a new chapter that provides a theoretical framework for analyzing organizational learning and presents evidence about how the organizational context affects learning processes and outcomes. Drawing from a wide array of studies across the spectrum of management, economics, sociology, and psychology, Organizational Learning explores the dynamics of learning curves in organizations, with particular emphasis on how individuals and groups generate, share, reinforce, and sometimes forget knowledge. With an increased emphasis on service organizations, including healthcare, Linda Argote demonstrates that organizations vary dramatically in the rates at which they learn—with profound implications for productivity, performance, and managerial and strategic decision making.




The Red Queen among Organizations


Book Description

There's a scene in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass in which the Red Queen, having just led a chase with Alice in which neither seems to have moved from the spot where they began, explains to the perplexed girl: "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." Evolutionary biologists have used this scene to illustrate the evolutionary arms race among competing species. William Barnett argues that a similar dynamic is at work when organizations compete, shaping how firms and industries evolve over time. Barnett examines the effects--and unforeseen perils--of competing and winning. He takes a fascinating, in-depth look at two of the most competitive industries--computer manufacturing and commercial banking--and derives some startling conclusions. Organizations that survive competition become stronger competitors--but only in the market contexts in which they succeed. Barnett shows how managers may think their experience will help them thrive in new markets and conditions, when in fact the opposite is likely to be the case. He finds that an organization's competitiveness at any given moment hinges on the organization's historical experience. Through Red Queen competition, weaker competitors fail, or they learn and adapt. This in turn heightens the intensity of competition and further strengthens survivors in an ever-evolving dynamic. Written by a leading organizational theorist, The Red Queen among Organizations challenges the prevailing wisdom about competition, revealing it to be a force that can make--and break--even the most successful organization.




Organization at the Limit


Book Description

The book offers important insight relevant to Corporate, Government and Global organizations management in general. The internationally recognised authors tackle vital issues in decision making, how organizational risk is managed, how can technological and organizational complexities interact, what are the impediments for effective learning and how large, medium, and small organizations can, and in fact must, increase their resilience. Managers, organizational consultants, expert professionals, and training specialists; particularly those in high risk organizations, may find the issues covered in the book relevant to their daily work and a potential catalyst for thought and action. A timely analysis of the Columbia disaster and the organizational lessons that can be learned from it. Includes contributions from those involved in the Investigation Board report into the incident. Tackles vital issues such as the role of time pressures and goal conflict in decision making, and the impediments for effective learning. Examines how organizational risk is managed and how technological and organizational complexities interact. Assesses how large, medium, and small organizations can, and in fact must, increase their resilience. Questions our eagerness to embrace new technologies, yet reluctance to accept the risks of innovation. Offers a step by step understanding of the complex factors that led to disaster.




The Emergence of Routines


Book Description

This book explains how things get organized and how routines emerge in businesses and business life. The chapters explore historical episodes in a wide variety of settings, and encourage a view of firm operations and development that is much more realistic, and much more practically helpful, than the standard economic perspective.




Organization Theory


Book Description

The only textbook to use a three-perspective framework to explain, explore, and evaluate organizational theory in a distinctively engaging style. Organization Theory offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to the study of organizations and organizing processes. Through the unique three-perspective approach, students are challenged to explain, explore, and evaluate organizational theory, drawing on their own experiences as well as the book's diverse practical examples. The fourth edition includes a host of new learning features, which examine the practicality of theorizing and encourage students to broaden their intellectual reach. 'Theory to Practice' boxes and case studies highlight organizing processes in a range of settings, either through real-life, business examples or through exercises that encourage students to apply the theory to organizations they know or organizing experiences of their own. 'Think like a Theorist' and 'Exercise Those Perspectives' boxes then encourage students to actively theorize and evaluate, developing essential critical thinking skills and a greater understanding of the complex knowledge with which organization theorists grapple. By taking theory off the page, students can learn through doing and adopt a reflexive stance to the world around them. Mary Jo Hatch draws on her extensive experience in the field to produce a trusted and accessible introduction to the subject that provides academic depth, engaging pedagogy, and a practical focus. This book is accompanied by a collection of online resources: For students: Multiple-choice questions For lecturers: PowerPoint slides Figures and tables from the book Lecturers' guide Additional case studies




Human Resource Development


Book Description

Combining theoretical rigor, practical relevance and pedagogical innovation, Human Resource Development: From Theory into Practice is an essential resource for students working towards a career in human resource development (HRD), human resource management (HRM), occupational and organizational psychology, and related areas of business management and organization. Key features: • Aligns with the CIPD Professional Standards and the CIPD’s Level 7 Diploma in Learning and Development. • Covers all the basics in the fundamentals of HRD theory and practice, as well as cutting-edge topics such as the e-learning, ‘hybrid learning’, neuroscience and learning, ‘learning ecosystems’, and the ‘new learning organization’ science of learning. • Follows a unique framework based on the a distinction between ‘micro-HRD’, which zooms-in on the fine detail, meso, and ‘macro-HRD’, which zooms-out to look at the bigger picture. • Includes a rich array of research insights, case studies and examples from a wide range of contexts. • Offers a variety of learning features, including ‘perspectives from practice’ and ‘in their own words’, which help to bridge the gap between theory and practical application. This up-to-date and authoritative textbook is accompanied by a comprehensive instructor’s manual and PowerPoint slides to support lecturers in their teaching.




Small Business in a Global Economy


Book Description

This informative set analyzes the dynamics involved with creating, growing, and managing small businesses amid different geographic, institutional, and political environments. This two-volume work explores the behavior and decision making of small companies; their business strategies for launch, growth, and survival; and their contribution to the larger global economy. Utilizing information and data gleaned from proven entrepreneurs and small business operations, this reference provides insight into the political, environmental, and competitive forces that support and impede small business ownership, and offers strategies for navigating them. Written by leading researchers from around the world, the set presents a broad view of the small business sector, focusing on conception, ownership, financing, and growth strategies. A look at external factors features the impact of political and environmental influences; extant regulations affecting small firms; and programs for promoting this sector. The first volume takes a micro view of the small business phenomenon, profiling the owner and the skills necessary to be successful. The second volume utilizes a macro approach, focusing on the operational concerns of and the environment factors bearing upon small businesses.




From Pablo to Osama


Book Description

From Pablo to Osama is a comparative study of Colombian drug-smuggling enterprises, terrorist networks (including al Qaeda), and the law enforcement agencies that seek to dismantle them. Drawing on a wealth of research materials, including interviews with former drug traffickers and other hard-to-reach informants, Michael Kenney explores how drug traffickers, terrorists, and government officials gather, analyze, and apply knowledge and experience. The analysis reveals that the resilience of the Colombian drug trade and Islamist extremism in wars on drugs and terrorism stems partly from the ability of illicit enterprises to change their activities in response to practical experience and technical information, store this knowledge in practices and procedures, and select and retain routines that produce satisfactory results. Traffickers and terrorists “learn,” building skills, improving practices, and becoming increasingly difficult for state authorities to eliminate. The book concludes by exploring theoretical and policy implications, suggesting that success in wars on drugs and terrorism depends less on fighting illicit networks with government intelligence and more on conquering competency traps—traps that compel policy makers to exploit militarized enforcement strategies repeatedly without questioning whether these programs are capable of producing the intended results.