Author Abstract
Learning-curve research has found that rates of learning can vary across similar settings, such that cumulative experience is a necessary but insufficient predictor of learning-curve slope. One explanation for this finding is that how the learning process is managed affects rates of learning. We investigate an additional possibility. At any point in time, organizations can learn along multiple, potentially competing, performance dimensions. In particular, we suggest that organizations adopting a new technology or practice can "learn" on more than one dimension at the same time, such that more than one meaningful learning curve may exist for the same learning challenge. Thus, by arguing that effort invested in learning on one dimension may inhibit learning on another dimension, we propose a new explanation of learning-curve heterogeneity across organizations. Using a sample of sixteen academic and community hospitals adopting a new surgical technology, we demonstrate a tradeoff in organizational rates of learning on two dimensions: improving proficiency in an existing application use of the technology (efficiency) and applying the technology to novel and more challenging uses (application innovation). Our results provide support for our proposed explanation of learning-curve heterogeneity and suggest the salience of both rate and direction (i.e., dimension) in learning. We also find that the goal orientation of the organization influences the direction of learning (efficiency vs. application innovation).
Paper Information
- Full Working Paper Text
- Working Paper Publication Date: January 2005, revised May 2006
- HBS Working Paper Number: 05-047
- Faculty Unit(s): Technology and Operations Management