Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

A connectionist model of the organizational learning curve

  • Published:
Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Organizational learning can be understood as a spontaneous development of routines. Mathematically, this process can be described as a search for better paths on a graph whose nodes are humans and machines. Since the rules for connecting nodes depend on their ability to process goods, the slope of the learning curve may be connected to physical and psychological properties. Two suggestive examples are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Adler PS, Clark KB (1991) Behind the Learning Curve: A sketch of the learning process. Manag Sci 37(3):267–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Alchian A (1963) Reliability of Progress Curves in Airframe Production. Econometrica 31(4):679–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Argote L (1999) Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Argote L, Epple D (1990) Learning Curves in Manufacturing. Sci 247(4945):920–924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow KJ (1962) The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing. Rev Econ Stud 29(3):155–173. Reprinted as (Arrow KJ (1984) The economic implications of learning by doing. In: Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow, Chap VII, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 157–174.)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow KJ (1984) The economic implications of learning by doing. In: Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, Chap VII, pp 157–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Baloff N (1966) The Learning Curve—Some Controversial Issues. J Ind Econ 14(3):275–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baloff N (1970) Startup management. IEEE Trans Eng Manag 17(4):132–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Baloff N (1971) Extension of the Learning Curve—Some Empirical Results. Oper Res Q 2(4):329–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Baloff N, McKersie R (1966) Motivating startups. J Bus 39(4):473–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belkaoui A (1986) The Learning Curve. Quorum Books, Westport

    Google Scholar 

  • Billon SA (1966) Industrial Learning Curves and Forecasting. Manag Int Rev 1(6):65–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Birkler J, Large J, Smith G, Timson F (1993) Reconstituting a Production Capability: Past experience, restart criteria, and suggested policies. Technical Report MR–273, RAND Corporation.

  • Brown JS, Duguid P (1991) Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation. Organ Sci 2(1):40–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Cicourel AV (1990) The Integration of Distributed Knowledge in Collaborative Medical Diagnosis. In: Galegher J, Kraut RE, Egido C (eds) Intellectual teamwork: social and technological foundations of cooperative work. Robert Erlsbaum Associates, Hillsdale, Chapt. IX, pp 221–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen MD, Bacdayan P (1994) Organizational Routines are Stored as Procedural Memory: Evidence from a Laboratory Study. Organ Sci 5(4):554–568

    Google Scholar 

  • Delionback LM (1995) Learning Curves and Progress Functions. In: Stewart RD, Wyskida RM, Johannes JD (eds) Cost Estimator's Reference Manual. John Wiley & Sons, New York, Chapt. V, pp 169–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubuisson S (1998) Regard d'un sociologue sur la notion de routine dans la théorie évolutionniste’. Sociolo du Trav 40(4):491–502

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutton JM, Thomas A (1984) Treating Progress Functions as a Managerial Opportunity. Acad Manag Rev 9(2):235–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutton JM, Thomas A, Butler JE (1984) The History of Progress Functions as a Managerial Technology. Bus Hist Rev 58(2):204–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egidi M (1996) Routines, Hierarchies of Problems, Procedural Behaviour: Some evidence from experiments. In: Arrow KJ, Colombatto E, Perlman M, Schmidt C (eds) The Rational Foundations of Economic Behaviour. MacMillan Press and St. Martin's Press, London and New York, Chapt. XIII, pp 203–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Egidi M, Narduzzo A (1997) The Emergence of Path-dependent Behaviors in Cooperative Contexts. Int J Ind Organ 15(6):677–709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egidi M, Ricottilli M (1997) Co-ordination and specialisation. In: Conte R, Hegselmann R, Terna P (eds.) Simulating Social Phenomena. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 345–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Epple D, Argote L, Devadas R (1991) Organizational Learning Curves: A method for investigating intra-plant transfer of knowledge acquired through learning by doing. Organ Sci 2(1):58–70. Reprinted in (Epple D, Argote L, Devadas R (1996) Organizational learning curves: a method for investigating intraplant transfer of knowledge acquired through learning by doing. In: Cohen MD and Sproull LS (eds) Organizational Learning, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Chap IV, pp 83–100)

    Google Scholar 

  • Epple D, Argote L, Devadas R (1996) Organizational learning curves: a method for investigating intra-plant transfer of knowledge acquired through learning by doing. In: Cohen MD and Sproull LS (eds) Organizational Learning, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Chapt. IV, pp 83–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch WZ (1952) Manufacturing Progress Functions. Rev Econ Stat 34(2):143–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch WZ (1956) Firm progress Ratios. Econometrica 24(2):136–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschmann WB (1964) Profit from the Learning Curve. Harv Bus Rev 42(Jan-Feb)125–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland JH (1975) Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland JH (1986) Escaping Brittleness: The possibilities of general-purpose learning algorithms applied to parallel rule-based systems. In: Michalski RS, Carbonell JG, Mitchell TM (eds) Machine Learning: An Artificial Intelligence Approach. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Los Altos, Chapt. XX, pp 593–623

    Google Scholar 

  • Huberman BA (2001) The Dynamics of Organizational Learning. Comput Math Organ Theory 7(2):145–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins E (1990) The Technology of Team Navigation. In: Galegher J, Kraut RE, Egido C (eds) Intellectual Teamwork: Social and technological foundations of cooperative work. Robert Erlsbaum Associates, Hillsdale, Chapt. VIII, pp 191–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins E (1991) Organizing Work by Adaptation. Organ Sci 2(1):14–39. Reprinted in (Hutchins E (1996) Organizing work by adaptation. In: Cohen MD and Sproull LS (eds) Organizational learning, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Chapt. II, pp 20–57)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins E (1995) Cognition in the wild. The MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins E (1996) Organizing work by adaptation. In: Cohen MD and Sproull LS (eds) Organizational learning, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Chapt. II, pp 20–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapré MA, Mukherjee AS, van Wassenhove LN (2000) Behind the Learning Curve: Linking learning activities to waste reduction. Manag Sci 46(5):597–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapré MA, van Wassenhove LN (2003) Managing Learning Curves in factories by Creating and Transferring Knowledge. Calif Manag Rev 46(1):53–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin DZ (2000) Organizational Learning and the Transfer of Knowledge: An investigation of quality improvement. Organ Sci 11(6):630–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt B, March JG (1988) Organizational learning. Annu Rev Sociol 14, 319–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy FK (1965) Adaptation in the Production Process. Manag Sci 11(6):136–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman MB (1984) The Learning Curve and Pricing in the Chemical Processing Industries. RAND J Econ 15(2):213–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macher JT, Mowery DC (2003) “Managing” Learning by Doing: An empirical study in semiconductor manufacturing. J Prod Innov Manag 20(5):391–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pentland BT (1992) Organizing Moves in Software Support Hot Lines. Admin Sci Q 37(4):527–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pentland BT, Rueter HH (1994) Organizational Routines as Grammars of Action. Admin Sci Q 39(3):484–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reis DA (1991) Learning Curves in Food Services. J Oper Res Soc 42(8):623–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schilling MA, Vidal P, Ployhart RE, Marangoni A (2003) Learning by doing Something Else: Variation, Relatedness, and the Learning Curve. Manag Sci 49(1):39–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafer SM, Nembhard DA, Uzumeri MV (2001) The Effects of Worker Learning, Forgetting, and Heterogeneity on Assembly Line Productivity. Manag Sci 47(12):1639–1653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrager J, Hogg T, Huberman BA (1988) A Graph-Dynamic Model of the Power Law of Practice and the Problem-Solving Fan-Effect. Sci 242(4877):414–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sikström S, Jaber MY (2002) The Power Integration Diffusion Model for Production Breaks. J Exp Psychol: Appl 8(2):118–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weick KE (1991) The Nontraditional Quality of Organizational Learning. Organ Sci 2(1):116–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger E (1998) Communities of practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger E (2000) Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems. Organ 7(2):225–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright TP (1936) Factors Affecting the Cost of Airplanes. J Aeronaut Sci 3(2):122–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Yelle LE (1979) The Learning Curve: Historical review and comprehensive survey. Decis Sci 10(2):302–328

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guido Fioretti.

Additional information

Guido Fioretti, born 1964, graduated in Electronic Engineering and obtained a PhD in Economics from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Bologna, Italy.

His research interests span from decision theory to economics and organization science. In particular, he is interested in linking structural development to cognitive processes. The present article has been conceived as a theoretical underpinning of agent-based simulations of organizations. In particular, future applications of the Java Enterprise Simulator (http:// web.econ.unito.it/terna/jes) may test the usefulness of the results derived herein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fioretti, G. A connectionist model of the organizational learning curve. Comput Math Organiz Theor 13, 1–16 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10588-006-9003-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10588-006-9003-6

Keywords