Technology Adoption: Organizational Learning What makes the adoption of technology in some firms a successful process, while others experience difficulties? Based on a retrospective case study, this paper compares the process of adopting horizontal drilling technology in two large Canadian oil companies; one a more successful and the other a less successful adopter of technology. Adoption is viewed as a process of organizational learning which proceeds in a feedback loop from observing, interpreting, integrating to acting. The two companies differed both in these processes and in the factors facilitating or impeding them: capability, resources, motivation, effort, shared values, incentives, and external triggers. The implications for researchers and managers are discussed. Technology Adoption Processes, Organizational Learning Introduction Business firms adopt new technologies -- a form of innovation (Angle and Van de Ven 1989) -- to remain competitive (Morone 1993), or to 'renew strategically' (Crossan et al. 1999). However, some firms seem to manage technology adoption successfully, while others struggle and even give up. Why this is so was the initial puzzle that prompted the study reported here. The study identified technology adoption in two firms essentially as a process of organizational learning. The success of technology adoption therefore depends on the firm's ability to learn. In other words, in order to explain success in technology adoption, sources of learning need to be understood. The explanation is elaborated in a framework that focuses both on sources of learning and on the learning processes (Dodgson 1993). The focus on the processes of learning in this paper is an important extension of the technology adoption...
... middle of paper ...
...989 'Innovation and learning: The two faces of R&D'. Economic Journal 99: 569-590. Cooper, Robert B., and Robert W. Smud, 1990 'Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation'. Administrative Science Quarterly 35: 128-152. 1990 'Information technology implementation research: A technological diffusion approach'. Management Science 36/2: 123-139. Corsini, Raymond J., 1987 Concise encyclopedia of psychology. New York: Wiley. Crossan, Mary M., Henry W. Lane, and Roderick E. White, 1999 'An organizational learning framework: From intuition to institution'. Academy of Management Review 24/3: 522-537. Cyert, Richard M., and James G. March, 1963 A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall. Daft, Richard L., and Karl E. Weick, 1984 'Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems'. Academy of Management Review 9: 284-295.
The ability to capture values along the Technology Adoption Lifecycle determines not just how successful a firm will be, but whether it will create competitive advantage through technology. Businesses with large fixed costs, capital-intensive business plans, and specialized asset bases will face the challenge to maintain its strategic continuity because it is generally prohibitively expensive to change direction to response to any conceivable structural change.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The leader's new work: Building learning organizations. Sloan Management Review, 32(1), 7-22. doi: 812347
Innovation, what is innovation? Innovation is the creation and implementation of new ideas, methods, or strategies that facilitate a process, add value, or improve quality (Tidd & Bessant, 2013). In fact, innovation is the reason for all the new amenities of today’s 21st century. Moreover, innovation has brought forth new perspectives and ideas that have inspired numerous of businesses to expand and improve their daily operations, increase productivity, resolve dilemmas, and attain a level of success. However, such success cannot be attained without properly examining, planning, embracing, and managing innovation. In other words, organizations must carefully map the process of innovation in order to succeed.
Adoption of new technology is affected by the perception of benefit, compatibility with workflow, ease of use, leadership presence and their support to gain buy in from end-users. In an unsuccessful adoption of new technology there is an underappreciation of the impact for the organization, the number resources required, and leaderships inability to communicate transformational change. In cases where technology adoption was successful staff were engaged early on by leadership as key users (Gagnon et al., 2012).
Thank you for agreeing to participate in an interview. This interview is part of an assignment for an Intrapreneurship and Innovation Course at Grand Canyon University. The assignment asks students to garner first-hand perspective on the challenges of innovation and reflect on what they have learned in the course. Information collected during the interview will be used solely to complete the assignment and may be shared with class members and the instructor. If you have additional questions or concerns, or you would like to withdraw your consent to participate in the interview process, you can contact Frank Spitznogle at frank.spitznogle@gcu.edu. Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in an interview and contribute to the educational experience of business students at Grand Canyon
Roth, J. (2003). ‘Enabling knowledge creation: learning from an R&D organization’, Journal of Knowledge Management, 7(1), 32 – 48;
Williams, C., & McWillams, A. (2010). Innovation and change. In MGMT(1st ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning.
Hamel G. and Breen B. (2007). The Future of Management: Aiming for an Evolutionary Advantage (Management Innovation in Action). Harvard Business School Press.
Kelley,T. (2005, Oct.). The 10 faces of innovation. Fast Company, 74-77. Retrieved 6th March’ 2014 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=1d6a17b7-c5f7-4f00-bea4 db1d84cbef55%40sessionmgr10&hid=28&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=18386009
Knowledge oriented view of the organizations argue that knowledge and learning capacity influence the organizational performance and also direct the firm to achieve sustainable and continuous competitive advantage (Zhang, 2008). In last thirty years extensive research have been conducted on the OL and it has contributed a lot in the organizational development and change management, but still there is a little agreement on what is meant by the term OL and its nature. (Crossan, Lane & White, R.E, 1999; Huber, 1999 and Kim, 1993). The reason for this problem is that the OL has been studied by many disciplines and perspectives (Lopez, et al, 2006). According to (Argyris, 1995),” Learning occurs whenever errors are detected and corrected or when a match between intentions and consequences is produced for the first time.” (p.20). According to Huber (1991), when knowledge is acquired, information is spread, correctly analyzed, and recalled, organization learning eventually takes place. He further assumed that learning occurs in the organization if any of its unit acquires information useful to the organization. This is also supported by DeNisi & Griffin (2008) that “OL is the process by which the organization “learns” from past mistakes and adapts to its environment.”
... policy are made as the fragment of association strategy, in demand to assess the innovation-related concerns by coupling them with the companies (Thesource 2014; Mindtools.com 2014). The modernization issues from the argument of organizational perceptions have been illuminated recently. For example, one of the best methods to create reasonable advantages is to erect a company, which is based on constant learning and improvement. Many aspects of a company, which incorporates even the industrialized events, are also manipulated by structural learning (Mindtools.com 2014).
Effective knowledge transfer through a conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge can build a sustainable capacity to innovate within an organization and gain an external competitive advantage.
...as a Learning Process: Embedding Design Thinking. California Management Review, 50(1), 24-56. Retrieved from: http://epic.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/pub/Home/TrendsAndConceptsII2008/2_InnovationAsLearningProcess.pdf.
One of the most integral qualities of an entrepreneur as well as that of a successful business is the degree of innovation it possesses. Innovation refers to the creation of new ideas, improvement of existing production processes, and effective problem solving. Innovation allows for increased efficiency in a business, which in turn increases its supply potential and productive capacity. Being innovative may involve either improving upon old methods o...
Learning is defined as a measurable and the act or the process of acquiring a relatively permanent change in a behavioural tendency through knowledge, skills and experience. People learn in their lifetime. The learning process continues throughout our life and it is the first step in becoming an outstanding performer. In today’s rapidly developing world, if you do not keep learning, you are not standing still, you are falling behind. This is not only applied to individual, but also for the organizations. But here comes the questions: Is individual and the organization can learn? In order to answer this question, we need to imply the use of the theories and ideas and also discuss how the culture, group and emotion of the individuals or organization will affect the learning organization.