Summary of the compulsory readings
1ZSUC0 Organizing Entrepreneurship TU/e
Copyright – SE Stalpers
,List of contents
Argote, L., & Miron-Spektor, E. (2011). Organizational learning: From experience toknowledge.
Organization science, 22(5), 1123-1137. ............................................................................................ 3
Engelen, A., Gupta, V., Strenger, L., & Brettel, M. (2015). Entrepreneurial Orientation, Firm
Performance, and the Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership behaviors. Journal of
Management, 41(4), 1069–1097. ....................................................................................................... 6
Ling, Y., Simsek, Z., Lubatkin, M. H., & Veiga, J. F. (2008). Transformational Leadership’s Role in
Promoting Corporate Entrepreneurship: Examining the CEO-TMT Interface. The Academy of
Management Journal, 51(3), 557–576................................................................................................ 9
How to Steer Clear of Pitfalls in Cross-Cultural Negotiation - Tips for Avoiding Misunderstandings
When Negotiating Cross-Border Deals ............................................................................................. 11
Greenstein, S. (2016). The reference wars: Encyclopædia Britannica's decline and Encarta's
emergence. Strategic Management Journal. .................................................................................... 12
Harrison, D. A., & Klein, K.J. (2007). What’s the difference? Diversity constructs as separation,
variety, or disparity in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 32, 1199-1228. .............. 14
Hulsheger, U.R., Anderson, N, & Salgado, J.F. (2009). Team–level prediction of innovation at work:
A comprehensive meta-analysis spanning three decades of research. Journal of Applied Psychology,
94(5) pp.1128-1145. ......................................................................................................................... 18
Harvey, S. (2013). A different perspective: The multiple effects of deep level diversity on group
creativity, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 822-832. ................................................ 20
Hoever, I.J., Barkema, H.G., Knippenberg, D. van & Ginkel, W.P. van (2012). Fostering team
creativity: Perspective taking as key to unlocking diversity’s potential. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 97(5), 982-996. .............................................................................................................. 22
2
, Argote, L., & Miron-Spektor, E. (2011). Organizational learning: From experience
toknowledge. Organization science, 22(5), 1123-1137.
Organizational learning has been an important topic for the journal Organization Science and for the
field. We provide a theoretical framework for analyzing organizational learning. According to the
framework, organizational experience interacts with the context to create knowledge. The context is
conceived as having both a latent component and an active component through which learning occurs.
We also discuss current and emerging research themes related to components of our framework.
Promising future research directions are identified. We hope that our perspective will stimulate future
work on organizational learning and knowledge.
Introduction
Subsequent to the publication of the special issue, the interest in organizational learning broadened
to include interest in the outcome of learning—knowledge. Organizational learning research draws on
and contributes to developments in a variety of fields, including organizational behavior and theory,
cognitive and social psychology, sociology, economics, information systems, strategic management,
and engineering. The increased interest in organizational learning and knowledge was stimulated by
both practical concerns and research developments. At a practical level, the ability to learn and adapt
is critical to the performance and long-term success of organizations. Furthermore, as organizations
anticipate the retirement of many employees, issues of knowledge retention loom large in
organizations. In addition to these practical concerns, theoretical and methodological advances also
contributed to the increased research activity. Because organizational learning occurs over time,
studying organizational learning requires time-series or longitudinal data. Furthermore, because
organizational learning can covary with other factors, techniques for ruling out alternative
explanations to learning, such as selection, are needed. Significant progress has been made in our
understanding of organizational learning. A goal of this essay is to point out where progress has been
made and where more research is needed to further our understanding of organizational learning.
Organizational learning: Definitions
Most researchers would agree with defining organizational learning as a change in the organization’s
knowledge that occurs as a function of experience (e.g., Fiol and Lyles 1985). This knowledge can
manifest itself in changes in cognitions or behavior and include both explicit and tacit or difficult-to-
articulate components. Approaches to assessing knowledge by measuring changes in practices or
performance have the advantage of capturing tacit as well as explicit knowledge. By contrast, current
approaches to measuring knowledge by assessing changes in cognitions through questionnaires and
verbal protocols are not able to capture tacit or difficult-to-articulate knowledge.
A theoretical framework
The framework aims to parse organizational learning to make it more tractable analytically.
Organizational learning is a process that occurs over time. Thus, the figure aims to depict an ongoing
cycle through which task performance experience is converted into knowledge that in turn changes
the organization’s context and affects future experience. Experience is what transpires in the
organization as it performs its task. Experience can be measured in terms of the cumulative number
of task performances. Experience interacts with the context to create knowledge. The environmental
context includes elements outside the boundaries of the organization such as competitors, clients,
institutions, and regulators. The environmental context affects the experience the organization
acquires. The context also includes relationships with other organizations through alliances, joint
ventures, and memberships in associations. The context interacts with experience to create
knowledge. Conceptually, we propose differentiating the organizational context into an active context
through which learning occurs and a latent context that influences the active context. The active
3
1ZSUC0 Organizing Entrepreneurship TU/e
Copyright – SE Stalpers
,List of contents
Argote, L., & Miron-Spektor, E. (2011). Organizational learning: From experience toknowledge.
Organization science, 22(5), 1123-1137. ............................................................................................ 3
Engelen, A., Gupta, V., Strenger, L., & Brettel, M. (2015). Entrepreneurial Orientation, Firm
Performance, and the Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership behaviors. Journal of
Management, 41(4), 1069–1097. ....................................................................................................... 6
Ling, Y., Simsek, Z., Lubatkin, M. H., & Veiga, J. F. (2008). Transformational Leadership’s Role in
Promoting Corporate Entrepreneurship: Examining the CEO-TMT Interface. The Academy of
Management Journal, 51(3), 557–576................................................................................................ 9
How to Steer Clear of Pitfalls in Cross-Cultural Negotiation - Tips for Avoiding Misunderstandings
When Negotiating Cross-Border Deals ............................................................................................. 11
Greenstein, S. (2016). The reference wars: Encyclopædia Britannica's decline and Encarta's
emergence. Strategic Management Journal. .................................................................................... 12
Harrison, D. A., & Klein, K.J. (2007). What’s the difference? Diversity constructs as separation,
variety, or disparity in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 32, 1199-1228. .............. 14
Hulsheger, U.R., Anderson, N, & Salgado, J.F. (2009). Team–level prediction of innovation at work:
A comprehensive meta-analysis spanning three decades of research. Journal of Applied Psychology,
94(5) pp.1128-1145. ......................................................................................................................... 18
Harvey, S. (2013). A different perspective: The multiple effects of deep level diversity on group
creativity, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 822-832. ................................................ 20
Hoever, I.J., Barkema, H.G., Knippenberg, D. van & Ginkel, W.P. van (2012). Fostering team
creativity: Perspective taking as key to unlocking diversity’s potential. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 97(5), 982-996. .............................................................................................................. 22
2
, Argote, L., & Miron-Spektor, E. (2011). Organizational learning: From experience
toknowledge. Organization science, 22(5), 1123-1137.
Organizational learning has been an important topic for the journal Organization Science and for the
field. We provide a theoretical framework for analyzing organizational learning. According to the
framework, organizational experience interacts with the context to create knowledge. The context is
conceived as having both a latent component and an active component through which learning occurs.
We also discuss current and emerging research themes related to components of our framework.
Promising future research directions are identified. We hope that our perspective will stimulate future
work on organizational learning and knowledge.
Introduction
Subsequent to the publication of the special issue, the interest in organizational learning broadened
to include interest in the outcome of learning—knowledge. Organizational learning research draws on
and contributes to developments in a variety of fields, including organizational behavior and theory,
cognitive and social psychology, sociology, economics, information systems, strategic management,
and engineering. The increased interest in organizational learning and knowledge was stimulated by
both practical concerns and research developments. At a practical level, the ability to learn and adapt
is critical to the performance and long-term success of organizations. Furthermore, as organizations
anticipate the retirement of many employees, issues of knowledge retention loom large in
organizations. In addition to these practical concerns, theoretical and methodological advances also
contributed to the increased research activity. Because organizational learning occurs over time,
studying organizational learning requires time-series or longitudinal data. Furthermore, because
organizational learning can covary with other factors, techniques for ruling out alternative
explanations to learning, such as selection, are needed. Significant progress has been made in our
understanding of organizational learning. A goal of this essay is to point out where progress has been
made and where more research is needed to further our understanding of organizational learning.
Organizational learning: Definitions
Most researchers would agree with defining organizational learning as a change in the organization’s
knowledge that occurs as a function of experience (e.g., Fiol and Lyles 1985). This knowledge can
manifest itself in changes in cognitions or behavior and include both explicit and tacit or difficult-to-
articulate components. Approaches to assessing knowledge by measuring changes in practices or
performance have the advantage of capturing tacit as well as explicit knowledge. By contrast, current
approaches to measuring knowledge by assessing changes in cognitions through questionnaires and
verbal protocols are not able to capture tacit or difficult-to-articulate knowledge.
A theoretical framework
The framework aims to parse organizational learning to make it more tractable analytically.
Organizational learning is a process that occurs over time. Thus, the figure aims to depict an ongoing
cycle through which task performance experience is converted into knowledge that in turn changes
the organization’s context and affects future experience. Experience is what transpires in the
organization as it performs its task. Experience can be measured in terms of the cumulative number
of task performances. Experience interacts with the context to create knowledge. The environmental
context includes elements outside the boundaries of the organization such as competitors, clients,
institutions, and regulators. The environmental context affects the experience the organization
acquires. The context also includes relationships with other organizations through alliances, joint
ventures, and memberships in associations. The context interacts with experience to create
knowledge. Conceptually, we propose differentiating the organizational context into an active context
through which learning occurs and a latent context that influences the active context. The active
3
